Forecasts

1. Components

• 1 standard 52-card deck, with no Jokers
• 4 Player Boards for tracking Bid, Market Spend, and Reputation
• 8 wooden cubes in player colors: 2 per player, consisting of 1 Bid Cube and 1 Market Spend Cube
• 8 Reputation Modifier Tokens: 2 per player—Token A [Blank / +15] and Token B [+30 / +45]
• 1 Dealer Marker

2. Setup

• Place the Dealer Marker with the starting dealer.
• Each player takes 1 Player Board, 2 wooden cubes, and 2 Reputation Modifier Tokens.
• Place your Market Spend cube on 3.
• Place Token A, Blank side up, on 0 of the Reputation track.
• Keep your Bid cube off the board until the Bid Phase.
• Keep Token B [+30 / +45] off the board in reserve.
• Leave the center of the table clear for The Market .

3. Scale and player counts

• 4 players: Deal 10 cards per player, leaving a 12-card Draw Deck. Play 10 tricks per round for 5 rounds.
• 3 players: Deal 13 cards per player, leaving a 13-card Draw Deck. Play 13 tricks per round for 4 rounds.
• 2 players: Use the automated Rival Station rules in Section 6.

4. Round structure

Each round consists of six phases, resolved in order:

• Investment
• The Deal
• The Bid
• The Market
• Tricks
• Scoring

Phase 1: Investment

Before any cards are dealt, you may spend 1 Reputation to set your Market Spend cube to 3.

• Requirement: You must have at least 1 Reputation to convert. You cannot spend Reputation if your score is 0 or negative.
• Ceiling: Market Spend can never exceed 3.
• Carryover: Unspent Market Spend automatically carries into future rounds.

Phase 2: The Deal

Shuffle the deck and deal hands face down according to player count.

• 4 players: 10 cards per player.
• 3 players: 13 cards per player.

Place all remaining cards face down in the center of the table to form the Draw Deck.

Phase 3: The Bid

Starting to the dealer’s left and proceeding clockwise, each player publicly places their Bid cube on the number of tricks they forecast they will win. Multiple players may choose the same bid.

• Standard Forecast: Any available positive bid except 5 or 7. In a 4-player game the maximum bid is 10; in a 3-player game it is 13.
• Extended Forecast: Bid exactly 5 or 7. These bids offer doubled rewards and steeper miss penalties.
• Clear Skies: Bid 0, predicting that you will win no tricks.

Phase 4: The Market

Starting to the dealer’s left and proceeding clockwise, each player takes exactly one Market action.

• Hand count balance: Every Market action must finish with the player holding the required starting hand size—10 cards in a 4-player game or 13 cards in a 3-player game.
• Resource limits: If the Draw Deck or Market contains fewer cards than an action requires, use as many cards as are physically available and resolve the action as fully as possible.

Phase 5: Tricks

• Leading: The player to the dealer’s left leads any card face up. Its suit becomes the led suit. The winner of each trick leads the next trick.
• Following suit: Players must play a card of the led suit if able.
• Being void: If you hold no cards of the led suit, you may sluff any card or play a Diamond as trump.
• Trump: Diamonds are permanent trumps. A Diamond beats any non-trump card. You may only play a Diamond while following if you are void in the led suit.
• Leading trump: A player who has the lead may lead a Diamond at any time. Trump does not need to be broken.
• Winning the trick: The highest Diamond wins. If no Diamond was played, the highest card of the led suit wins. The winner collects the trick and leads next.

Play all tricks in the round: 10 tricks with 4 players or 13 tricks with 3 players.

Phase 6: Scoring

Compare the number of tricks you won with your public Bid, then adjust your cumulative Reputation.

Examples

• Bid 3 and win 3 tricks: gain +3 Reputation.
• Bid 3 and win 5 tricks: miss by 2 and lose 4 Reputation.
• Bid 5 and win 5 tricks: gain +10 Reputation.
• Bid 5 and win 4 tricks: miss by 1 and lose 4 Reputation.
• Bid 0 and win 0 tricks: gain +5 Reputation.
• Bid 0 and win 2 tricks: lose 4 Reputation.

Tracking Reputation

• Token A moves along the 0–15 track.
• When Reputation passes 15, reset Token A to 1 and flip it to the +15 side.
• When Reputation reaches 30, bring in Token B showing +30 and reset Token A to 0.
• When Reputation reaches 45, flip Token B to +45. The tracking cap is 60.

Cleanup: Unspent Market Spend remains on your board, up to the maximum of 3. Pass the Dealer Marker clockwise.

5. End of game

Play 5 rounds with 4 players or 4 rounds with 3 players. The player with the highest cumulative Reputation wins.

If players are tied, play one sudden-death round. If they remain tied after that round, victory is shared.

6. 2-player variant: The Rival Station

In a 2-player game, an automated third meteorologist—the Rival—competes alongside the two human players.

Setup

• Set up the two human Player Boards normally.
• Give the Rival a Player Board and place its Bid cube on 4. The Rival’s bid remains fixed at 4 for the entire game.
• Set the Rival to 20 Reputation: 5 on its Reputation track with a +15 modifier active.
• Place the Rival’s Market Spend cube on 3. The Rival never spends Market Spend.
• Deal 10 cards each to Player 1, Player 2, and the Rival.
• Place the remaining 12 cards face down as the Draw Deck.

Round flow and Market rules

• The human players complete Investment and Market phases normally.
• The Rival always Passes during the Market Phase and takes no Market action.
• Post-Market consolidation: Immediately before the first trick, gather all cards remaining in the Draw Deck and all cards in the Market, shuffle them together, and stack them face down underneath the Rival’s 10-card hand. This creates the 22-card Rival Deck.

When the Rival leads

Flip the top card of the Rival Deck face up. That card is the Rival’s play, and its suit becomes the led suit.

When the Rival follows

Flip the top 2 cards of the Rival Deck face up and choose the card the Rival plays using this priority order:

• Must follow suit: If one or both cards match the led suit, play the higher matching card.
• Trump while void: If neither card matches the led suit and one or both cards are Diamonds, play the higher Diamond.
• Sluff: If the Rival is void and no Diamond was drawn, play the higher non-trump card.

Place the selected card into the trick. Discard the unplayed second card face down to a scrap pile.

Rival scoring

• At the end of each round, compare the Rival’s tricks won with its fixed Bid of 4.
• Use Standard Forecast scoring: +4 Reputation on a hit or −2 Reputation per trick off on a miss.
• The human players must out-score the Rival’s cumulative Reputation by the end of Round 5 to win.

Frequently asked questions

Questions and clarifications