What is it about?
Tacta is the Latin word for touched, and this sums up the game in a nutshell. Placing cards down in turns to overlap another card.
The aim is to score the most points, for every dot that is visible at the end of the game the player scores one point.
Set up
The gaming area is determined by the playing surface being used, cards cannot overhang the edge of the area.
The game consists of 6 coloured decks with 18 cards ranging from 1-6 dots per card. Each card is double sided so either side can be used. There is a starting card which is black with white lines.
Each player takes one coloured set of cards, shuffles them and then whoever has the lowest number on their outermost card goes first.
Card placements
Placing a card on the starting card so that the continuous line around the edge of the card is not broken, as shown by the green line on the picture.
If a card is placed incorrectly it must be removed, if it is not noticed prior to another card being placed on top of it then at the end of game when scoring occurs it is removed and the points are not included in the overall scoring. The cards that were placed on top of it as long as they are correctly placed those points do count when scoring.
Scoring
Once all the cards have been placed the number of visible dots per player can be counted. For example using the layout on the front of the box the following points would be scored:
Yellow – 15
Red – 11
Purple - 5
Blue - 7
Green – 5
Pink - 13
The winner is the yellow player.
Final Thoughts
If you are after a quick, low complexity game then Tacta is a great choice, it’s definitely not a game that can be played anywhere unless you have a good sized playing area. The cards are also colour accessibility friendly with symbols to use if the colours aren’t distinguishable to any players.
Variations
There are 5 variations to the main game:
1. Limited Space – Play using one suit (circle, square or triangle from around the number on each care). Play three rounds and then then overall winner is the player to score the highest combined score.
2. Quick Round – Remove a suit or two and therefore the game finishes quicker.
3. Free Play – There are no turns, countdown 3-2-1, Go! Any player can place a card on the Starting Card. Play continues at pace, the same game rules apply, an additional rule is at play, cards of the same colour can not be placed on each other.
4. Team Up – The Free Play variation is suggested for larger groups – teams of 2 players, shuffle the deck and deal 9 cards to each player. Seat the two players away from each other around the playing area.
5. Sabotage – Played with two suits, one suit is passed to the opponent on the left. The decks are played as normal but the same rules regarding scoring apply: only scoring your own colour.
