How to Understand and Play The Fool’s Journey: Part 2

Learn more about how to play The Fool’s Journey with the next installment that still features the Golden Girls.
How is your knowledge of The Fool’s Journey? This Tarot-based solo card game is awesome, although the rules can take a little time to fully understand. In this part of the guide, I wanted to cover some actual play examples to show how the various mechanics work. More advanced examples will follow. For now, enjoy following along with the Golden Girls!
A Quick Refresher
If you haven’t already formed an understanding of the different cards, I highly recommend reading Part 1. The concepts below build upon this introduction. But no need to flip back and forth! The overview of the types of cards is below. We’ll go through some actual play examples to see how the mechanics work. Ready? Off we go!
Cards: 22
Purpose: Challenges and Character
Dungeon Crawl Equivalent: Monsters or Obstacles
Card 0, the Fool, is used to visually represent the main character. The rest of the major arcana equates to numerical challenges that must be overcome with swords, wands, and/or vitality. These range in value from 1 to 21.
Cards: 14
Purpose: Healing/Aid
Dungeon Crawl Equivalent: Healing Potions
Numerical cups cards 2-10 restore vitality up to the maximum starting value. The Ace of Cups may clear the play area and shuffle the deck, like other aces. All “faces” represent specialists that may double other cups cards.
Cards: 14
Purpose: Flexible/Strong Power
Dungeon Crawl Equivalent: Limited Use Shields
Numerical wands cards 2-10 reduce challenges and may be reused if not depleted. The Ace of Wands may clear the play area and shuffle the deck, like other aces. All “faces” represent specialists that may double other wands cards.
Cards: 14
Purpose: Fixed/Delicate Power
Dungeon Crawl Equivalent: One-Time Thrown Weapons
Numerical swords cards 2-10 reduce challenges as one-use cards. The Ace of Swords may clear the play area and shuffle the deck, like other aces. All “faces” represent specialists that may double other swords cards.
Cards: 14
Purpose: Wisdom/Currency
Dungeon Crawl Equivalent: Gold
Numerical pentacles cards 2-10 act as currency to hire specialists of other suits. The Ace of Pentacles may clear the play area and shuffle the deck, like other aces. All “faces” are the same as cards 2-10 since the value doesn’t matter.
Into the Fray
Whoa! I’m just going to dive right in with a full play area example. That’s right: This is what everything looks like when all of the possible slots are filled. Well, almost.
I left out overlapping specialists that double volition and strength. We’ll save that for later on. This is plenty!
With your knowledge of the types of cards, you should recognize some of these spaces already. But no worries: It’s all laid out in detail in the following section.
I chose to use this Tarot deck because the characters are rather recognizable. Your own deck will be quite different!
Mapping Out the Play Area
No worries if this looks like way too much. It’s pretty straightforward once you start playing. The goal is to overcome all of the challenges in the major arcana without running out of vitality. Normally this would be tracked with beads. I left it out of this example since this can be adjusted to control the difficulty level. Somewhere between 15-25 is standard.
Reference the above image to understand these explanations. We’ll start in the upper left with the upside-down card and go through all of the facedown cards within the top row as follows:
- Discard Pile: Overcome challenges, used cards, and cards that are discarded are placed in this pile.
- Play Area: Every turn, 3 of 4 cards must be cleared in order to advance: I like to place them face-down to start.
- Draw Pile: This is where the play area is created from during each turn, and it contains the remaining cards.
Now, head on down to the bottom left with the Page of Pentacles and head straight over to the ace as follows:
- Wisdom: A maximum of 3 pentacles cards (excluding the ace) may be stored in this section for later use.
- Strength: Only 1 wands card may be equipped at one time, though extras may be kept in the satchel.
- Fool: This portrait simply represents the individual who is traveling on this journey and it plays no other part.
- Volition: A single swords card may be equipped in this place, while extras may be stored in the satchel.
- Satchel: Up to 3 non-challenge cards may be kept in this location, including extra wisdom and aces.
One thing that often throws me off are the names of the suits. “Strength” and “volition” don’t really equate to concepts that make a lot of sense to me. That may just be another personal quirk, though! If it makes more sense, just call these wands and swords. Or maybe even shields and weapons. Find what works for you, and go with it!
Playing a Sample Turn
Was that enough of a wall of text?! Ha! Rather than just explain the gameplay mechanics, I invite you to join me through a few sample turns to learn how to play.
In the beginning, it comes down to laying out The Fool and drawing 4 cards to create the play area.
