There’s a certain kind of joy in dusting off a game you haven’t played in ages—one that feels like a visit from an old, slightly unhinged friend. That was me this week, revisiting The Dwarf King, a whimsical, unpredictable trick-taking game that somehow manages to feel like a folk tale, a bar brawl, and a court drama all in one.

The core of the game feels familiar at first. Each player is dealt a hand of numbered cards across three suits—dwarves, goblins, and knights—and the goal is to win tricks. But from the very first round, it becomes clear this is not your typical trick-taking game. Because here, the rules change every round. Literally.

Each hand starts with a new rule drawn from a deck of scenarios, and that rule turns the entire game on its head. One round, you might get points for collecting green cards. The next, you’ll be penalized if you take a trick with a seven in it. There’s even a rule where the player with the most cards of a certain suit at the end is declared the Dwarf King… and everyone else bows.

I had a particularly chaotic round where every six played caused the next player to discard a card at random. People were glaring, and cautiously eyeing their hands like they were holding cursed scrolls. Another round rewarded you for winning exactly one trick—which sounds easy until you realize how hard it is to win only one. Watching players suddenly try to lose tricks with the same intensity they’d normally try to win was hilarious.

What I love most about The Dwarf King is that it leans into its chaos with such a twinkle in its eye that you can’t help but laugh, even when you’re losing. Especially when you’re losing.

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