Mercy Never Changes (It Came To Pass)

And so it was written that there would be a game.  A game to bring family together.  A game that would involve counting, indeed, counting!  And this game would need to have strategy, to teach the little children, and train the minds of the people.  And one more thing was needed: This game would require quick reflexes, to train the body of the people.  And so...It Came To Pass.



GAME DESCRIPTION:  It Came To Pass is a fast paced card game for 2 to 8 players.  The object of the game is to get the total amount of points in your hand as close to 0.  All points in a players hand are counted against them.  The player with the least amount of points is declared the winner.  The game starts with every player having 6 cards in hand, and flipping 1 card over to start the discard.

PLAYING:  Each turn begins by drawing one card from the deck or top of the discard pile to start the turn, and discarding one.  Each Numerical card in your hand is worth that many points.  Charity cards are worth 0 points.  All cards that match the color of any Charity in your hand are worth 0 points. Desolation cards are worth 25 points, and can only be discarded if the last card is a matching color, or played on a Mercy.



OPTION CARDS:  Every other card is called an Option Card, and can be added in or left out.  Each have their own point value and effect

• Repentance (20 points):  Reverses the direction of play.
• Unbelief (20 points):  Skips the next player.
• Pride Cycle (20 points):  Each player passes 1 card to the next player.
• Secret Combination (20 points):  The player compares hands with the next player, sets aside one of them, and they now play as a team.  This has no effect if there are only two teams of players or two players.
• Justice (20 points):  The next player must either play another Justice, a Mercy, or draw cards equal to the amount written on all Justice cards played.
• Mercy (50 points):  Players race to be the first to play any card, and play continues to the next player of the that player.

THE END:  A round can end in 2 ways; either a player gets their hand down to 0 points, which ends the round instantly, or if a player says "Pass".  If a player Passes, they end their turn, cannot alter it in any way, and play continues until play reaches the player who passed.  If the player who passed has the lowest value, they subtract 20 from their current score.  If another player has the lowest score, the player who passed gains 10 points plus that players score.

CONCLUSION:  Upon first glance, this seems to be a Mormon themed Uno, but don't discount it.  The unique take on "forcing" teams and rushing to play on a Mercy adds a quickness that I found lacking in regular Uno.  The game plays well, even if a bit rough with the Mercy that, let's face it, adds a mechanic that can easily be seen unfair to slower players.  The game still plays quick outside of that, and flows in a way a lot of mainstream card games never really seemed to grasp.  For a fast action Game Night, a Family Home Evening, or just having some quick fun with a group of like minded fellows, It Came To Pass is worth trying out.