Hocus

For those with the eldritch gift, temptation lurks around every corner, even in leisure. Just consider the possibilities available to the practitioner of magic. Imagine poker with spells! No person could resist such temptation, and even a casual review of history will prove that none could.

The famous last play of Ephippus of Athens? It was about Circe’s never ending thirst for cheating at cards.

Morgan le Fay and Merlin regularly crossed wits over a deck.

Roger Bollingbroke’s most heinous crime was the transparently bogus run of five straight flushes in a row.

And so it has gone. The application of magic to card games is as natural as mixing mandrake and worm’s husk.

For the first time, however, the rules for a game specifically created for wizards have been pieced together from fragments found in tombs, dusty used bookstores, and in the classified ads of one small newspaper. Though magic has largely been forgotten in the centuries since this game was invented, modern game design has given us a way to imitate the arcana outlined in the reconstructed rules. The result is a “no-magic-required” whimsical romp for 2-5 players.

Hocus places the players in the flamboyant boots of wizards, using their powerful advantages to create opportunities, manipulate the game, and alter the flow of cards. Wizards hate being pinned down and live by the mantra “You shall not fold!” Each turn, players choose one Spell to use. As you are new to Hocus, we shall first discuss the three Basic Spells.