Carmony 2025

Carmony is a competitive card game about music theory, for 2 to 4 players, ages 14 and up — built around a visual CHROMATIC WHEEL instead of staff notation. Players use NOTE cards and MELD cards to build musical structures: intervals, chords, and scales. No prior music knowledge required. Open to all levels, from absolute beginners to experienced musicians.

From the original game grew a whole family: 5 games that share the same components, each with its own mechanics and complexity. This description covers the flagship: The Original.

How it's played:

Each player starts with a chromatic wheel, 5 MELD cards, and a set number of NOTE cards depending on the number of players. On their turn, players draw NOTE cards and try to complete one or more MELDs — musical structures like a minor third interval, a diminished seventh chord, or a Lydian scale. MELDs are played by aligning the MELD card with the wheel and laying down the matching NOTE cards.

Players may also "eat" MELDs previously played by others — if they can play a more powerful structure using their own MELD card. This mechanic adds a layer of strategic depth and player interaction.

Each turn ends by discarding a NOTE card, and the round continues clockwise.

How to win:

The game is played over 3 rounds. Points are scored based on the complexity of the MELDs played — more notes mean higher scores — and penalties are given for unused NOTE cards. Going out (playing all NOTE cards under certain conditions) earns bonus points. The player with the highest total score after three rounds wins.

—description from the designer—