Black Market
Category: Card, 2 player, 4 player, or 6 player
Genre: Traditional card game
Date: 2025.12
My Role: Game Designer
Set up
For a four-player game, two players sit across from each other on opposite sides of the table. Place the map in the center. Shuffle the cards with stars on the back and the cards without stars on the back separately (ensuring that the orientation is also randomized while the cards remain face-up), and place both decks on the side. The cards with stars are the Point Cards, and the cards without stars are the Hand Cards. Place six of the Point Cards onto the six slots on the map, each at a random orientation. Deal six Hand Cards and two dice to each player.
Win Condition
The first player to obtain 7 points wins the game.
Basic card information
A traditional card game
Point card: card with star on the back
The points value of the point card is located in the top-left corner.
There are three colors: Red, Black, and Dual-Color (or Two-Color).
Red cards cost three Red Hand Cards to purchase.
Black cards cost three Black Hand Cards to purchase.
Dual-Color cards cost three Hand Cards of any single color (i.e., three Red or three Black) to purchase.
Hand card: card without star on the back
Flip: Flip a card to face-down/face up, or change a card’s orientation
Red: May spend three to purchase a red point card. Or spend two to use as a Flip card.
Black: May spend three to purchase a black point card. Or spend two to use as a Flip card.
Each Turn
In each round, a player rolls two dice, with each die representing one of the player's two actions. Players can only perform actions on the card located at the position indicated by the die roll:
They can play a Flip Card to flip it face-down/face-up, or to change its orientation.
Alternatively, they may spend three Hand Cards of the corresponding color to purchase the card at that numbered position, provided that the card is currently facing them. If the card is not face-up or is facing the opponent, it cannot be purchased.
If the player does not have a Flip Card, they may play two Hand Cards of the same color to act as a Flip Card. If the player chooses not to act on the card at the numbered position, they may instead draw one Hand Card.
Special Point Cards
Some Point Cards have special effects. For example, some cards might provide a benefit.
Once you acquire this card, you gain the corresponding points, and you may use the card's effect during your turn, except for certain cards that can only be used once (which will be specifically marked on the card). When a one-time effect is used, the corresponding score remains valid.
The effect of a single card can only be used once per turn.
The effects of multiple cards can be stacked.
