Variations on Top Trumps
Some Sundays ago, we passed a three-hour train armed only with Top Trumps and chocolate raisins.
Ours was The Lord of the Rings. Each card includes figures for height, strength, bravery, magic and fear factor.
Straight Top Trumps gets dull quickly with only one deck. So we took liberties.
Variations
Bottom Trumps
Lowest stats win. Good cards become bad, bad good. Denethor, Gríma Wormtongue and Gollum are best. Novelty value: high. Shelf life: limited.
Mediocre Trumps
We roped in another passenger for this. Middle stat wins. Strategies will vary depending on the quirks of the set. When one player is eliminated, pivot the rules.
Mental Trumps
Starting player calls the category. Before looking, the opponent calls high or low wins. Memorising card sequences confers a theoretical advantage. In practice: random, and drags on. Interesting for a while.
Other adaptations
Ordinary card games can be adapted to Top Trumps decks. Our take on rummy was challenging: too many LOTR characters are 7 foot.
Our most successful adaptation was Trumps. Categories = suits (why not have more than 4?). A card’s suit is its best stat, and is often up for debate. Is Sauron’s suit magic or fear factor, for example?
Entertaining played in good faith.
The chocolate raisins?
Eaten.