Psycle 2020

サイクル (PSYCLE) is a psychological card game from Japan. Players try to win rounds by playing their higher value cards. But the lower cards are cheaper to get, and give more victory points. Can players out-think their opponents and win rounds at lower cost?

The cards have numbers and stars; high cards have few stars, low cards have more stars. Players each choose a card in secret and then reveal them. Mostly, the highest number will win the round, but some low cards will beat a higher value (so a 1 beats a 0 and a 5). Hence, the round has a rock-scissors-paper resolution.

The winning card gets points by multiplying the card's stars by the number of players beaten. So a high card might win, but not get many points. If a player can win with a low card, they gain a much higher score.

Players can also collect resource tokens (spent by playing some cards), and win bonus tiles from the centre. The game turns on being able to predict what other players will do, and maximise your scoring by winning with a low card, or collecting bonuses when you can't win.

The game comes with JPN/ENG rules. user summary