Cinderella's Dance was first released under the name Count Up 21 at a January 2019 event called "これはトリテなのか?" ("Is This a Trick-Taking Game?"). This two-player game may or may not be a trick-taking game, and is, in a sense, intended to live on the edge.
The game consists of a deck of cards (numbered 1-21) and two optional scoring cards. To set up a round, shuffle the cards, remove five from play, then deal each player eight cards. The starting player plays any card, then the next player either plays a card at most three higher than the previous card — so on a play of 5, the next player could play 6, 7, or 8 — or passes. When a player passes, the previous player collects the played cards, stacks them as a scored trick, then leads a card. When a player is out of cards, you resolve the current trick, then the player who has collected more tricks wins the round; in case of a tie, the player who collected the last trick wins.
The first player to win three rounds wins the game.
- Compact and enjoyable two-player experience
- Ties well into other micro card games in the set
- May feel repetitive for some players
- two-player card shedding with thematic whimsy
- lighthearted and fast-paced
- Slambo
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
- card shedding — players shed cards to reach a target while manipulating order
- Climbing Shedding — players shed cards to reach a target while manipulating order
Video topics + discussion points
Quotes (from this video)
- it's one you're not going to want to miss because our story took some very interesting twists and turns in that playthrough.
- I really like the rune system of casting your runes, which are double-sided instead of rolling dice.
- There was a lot of chaos and laughter all across the board.
- I'm not a huge fan of Take That Mechanics.
- I’m really excited to try some of the more challenging tiles and map layouts and things like that.