Master of Rules

Master of Rules is probably my current favourite filler game. It is an evolved, slightly more complex version of Whist. But the complexity is not there for a gimmick. It really adds a lot to the game. The number of different decisions and strategies you can follow are massively increased in comparison to a simple trick taking game like Whist, so you feel yourself drawn into a complex web of decisions each time you play. As your play develops and you learn the game better, you start to observe more and more of what is possible. There is a lot of open information and potential for deduction here. If you have a very good memory, you could even remember every card each other player has in their hand (though I think that would be exceptionally difficult for most of us). At the very least, you start tracking the most important cards and try to figure out when it is a good time to pick certain rules to hit the table.

Be warned: this game does have a degree of screwage. Sometimes, a player will find themselves without any way of scoring their goal, and they will then look around the table to see if they can mess up the goal of other players. This can be harsh at times. We once had a player ruin the goal of all four other players with a single play! You can't really control this happening, and you can't really control who will get hit, so this can be frustrating at times.

Another weakness of the game is the "Support Right" card, which allows you to score only if the person to your right scores. This can give a permanent disadvantage or advantage based on seating arrangement. Depending on how seriously the game is being played, this could get frustrating for some. It may also lead to people trying to play the game for each other, or even getting upset with another player for perceived poor play.

You have to provide your own counter to keep track of the rounds. I recommend a retired yellow grainimeeple from Agricola when you replace them with proper vegemeeples.

But, having filled my review with negatives I do want to emphasise that this is my current favourite filler. It plays in 30-45 minutes and has always offered an interesting game in my experience. I recommend it to those who enjoy a challenging decision filled game.