Always be sure to shuffle your deck well before playing and concentrate as you do so. The Rules are yours to determine in the end but here are some you can follow in the meantime.
This OmenQuest ™ classic is a poetry game of association. ShapeShifter makes a great warm up for your imagination, or just a way to pass the time with a friend. Players are dealt three cards to a hand and play one card per turn to the discard pile. Players take turns discarding a single card relating to the last card played. When discarding a player may declare the relationship between the two cards, usually with an “I am” statement. For example, one player may discard SKY in relation to WAVE and declare, “I am the Bird who flies in the SKY, high above the crashing WAVES.” “I am the Tree in the VALLEY, where the Bird nests.” The next player may retort as they reveal VALLEY. Followed then by the CREEK “I’m the CREEK that flows into the VALLEY to water the Tree.” After each turn players draw another card from the deck. A deck may be of any size depending on the desired length of the game, and may be composed of one type or a mix of decks.
Start a game with a random card from a player’s hand or from the deck. Conclude when there are no more cards in the deck and all cards have been discarded.
Sometimes it’s difficult to make connections, challenging players to reach deeper states of their imagination, in this way endings are always entertaining.
This game is essentially the same as ShapeShifter with more players and another discard pile. Players take turns discarding a card on one of two piles and declare a relationship with the card they do NOT cover. This one rule has proven challenging to learn. With two choices where to discard, Ratio allows for richer player dynamics in games of three or more. ShapeShifter games can easily transform into Ratio and allow for more players simply by discarding next to the original pile to start the second. You’ll probably notice there is less of a propensity for “I am” statements in this game.
Start a game with a random card from a player’s hand or from the deck. Conclude when there are no more cards in the deck and all cards have been discarded.
Sometimes it’s difficult to make connections, challenging players to reach deeper states of their imagination, in this way endings are always entertaining.
Hi Q (2 players & up, 1 deck, 1 pile, 5 card hands)
Players take turns discarding about 3 cards per turn, relating them to eachother into a kind of free form poem. There is no requirement to adhere to syllable counts or to rhyming. An example of this could be to play POND “The pond is rippled,” DUNES “and the sands are shifted,” GUST “by the same wind.” Poems can be both literal and metaphorical. There are no limits limits in this game; you can pretty much do anything.
Sometimes will tell themselves a dozen stories, unable to decide on any of them. When this happens try playing any card, say something and see what happens.
Challenger aka Hidden Talents (1 deck, 1 pile, 2-6 hands, 1 spread per player, * the size of the hands and spreads equal and are determined by the number of players)
Two to six players take turns testing each other’s wits in this game of bouts. Players are dealt hands to challenge other players in turn, & spreads to to act as hidden talents that players may reveal to defend themselves.
Spreads are dealt face down; players are allowed to peak at their own cards but must keep them unexposed. Players then take turns to duel each other by discarding a card from their hand to the pile to challenge another player card with. The assaulted player must then retort by revealing a hidden talent card and countering the challenge and asserting their victory. Players take turns to the left and challenge players in the same rotation, being sure to challenge every player an equal number of times. Conclude a round when all talents have been revealed, place all cards in the discard pile and deal again from the same deck.
Seemingly competative, yet there is always a possibility
* Hands and spread sizes vary depending on the amount of players to ensure each player has an equal number of interaction.
2 players = 1 to 3 cards per deck and spread
3 players = 4 cards per deck and spread
4 players = 3 or 6 cards per deck and spread
5 players = 4 card per deck and spread
6 players = 5 cards perdeck and spread
Shuffle and cut the deck to tell a forever changing book. Read the cards face up from the bottom of the deck(A) and discard them in the reverse direction to the top (B), or slip them back into the deck for repeating themes (C). If or how narration is shared with other players is up to you. A deck may be of any size depending on the desired length of the game, and may be composed of one type or a mix of decks. Conclude when you reach the end of the deck.
Clear off the table or sit on the floor because this game can take up a bit of space. Players take turns interpreting members of a family tree. Tracing lineages over generations, players travel hundreds of year to understand the cause and effects of family heritage. Lineage can be played in two ways. It can be played by dealing cards face down in the design of a specific family in which players reveal cards by turn.
Or it can be played by players drawing one card from the deck at a time and adding it to a family as a child, a parent or an in-law. Scoot cards over to make them fit. A game starts with one particular couple of one particular generation. Players may explore relations in both offspring and ancestry. Commonly cards representing girls are played right side up and boys upsidedown. A deck may be of any size depending on the desired length of the game, and may be composed of one type or a mix of decks. Conclude when you reach the end of the deck and/or all cards have been revealed.
This game is seemingly complex yet surprisingly simple to play. One to a dozen or so players can join in this game where every one tells a part. A web-like spread of interconnections is arranged and may be made of 11, 27, or 43 cards. Deal and reveal cards in the order illustrated. Based loosely on the Celtic Cross the first card is the protagonist of the story, across them is their challenge. Below are their karmic lessons, above are the guiding angels, to the left is the past, to the right is the future. Diagonally
between them are their relationships. A finality card is placed to the side or below the protagonist to be revealed last and provide an overall tone of closure. Diagonal cards may only be revealed after the cards they relate are revealed.
Players take turns to reveal cards and explain their part of the web, building a story based more on understanding conections than experiencing events in linear time. Conclude when all cards have been revealed and all tales have been told.
This ancient game has been played through time, being quit a popular form of card divination. A ten card spread is dealt face down that can be read in many ways and applied to many questions. Six cards make a cross; the first card at the center is the primary element, the second card crosses the first and signifies opposition; below is the karma you keep repeating, above is your guiding angel; to the left is the past, to the right is the future. To the right of the cross there is a staff of four cards from the bottom up they signify yourself, your environment, your hopes and fears, and the overall outcome of your quest. Reveal them as dealt in the order described.
Tarot's Journey
(1 to a few players, 1 deck, 1 spread)
From the Ogu Shoku interpretation of the Tarot’s Higher Arcana with Joseph Campbell’s “Hero’s Journey” comes this great game and story device for those with narrative imaginations. A 24 card spread is dealt face down that can be read in many ways and applied to many questions. Eight columns are arranged into three cards each. The first column is the self, the second is the question, the third column is temptation, the fourth column is composed of omens of guidance, the fifth is composed of thresholds, the sixth column is the road of trials, the seventh column is the Divine and the Eighth is the goal.
Cards are turned over in the order shown.
~1~Ignorance, The Fool
~2~The Question Asked, The Moon
~3~Refusal of Choice, Love
~4~An Omen of Aid, The Hermit
~5~Courage to Enter the Unknown, Love
~6~Sacrifice, The Hanged Man
~7~Endure Hardship, Temperance
~8~Judge Well, Justice
~9~Rebirth, Death
~10~Readiness, The Magician
~11~The Purpose of Asking, Meeting the Goddess, The Empress ~12~Diversion from Task, The Devil
~13~Embrace of Personal Responsibility, The Emperor
~14~Confidence Gained, Strength
~15~Omen of Hope, The Star
~16~Inner Faith, The Hierophant
~17~The Answer to the Quest, The Tower
~18~Revelation of Victory, The Chariot
~19~Radiant Knowledge, the Sun
~20~Enraptured in Nirvana, The Judgement
~21~Omen of Rescue, The Wheel of Fortune
~22~Resolution to Return, Love
~23~Mastership, The Priestess
~24~Freedom to Live, The World.
Have you got your own way of playing with OmenQuest Cards?
Let us know all about it. You can share your own games or variations of other games
at the OmenQuest Forum.
