Texas Demons
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Texas Demons is a trick-taker played with dominoes where you try to capture 'demons' (doubles, like 3-3)
Objective #
Capture five or more Demons (double dominoes, ex. 3-3) before your team takes six Tricks to win.
Components #
One set of double-nine dominoes (or domino playing cards, if you prefer).
Collect all the single blanks (1-0, 2-0, 3-0, 4-0, 5-0, 6-0, 7-0, 8-0, and 9-0). These are the Suit Tiles. Keep them separate from the remaining 46 dominoes. These are the Playing Tiles.
There are 9 suits: 1-9. Each domino belongs to two suits EXCEPT the Trump suit, (which only ever belongs to itself, see more on trumps later). The ranking of the suit comes from the second number on the domino (ex. A 9-7 would beat a 9-3).
Each double, (7-7, 3-3) is a Demon, used in scoring.
The double-blank (0-0) is always the lowest ranking tile in the Trump suit, but is not a Demon.
Example:
If Trump Suit is threes, the domino 5-3 belongs to the threes suit, not the fives suit. On the contrary, the domino 6-5 belongs to either the sixes suit or the fives suit, depending on the context:
- If the 6-5 is led, it belongs to the sixes suit because 6 is higher than 5.
- If the sixes suit is led by someone else, the 6-5 belongs to the sixes suit.
- If the fives suit is led by someone else, the 6-5 belongs to the fives suit.
- If any other suit is led, the 6-5 belongs to either the sixes or the fives suit. It doesnât matter. It canât win the trick.
Setup #
The 4-player game is played in teams of 2v2, with partners sitting across the table from each other.
Select one player to be the Picker. In subsequent rounds, the Picker is the next player on the partnership with the least points; if there is a tie, the Picker is the player to the left of the previous Picker.
Set a trump suit #
- Flip the Suit Tiles facedown and wash shuffle them.
- Create two facedown stacks with 4 dominoes in each stack.
- Set the two stacks, side-by-side, off to the side of the play area.
- Flip the remaining tile face up and place it atop the stacks created earlier. The number on this tile is the Trump Suit.
Draw Hands of Tiles #
- Flip the Playing Tiles face down, wash shuffle them, and move them off to the side to form a boneyard.
- Remove two tiles from the boneyard. These are the Leftovers. Set the Leftovers aside, out of the way, facedown.
- Each player draws 11 tiles from the boneyard. Set each tile on its edge so only you can see its value.
NOTE: It's recommended to group trumps in your hand, then sort your remaining dominoes by the highest number on the domino.
Play #
Starting a trick #
The Picker decides which player will be the lead player to the first trick. They may choose themselves.
The lead player leads to the first trick by playing any domino face up from their hand.
Continuing a trick #
After a player leads a domino, all other players, in clockwise order, starting with the player to the left of the lead player, play a domino face up from their hand. The other players must follow suit, or play a domino of the same suit as the led domino:
- If the led domino belongs to the Trump Suit, then all players must play a domino of the Trump Suit.
- If the led domino doesnât belong to the Trump Suit, then all players must play a domino that belongs to the suit of the led domino. The highest number of the led domino is its suit. If a player canât follow suit, then they may play any domino.
Example:
Suppose the Trump suit is threes.
The 6-5 is led. (Suit is sixes)
- All other players must follow suit by playing a domino that belongs to the sixes suit.
- You cannot follow suit by playing a 6-3. This domino belongs to the Trump Suit threes, not the sixes suit.
- You also cannot follow suit by playing a 5-9. You have to play a domino that belongs to the sixes suit.
- However, if you donât hold any dominoes that belong to the sixes suit, then you may play any domino, including the 6-3 or the 5-9.
The 5-3 is led. (A trump, because of the 3)
- All other players must follow suit by playing a domino that belongs to the Trump Suit (threes).
- You cannot follow suit by playing a 5-2. The led domino only belongs to the Trump Suit threes, not the fives suit.
- However, if you donât hold any dominoes that belong to the Trump Suit threes, then you may play any domino, including the 5-2.
Resolving a trick #
Whoever played the highest-ranked domino of the Trump Suit wins the trick. When there are no dominoes that belong to the Trump Suit in the trick, then whoever played the highest-ranked domino of the suit of the led domino wins the trick. Remember that the suit of the led domino is its highest number.
Example:
Suppose the Trump suit is threes. Players A and C form one partnership; B and D form the other. Player A is the lead player in these examples:
A: 6-5, B: 6-1, C: 6-7, D: 6-8
- The suit of the led domino is sixes.
- All players followed suit.
- Player D wins the trick. Player D played the highest-ranked domino that belongs to the sixes suit.
A: 5-4, B: 5-5, C: 3-2, D: 5-9
- The suit of the led domino is fives.
- All players followed suit except player C, who didnât have any dominoes that belonged to the fives suit. Instead, player C played a domino that belongs to the Trump Suit threes.
- Player C wins the trick.
- Partnership A and C also captures the Demon 5-5.
Preparing for the next trick #
Let one player per partnership collect their won tricks. For each trick, set aside any captured Demons, and then gather the remaining dominoes into a facedown Trick Stack. Partnerships keep their Trick Stacks beside each other, outside the play area but still visible to all players, so that everyone can track how many tricks each partnership has won. Keep any captured Demons face up in front of the Trick Stack so that everyone can also track how many Demons each partnership has captured.
Continuing the round #
The winner of a trick leads to the next trick.
Ending A Round #
The round ends if any of the following conditions have been met:
- One partnership has captured five or more Demons.
- One partnership has taken six tricks.
- All tiles have been played. In other words, one partnership has won five tricks while the other has won six. In this situation, the winner of the last trick turns the Leftovers face up to see if it contains any Demons. If there is one Demon, their team captures it. If there are two Demons, each team captures one.
Note: Turning over the Leftovers (and capturing any Demons they contain) ONLY happens if all of the tiles have been played.
If none of these conditions have been met, then continue to the next trick.
Winning a round #
Determine the winner of the round in the following order:
- If a team captures five or more Demons, then that team is the winner.
- If both teams capture their fifth Demon on the final trick, the team that won the final trick is the winner.
- Otherwise, if a team takes six tricks, the other team wins. The winning team captures all Demons left in their opponentsâ hands (not in the Leftovers) and adds them to their captured Demons.
Scoring a Round #
Only the winner of the round scores points.
The round winner scores 1 VP for each non-trump Demon they captured.
The Demons in the Trump Suit (the double blank and the double of the Trump Suit) are worth 0 VPs.
Completing a Game #
If the round winner has 11 or more VPs, the game ends.
Continuing the Game #
Otherwise, another round is played. Repeat the setup steps to start a new round.
Winning the Game #
The first partnership to earn 11 or more VPs wins!
Other Variants #
There is a two-player variant on the living rules document by Sean Ross.
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