Overview

The Decktet is a six-suited card system that can be used to play dozens of different games. Unlike a standard playing card deck, many Decktet cards belong to two or even three suits simultaneously. The basic deck has 36 cards (6 Aces, 24 number-rank cards, 6 Crowns), and an extended deck adds 4 Pawns, 4 Courts, and 1 Excuse. The Decktet supports solitaire, two-player, and multiplayer games across genres including trick-taking, territory control, set collection, and economic games.

Components

• 36 Basic Deck cards:
  • 6 Aces (one per suit, single-suited)
  • 24 Number-rank cards (ranks 2-9, each with two suits)
  • 6 Crowns (one per suit, single-suited)
• 9 Extended Deck cards:
  • 4 Pawns (three suits each)
  • 4 Courts (three suits each)
  • 1 Excuse (no suit)
• 6 Suits: Moons, Suns, Waves, Leaves, Wyrms, Knots
• Card marks: face cards (-), locations (,), events (.)

Setup

Setup varies by game. The Decktet is a card system, not a single game. Some popular games included in the rulebook:

• Adaman (1 player): Solitaire where you control personalities to seize the throne.
• Emu Ranchers (2 players): Raise stacks of birds for profit.
• Jacynth (2-3 players): Territory control on a 6x6 grid.
• Nonesuch (3-4 players): Trick-taking with named suits.

Turn Structure

Turn structure depends on the specific game being played. Three representative games:

Adaman (Solitaire)

Deal 5 cards as the Capital row, 5 as Resources. Face cards (-) dealt to Resources go to the Palace row above. Play cards from Resources to control Capital/Palace cards. After each play, refill to 5 cards in each row.

Emu Ranchers (2 Players)

Alternate turns. On your turn: hatch a new bird (start a stack), grow a bird (add to a stack), or discard a card. Then draw 1 card.

Jacynth (2-3 Players)

On your turn: play a card to the grid (Explore), optionally place an influence token (Exert Influence), then draw a card.

Actions

Adaman Actions

• Control a card: Discard resources that share a suit with the target and whose ranks total at least the target’s rank. Face cards (-) are removed; non-face cards join your resources.
• Aces count as 1; Crowns count as 10.

Emu Ranchers Actions

• Hatch: Play a card from hand to start a new bird stack.
• Grow: Add a card to an existing stack. Cards must share a suit and be in ascending or descending order (may skip ranks).
• Discard: Discard 1 card. Draw from the draw pile (if you discarded) or choose draw pile or discard pile top.

Jacynth Actions

• Explore: Play a card from hand face-up adjacent to existing cards, forming a 6x6 grid.
• Exert Influence: Place 1 influence token on a card (not in an opponent-controlled district, not on a card that already has a token).
• Draw: Draw 1 card to end your turn.

Nonesuch Actions (Trick-Taking)

• Lead: Play a card and name a suit that others must follow.
• Follow: Play a card of the named suit if possible; otherwise play any card.
• Score: Win tricks by having the highest rank in the named suit (or trump).

Scoring / Victory Conditions

Adaman

• Win: Control all face cards (-).
• Lose: Cannot make any move with face cards remaining, or 6+ face cards in the Palace.
• Score: If you win, total all face card ranks + resource ranks (base 66+). If you lose, total only controlled face card ranks.

Emu Ranchers

• When the draw pile is exhausted, play remaining cards onto existing birds.
• For each bird: total the number cards. If total < 18, lose the difference (plus 5 for Ace or Crown, 10 for both). If total >= 18, discard cards totaling at least 18 as upkeep; remaining cards are profit (plus 5 for Ace/Crown, 10 for both).
• Typically play 4 years (hands). Highest cumulative score wins.

Jacynth

• At game end, score 1 point per card in each district you control.
• A district is a group of adjacent cards sharing a suit. You control a district if your influence token is on a card in it. Higher rank wins if two players’ tokens end up in the same district.
• Highest total score wins.

Nonesuch

• Some bid: expect to win at least 1 trick. Score 1 per trick won.
• Lots bid: expect to win the most tricks. Score 2 per trick if you win the most; lose 2 per trick if you don’t.
• None bid: expect to win zero tricks. Score 5 if successful; lose 5 if you win any trick.

Special Rules & Edge Cases

• Dual-suited number cards: Each number card (ranks 2-9) belongs to exactly two suits. The pairing of suits varies by rank and is unique across the deck.
• Extended deck cards: Pawns and Courts have three suits each. The Excuse has no suit. Only include these when a game’s rules specifically call for them.
• Marks: Face cards have the (-) mark. Location (,) and event (.) marks appear on other cards. Some cards have both marks. Aces and the Excuse have no marks.
• Emu Ranchers extended deck: The Excuse lets you discard a losing bird. Pawns/Courts are limited wild cards (count as any number rank for growing a bird, but only in a matching suit; cannot hatch or count as Ace/Crown).
• Jacynth extended deck: The Excuse is a block card (not part of any district, blocks adjacency). Pawns and Courts are part of 3 districts but cannot receive influence tokens.
• Nonesuch trump: If the up-card is an Ace or Crown, its suit is trump. If a number card, the Excuse holder chooses one of its suits as trump. If the Excuse is the up-card, there is no trump.

Player Reference

Deck Structure:

• 6 suits: Moons, Suns, Waves, Leaves, Wyrms, Knots
• Basic deck: 6 Aces + 24 number cards (2-9, dual-suited) + 6 Crowns = 36 cards
• Extended: +4 Pawns (3 suits) + 4 Courts (3 suits) + 1 Excuse = 45 cards

Suit Pairings (number cards): Each rank 2-9 has exactly 3 cards, each with a unique pair of suits. No two cards in the deck share the same suit pairing at the same rank.

Popular Games: Adaman (solo), Emu Ranchers (2P), Jacynth (2-3P), Nonesuch (3-4P), plus many more at decktet.com