I’m leaving out a lot of the flavor and unique ties to the Tarot, yet that’s something that can be added later on. Best to understand how everything works first!
So, here we are. Rose, ready to begin her journey, now has her first set of options available to her.
The Golden Rule of The Fool’s Journey
Besides working towards the goal of overcoming every challenge, keep in mind that every round requires only 3 of 4 cards to be resolved. This is a key concept that can change the game drastically! What does this mean? You can have a little advance knowledge of what the next round might contain and avoid immediate defeat.
The only time the play area of 4 cards will ever be totally cleared is with the use of the ace, or potentially as the very last action when the draw pile is empty. In the case of an ace, it basically interrupts the round to reshuffle the play area and draw deck. Then, off to a new round! But in almost every case, you need to resolve just 3 of the 4 cards in the play area.
Making the First Moves
Going back to our first turn example, this shows what I did to complete the turn. Only 3 of 4 cards were resolved.
The most pressing matter is Temperance, which has a challenge value of 14. Depending on my starting vitality, or health points, I might want to directly overcome this.
That’s always an option: A challenge may be overcome by reducing remaining vitality by the challenge value. But this is inherently risky, especially without any cups.
So it’s down to figuring out how to make the most of the other cards! My exact moves and choices are below.
Getting Through the First Turn
You might already recognize what I did above, but an extra explanation never hurts! As with all of my guides, skip over anything that seems redundant or obvious. For those still interested, my moves used the following sequence:
- Nine of Pentacles: Place in my wisdom area as currency to hire a specialist at any point.
- Seven of Wands: Equip in my strength slot as I prepare to double its value to overcome Temperance.
- Queen of Wands: Discard the Nine of Pentacles to hire this specialist, thereby doubling the Seven of Wands.
Why is Temperance still out there? Hopefully, you can answer that question easily! If not, go back to the Golden Rule of The Fool’s Journey. Only 3 of the 4 cards are resolved during a round. The Fool is definitely prepared for this rather difficult challenge, but she has to wait for the next round to actually do so. And who knows what else might show up?!
A Little Foresight
Another big plus to leaving a single card in the play area at the end of each round is knowledge. Rather than dealing with 4 new cards, only 3 unknown cards will be revealed.
Here we are in the next turn! Note Temperance in the same place. This was a lucky break: There are no other challenges to worry about. Very, very nice.
My decisions here are more strategic, though there are plenty of options. I’ll cover some of those below.
Keep in mind that I may play with limited vitality, yet I’m no expert! Your choices will likely differ when you play.
Examining Several Strategic Options
Maybe you see some obvious moves in this example. You might know definitively what you would choose! This is where the fun of the game is because there are rarely obvious moves. I can’t even say which of the following options will always be the “right” move in this situation. There’s an excellent puzzle that unfolds with every play.
Defeat Temperance
Perhaps the most obvious path is to go right ahead and take out Temperance with the Seven of Wands, whose value is now 14. It’s certainly not a bad idea! But suppose an even higher value challenge shows up during the next round? How would that even be dealt with? Although obvious, this could turn into a very risky sort of move.
Reset the Play Area
That Ace of Swords might be very tempting to clear away Temperance! At the same time, remember that the ace is discarded, but every other card in the play area would be reshuffled into the draw deck. Note, too, that the “play area” corresponds to the 4 cards in a row. Anything equipped in wisdom, strength, volition, or the satchel would remain.
Only 4 aces exist in the entire deck. There are times when 3 or even 4 challenges might come out at once. An ace is often the single way to avoid immediate defeat and find another way to move forward… That is, with luck!
Collect Resources
Never forget about the satchel, which can store up to 3 non-challenge cards. So long as it’s not in the major arcana, a card may be kept in this area to save for future use. This is often how aces can be held onto for later use. It’s also very helpful to hang onto cups, wands, and swords that aren’t useful during the current round. Just note the maximum of 3!
Onto the Next Turn
It might be clear which option I chose, but I’ll showcase the answer in a moment! Moving right along, though, here is the next round with 3 (not 4) new cards.
Can you spot the most beneficial set of moves? It all should look similar to the first round.
The important thing to remember is that specialists may only be used to double their own suits. So this King of Swords can’t do anything to the cups nor wands.
Do you remember the exception, though? Pentacles are different because their “faces” act as regular currency.
Filling the Satchel
If you guessed that I collected the resources before, you would be correct! I filled every available slot.
Why, though, didn’t I immediately equip the Two of Swords? This is another strategic consideration. I never equip wands or swords until I absolutely must.
