Interested in a fast-paced card game? If so, check out our TriNet Earthquake Card Game Announcement!
Anytime Games is making it official with this announcement: the latest addition to our roster of games is the TriNet Earthquake Card Game. It's an exciting, fast-paced rummy-style card game combining fun and strategy. You can play it with two to four players, and it takes approximately 15 minutes. However, if you want to play with more than four people, it's still possible. Just get yourself a second deck.
It's a fantastic game for kids because there's not much reading involved, and the rules are simple and easily memorized. In fact, children as young as five can play. Keep in mind that because there's basic math involved, you'll either need to know your multiplication tables or get out your calculator.
How to Play TriNet Earthquake Card Game
Your mission during TriNet is to play cards of the same suit to earn points. The deck consists of 70 cards, and there are five suits of 12 cards each, with no rank or value assigned to the cards.
The five suits are blue wizards, green elves, red goblins, white soldiers, and black skeletons. Two clone cards act as wild cards, and there are eight special cards—two each of Earthquake, Prosper, Opportunity, and Time Warp.
To start, shuffle the deck and deal seven cards to each player. Leave the remaining cards in the middle of the table to form a draw pile, and create a discard pile next to it.
Take your seven cards and form two hands (called "melds) from them. Each meld consists of one or more cards that are the same suit.
To get your score, multiply the number of cards in the meld you just played by the total of cards of that suit in front of yourself and other players. For example, if you lay down three green elves and there are already two green elves on the table, you'll receive a score of 15 points (three cards in front of you times five cards in total on the table for a score of 15).
When your turn starts, pick up any cards left over from your last turn and put them in the discard pile. Once you play your two melds, your turn ends, and replenish your hand so that it's seven cards again. Once there are no more cards in the draw deck, shuffle the discard pile to create a new deck.
Play then proceeds clockwise. Whoever reaches 100 points first is the winner.
Special Cards
Gameplay is made more exciting with the addition of four special cards:
- EARTHQUAKE: This card removes all cards from the table. Typically, you'd play this as your second meld to prevent the next player from scoring high points off cards left on the table.
- OPPORTUNITY: If you get this card, you'll draw four cards. Try to play it during your first meld so that you get more scoring possibilities for your second meld.
- PROSPER: If you get this card, add five points to your score.
- TIME WARP: This card allows you to play as many melds as you like during your current turn.
The deck includes two clone cards which act as wild cards, and you can play them within any meld to boost your score. For instance, if you play two white soldiers with a wild card and there are no other soldiers on the board, you receive nine points.
A Few Words About Strategy
Strategically, it's best to play cards of suits currently in play to get the highest possible score. If you have four or five cards of the same suit, play just one to draw out others to play that suit. That way, you can play your remaining cards of that suit to score higher.
