You know that feeling at the card table when you're holding a terrible hand and there's nothing you can do about it? Charuma has a very different philosophy: you bid for the hand you deserve.

In most trick-taking games, fate deals your cards and you play with what you get. In Charuma, you spend your hard-earned victory points to claim the cards you want. Every round begins with a dilemma: bid too little and you'll be playing catch-up with a weak hand; bid too much and you'll win the round but arrive at the next one bruised and depleted.

At the start of each round, groups of cards are placed face-up. Players take turns bidding their current score, their actual points, to grab one of these groups. Once everyone has secured their cards, the trick-taking phase begins. But here's the twist: each player also receives two hidden cards face-down, tucked underneath their visible hand. You can see most of what your opponents hold but you can never see everything.

Charuma is a trick-taking game unlike any other: bid for your hand, bluff with hidden cards, and find out if your reads are good enough to win.

https://boardgamearena.com/gamepanel?game=charuma

A huge thank you to Takashi Saito, the game designer, and the Darucat’s crew, and the BGA developer who brought Charuma to life on the platform. We couldn't do any of this without you!

This was you Monday release!

Half your hand is on the table. Half is a secret. All of it is a gamble. So take care and play fair…