Sometimes, a specialist comes up at the wrong time. The Two of Swords could only be doubled to 4. But if I waited for a higher value card, things could be very different!
I mentioned before about how resource management plays into this game. Maybe that element is a little clearer!
Forging a Path Onward
Now we come to a hilarious situation where Rose, as The Fool, must go up against herself in a pair of rather difficult challenges! I needn’t repeat how much I love this deck.
With 2 challenges in play, this means that it’s impossible to avoid them both. Why? Resolve 3 out of 4 cards.
This is a slightly more advanced example because there’s more involved than just overcoming a challenge.
It also rarely works out that the exact value is stumbled across. The Sun has a value of 19. So what to do with the remainder? Read on, since we’re nearly done for today!
Going Back to Wands vs. Swords
Here is our first encounter with the main difference between wands and swords. Up until now, I made them seem almost identical. Aside from the suit and slot next to The Fool, there’s nothing different. Get ready to learn more!
It all comes down to the difference in value between the challenges. Both of these doubled cards could overcome Temperance in the same way: 14 = 14. There is no remainder, so everything is discarded. But what about The Sun? At 19, there is a remainder of 5. Let’s take a closer look at how the wands and swords could be used.
Seven of Wands
In our example, the Queen of Wands effectively doubles this value to 14. Remember how I equated wands to shields? Imagine getting close and personal with this challenge. There’s no escape after a wand is played! For this reason, only 1 wands card may be played. Immediately after, any remainder decreases The Fool’s vitality.
The Seven of Wands (with attached Queen of Wands) would reduce The Sun from 19 to 5. Before anything else happens, 5 vitality must be lost. Swords can’t be played to further reduce this value. Another wands card couldn’t be equipped to then be used against the same challenge. The shield is spent, and the rest of that damage must be taken immediately.
Seven of Swords
So, where’s the difference? This card is also doubled in value to 14, courtesy of the King of Swords. Swords are like one-use weapons but think of them as thrown daggers. The challenge is a little further away and doesn’t cause damage.
The Seven of Swords (with attached King of Swords) would reduce The Sun from 19 to 5. Instead of being discarded, though, the swords cards would be stacked on top of The Sun. This then indicates the new challenge value of 5. Now, wands or swords could be used to further reduce the value of the challenge. Vitality is left untouched.
Actually, vitality could be lost to discard the challenge and used swords cards from play. But unlike with wands, swords allow this as a choice. Furthermore, these cards remain in the play area. The challenge can be overcome during this round, or saved for the future. With a clever plan, an ace might even add these swords cards back into the draw deck!
Exploring My Moves
Going back to this example, I chose to overcome Temperance with my equipped wands card. Since they were equal in value (14 and 14), nothing else happened.
Then, I used my equipped swords card to reduce The Sun’s value from 19 to 5. Remember my full satchel? I equipped the Two of Swords, then immediately used it on The Sun.
At this point, I chose to take the remaining 3 points as damage against my vitality. Both challenges completed!
With a few options open, I could then equip or store the Nine of Swords. 3 out of 4 cards resolved in the round!
Looking Ahead to More Details
You should now have an understanding of the different suits and the basics of how to play. Don’t worry if you’re not clear about how wands and swords work. The next part of this guide will explain how to handle remainders in the other direction. For example, how would it work if Temperance was replaced with Strength and a challenge value of 8?
Time for a brief review! You should have a pretty good understanding of the game if you remember the following:
- Overall Goal: All 21 challenges must be overcome before vitality reaches or falls below 0.
- The Golden Rule: Only 3 of 4 cards in the play area are resolved during each round.
- Card Usage: Only equipped cards may be used against challenges, as they may not be played from the play area.
- Equipped Card Limits: Up to 3 wisdom, 1 strength, 1 volition, and 3 satchel cards may be equipped.
- Wands: These reduce challenges, but the remainder immediately reduces vitality before the cards are discarded.
- Swords: A card will reduce a challenge and keep it in play to be resolved in multiple possible ways across rounds.
It still might help to think as wands as shields and swords as one-use thrown weapons. It’s all about the time available to resolve the challenge: Up close, it’s impossible to do anything else before absorbing the damage. From afar, there is time to try other ways to overcome the challenge before taking any direct damage. Pick what works for you, though!
Continue the Conversation
What else do you want to learn about the rules for The Fool’s Journey? I hope that this series is useful! A video might have worked better, but my video skills are about as bad as they come. Ha! Do you plan to play anytime soon? I would be very interested to hear about some solo sessions. This is a wonderful game when the rules are fully understood!
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