Stats:
No. of players: 3-4
Amount of time to play: 20-30 min
Age requirements: 10+
Set-up time: minimal

9 Lives is a trick-taking card game. It follows most conventions of typical trick-taking games, but adds a small wrinkle. When you win a trick you must keep one of the opponent’s cards that was played.

9 Lives Rules Description:

The 9 Lives deck is made up of four colored suits numbered one through nine. The backs of the cards show their color. Purple is always trump. To start each round you deal out the entire deck. Then players bid on the number of tricks they will win that round, starting with the first player and going clockwise.

You bid using your cat token and there is some overlapping in the bidding. The bid tracker goes from one to four and loops back down to eight. That means when you bid one you also bid eight or when you bid three you also bid six. You may also bid on two adjacent spots on the track. For example if I think I’ll win three or four tricks I can bid those two. Which really means I can win three, four, five or six tricks given how the bid track is laid out. The one hitch is you cannot bid in a spot that already has another player’s cat token.

The starting player then starts playing any card they like. Other players must follow suit if able and can play any card they want if unable to follow. The winner takes one of the played cards (but not theirs) and begins the next turn. This continues until one player runs out of cards. The round ends and is scored.

If you did not hedge your bets and only bid on one spot and won that number of tricks you get four points. If you put your cat token over two slots and match any of the numbers showing you get two points. If you do not win the number of tricks you bid, you lose points equal to the amount you were off. For example if I bid three/six and only win one, I lose two points.

Scoring nine or more points wins you the game. If no one has nine or more points, you rotate the start player clockwise and start another round. NO matter what the game ends after four rounds and the player with the most points wins.

Quick Review of 9 Lives:

9 Lives is a fun trick-taking card game that is easy to teach and quick to play. It appeals to a variety of ages and is accessible to both gamers and non-gamers. Fans of trick-taking games will enjoy it and its nuanced bid mechanic. It is a bit trickier than it appears on the surface though.
The components for this game are fine. The cards look nice and the cat artwork is fun. Some of the typography might take a minute to sort out, but it is not too hard to decipher card numbers despite the funky font. The rules are well-written with lots of examples.

Bidding is the tough part of this game as the number of tricks in a round will vary. It all depends on how many different players win tricks and keep drawing cards. This is compounded by the fact that you cannot bid on a space another player is on and there are only two spaces per number. Early bidders will have an advantage as they will have the most choice.

It is interesting to have some information on everyone’s hand since the backs of the cards show their color. It can help ease the tough bidding, but if you are the last player to bid you will often not have much of a choice. For this reason I recommend only playing 9 Lives with four players. You can play with three (you just remove one suit) but one player will go first twice which is a big advantage.

Inexperienced trick-taking players might want to wait until you’ve had more experience before giving this game a try. The bidding can be confusing without a basic understanding of the genre.

If you are a fan of trick-taking card games and are looking for one with a unique twist, pick up 9 Lives. It should hit the table often as it is accessible to anyone that knows the basics of the genre.

Score and synopsis: (Click here for an explanation of these review categories.)
Strategy 3 out of 6
Luck 4 out of 6
Player Interaction 5 of 6
Replay Value 4 out of 6
Complexity 2 out of 6
Fun 4 out of 6
Overall 4 out of 6