In Enchanted Plumes, players strive to complete magical Peacocks by assembling plumes in sparkling rows from top to bottom, using multiple colors of Feather cards while matching cards of the same color from row to row. The player with the most valuable plumes wins the game and is bestowed with the luck of the Peacock!
Designed by Brendan Hansen, Enchanted Plumes is one part set collection, one part press your luck, and a little bit of everything in between. Anyone walking by who sees this game on the table knows immediately what is happening: players are creating triangular rows of peacock plumes using like colors and trying to maximize the point values of the cards they play. But there is so much more to the game than that!
Players are swapping cards in and out of a shared pool called the Train, possibly giving their opponents a chance at a vital card. They need to be mindful of what color plumes other players are using in case they run out of that color for their own peacocks. And then there’s the strategy involved in building the triangular rows! The first row you make will count negatively towards your score no matter how long you choose to make it; but the bigger the first row, the more subsequent rows of positive points you can make. You can make as many peacocks as you’d like, and you can make the rows as big or as small as you’d like. So many choices!
Enchanted Plumes Rapid Rundown:
Enchanted Plumes plays with 2-6 players in about 30 minutes. Your goal is to attract the attention of the Peahen by having the most sparkling and enchanting plumes of all the Peacocks in the land. To do that, you’ll need the most victory points. To do that, you’ll need to be strategic as you play plume cards triangularly.
Setup:
Players begin by setting aside the Peahen card, and then shuffling and dealing 9 cards to each player. Each player will choose the 6 cards they would like to start with, and return the discarded 3 to the deck. The deck is reshuffled, and players will shuffle the Peahen card into the last eight cards of the game; once the Peahen appears the game is over, and scoring begins. The number of cards you use in the game will vary depending on player count (removing the 7’s, 8’s, and/or 9’s for lower player numbers).
Flip and place the top five cards of the deck in a line extending to the right of the deck; this lineup is called the Train.
Playing the Game:
On your turn you will do two actions:
1. Play one or two cards either to start a new plume or add to one of your existing plumes; the cards may be used together in the same plume or split up among different plumes.
2. Replenish your hand in one of three ways:
(a) Draw two cards from the Feather deck
(b) Swap two cards from your hand with two cards from the Train
(c) In either order, draw one card from the Feather deck and swap one card from your hand with one card from the Train
Building Plumes:
Every turn as you play your one or two cards, you’ll be building rows of plumes. Cards that are placed on the top row will be scored as negative points, while cards played in lower rows will count positively. As you descend down the rows you can only use colors that have been previously used. So if a row has three cards: the blue, yellow, and red feathers, the next row will only have 2 cards, and they may only contain those colors. Once a lower row of cards is started in a plume, Feather cards can no longer be added to higher rows in that plume. You can always begin a new set of plumes before finishing a current one, and you can have as many sets as you like.
Once you get down to the final row, which will hold only one card, you will play that card face down. This obscures your point value of that card, allows you to collect bonus points at the end of the game, and creates a beautiful peacock! The final card does have to follow the color constraints of your plumes.
Attracting the Peahen:
When a player draws the Peahen from within the final 8 cards of the deck, play immediately ends and scoring begins. The top row of each set scores negative points, and all subsequent rows score positive points. If you have completed any peacocks, flip over the last card and add it to your score. Completed peacocks also score 1 bonus point for each card used to build them. Incomplete Peacocks do not score bonus points.
The player with the highest score is the most enchanting peacock of them all, and is allowed to strut around as they please.
Enchanted Plumes is coming to Kickstarter as part of The Calliope Game Night Extravaganza! on November 10th, 2020. You’ll be able to get 3 fantastic card games that scratch three different itches, and together make for one incredible game night. You can check out the Kickstarter page here to be notified when the campaign is live, and if you want to talk more Enchanted Plumes you can follow the game on Board Game Geek.