Fantastique (2026)

Overview

In Fantastique, each player starts with a hand of ten cards from a deck that contains cards valued 1-8.

At the start of each of seven rounds, reveal cards from the deck face up, placing matching numbers in the same pile (with up to three cards per pile) until you create a fifth pile.

Then, each player in turn lays down one or more cards of the same value from their hand, with the only restriction being that you can't lay down the same set as another player. Whoever plays the set with the most cards — with a higher value being the tiebreaker — claims the gold medal available that round. The second largest set claims that round's silver medal, and in a game with 4-5 players, the third largest set claims that round's bronze medal. Medals escalate in value as the game progresses.

To end the round, players choose one of the available piles and add it to their hand, with whoever has played the largest value — with more cards being the tiebreaker — choosing first.

After the seventh round, players reveal their hands and see who will claim the "grand finale" gold and silver medals. The game includes six grand finale scoring conditions, with the one suggested for your first game being whoever holds the most 1s, 2s, and 3s. Other scoring conditions include the number of cards in your longest straight (with duplicates being counted), the number of cards in your lowest and highest value in hand, and the number of cards left in hand when you remove the values of which you have the most.