Cult of 11. Card game idea.
Recommendations: 7
About the Project
Got an idea for a card game. The Cult of 11. The premise is you have been abducted by the Cult of 11. You awake to find yourself in the maze-like levels of their lare. You have freed yourself from your bonds and each round you successfully empty your hand before your opponent you are escaping to a higher level. I am playing at 5 levels right now and will see how long it takes to play. If you fail to escape before midnight (3 steps on a clock type tracker) your captors track you down and drag you away to face a front row seat at your own ritualised murders. Comments and advice welcome.
Related Genre: Survival
This Project is Active
Play Mat
I used MS Excel to make a play mat and me and the wife are playing a game together on Boxing Day.
The squares are not quite big enough for the playing cards. The trackers on the left are proving handy. (Need to add the clock hands for the ritual clock tracker.)
With all the white areas between the trackers and the card placement areas, I may need to make it black or maybe use lots of “11’s” in several fonts and styles.
Purchased a deck
I feel these fit the bill.
Slightly cheaper than the Theory 11 deck, but not as intricate and plush.
They do suit the cult theme and will definately be more appropriate than my London Tube map ones i have around right now.
Trying to make it more culty.
Just thinking of ways to make the game look and feel more culty i found a playing card company called Theory 11! Cult 11 meets Theory 11?! Maybe.
Not cheap but they are gorgeously detailed.
The London Underground cards are not really setting the scene. ?
Ritual clock tracker.
Just a St John's Ambulance First Aid card hologram symbol as my tracker for now. ? Example Chase Phase Hand
If the example Escape Phase had gone badly for the players and the threat tracker had reached 6 the phase ends and a “Chase Phase” begins.
Three chase cards are drawn from the pack and set face down. Player 1 would keep initiative from the unsuccessful Escape Phase and will chose, before checking his hand of 3 cards, whether the pattern will be Higher, Lower, Higher or Lower, Higher, Lower.
Player 1 chose to play higher than card 1. Card 1 was a 7 so both players had a card available to go higher. 
The second card was an ace and they need to play lower than this card. For the Chase Phase we class aces as the highest card. They have to play lower than an ace. Both players were able to play a card and move to the last card. 
The last card was a 9. For the purposes of higher or lower i have decided that "higher" means equal to or higher, therefore both players have successfully escaped to the next level. Rules that didn’t play out on the play through…
The standard playing card order of things, (Ace, King, Queen, Jack descending) applies.
When attempting to go lower than a chase card, you need to go lower (not equal to.) e.g. If you want to go higher than an Ace you have to have another Ace or a Joker, but if you want to go lower than a 2 you can only play a Joker.
If a Joker is one of the three chaser cards the players can play any card and count that as passing that chase card.
In the example played out above, If player 1 had no cards higher than a 7 then he simply doesn’t play a card and moves to the second chase card and sees if they can play lower than an ace.
If one player lays one card higher and lower for all three chase cards but their opponent doesn’t the successful player goes up one lare level, but the unsuccessful player remains on the level they went into the phase on.
At the end of the phase if neither player has successfully beaten the chase cards then the henchmen have been able to delay the players exit to the next level and the clocks chime for the next hour.
The players remain on the same escape level, the Ritual clock level goes up by one hour. (starting on 9pm with no marker and then a marker is placed on 10pm, 11pm and finally midnight.)
I was going to allow the players to play an Escape Phase at Midnight and another Chase Phase at midnight, but i found that the likelihood of the game beating the players is too low already. I decided that once at midnight the game ends, but if any of the players are at level 4 the game can go to one last chase phase. If the player wins they escape, if they fail the game ends and the Cult (the game) has won.
Example Escape Phase Hand (Part 2)
The next top card was also a 4. Player 1 was able to play his last card and escapes to the next level towards freedom. 
Player 1 (Red) goes up one Lare Level.In the example above you would simply deal two more hands of 4 cards, shuffle the discard pile and draw pile back into the deck, reset the threat tracker to zero and start another Escape Phase.
The rules that weren’t covered…
Aces can be played from your hand when played on a 10 or any Face card.
If a joker is drawn as a top of the deck card you can play any one card from your hand and the threat tracker is dropped by 1.
If you play a Joker from your hand and the threat tracker has started, playing the card drops the tracker score by 1.
If the tracker reaches 6. You end up going to a Chase Phase. The Cult henchman are an arms length away and you are literally dodging high and low with your pursuers.
Example Escape Phase Hand (Part 1)
The hands of 4 cards each are dealt and the top card drawn. Player 1 has initiative. 
The top card is 7. So a 4 of any suit, face card K, Q, J or a joker card could be played. The players put down a face card each. 
The next top card was a King. So only an Ace (face cards count as 10 for this), or face card or a joker can be played. 
The players play their Joker and Face card
The next top card is a Queen. Sadly the players are all out of face cards and don't have Aces, so they fail to progress. The Cult are on their heels. The threat tracker (dice) goes up by 1. Both players draw a card from the deck. 
The next top card is a 5. Both players have a 6 in their hand so play those cards. 
The next top card is a Queen. Player 1 can't play but player 2 has a Face card. You only raise the threat or draw cards for failing to play if both players fail. 
The next top card was a 2. Neither player could play so they drew a card each and the threat is now at 2.
The next top card is a Queen again. The players can't play from their hands, so they draw cards and the Threat goes up to 3.
The next top card is a 3. Player 1 can't play but player 2 has an 8. (8+3 =11)
The next top card is a 5. Both players have 6's to play. 
The next card is a 4. Player 1 plays, player 2 has no cards to play so play continues. The Chase Phase
This phase represents your failure to find your way out of the current level of the Cult’s lare in the escape phase and they have seen you creeping around and are giving chase.
The chase phase involves dealing three face down cards and dealing each player 3 cards each.
Before checking their hand, the player with initiative gets to choose whether the players need to play cards higher or lower than the first face down card. (e.g. So the pattern will be either Lower, Higher, Lower or Higher, Lower, Higher.) Then the card is revealed. Using the example Lower, Higher, Lower; if you can play a card lower than the revealed card then you choose and place a card. The next face down card is revealed and the players need to play a card that is higher or equal to the revealed card, then the last card is revealed and cards are played where possible.
If a player was able to place all three cards they escaped the chasing pack of henchmen and go up one level.
If none of the players successfully play all three cards the clock clicks forward one more hour towards midnight.
