| Designed by | Richard Skifton |
| Players | (1) 2-4 |
| Length | 30 |
| Extra Material | None |
Emlékek is a thematic game about gathering memories from a tableau, set in the Decktet universe.
The memories come and go like water through my hands. Occasionally, I can cup enough in my palm to see a reflection of my memory, but then it slips yet again… —Old Huntress
Memories fade in and out from the old Huntress' mind. Can she quickly recall her past and leave her legacy behind? Will others tell her tale after she's gone? Unfortunately, faces fade and change into others whilst empty halls turn into busy markets.
Object
Be the player with the most points in hand by the time everyone consecutively passes, or the tableau is empty. The points are tallied from the card ranks in your hand from Ace (1) to Crown (10). Usually, three complete rounds of the game are played, and the consecutive score is kept with the winner being the one with the most points at the end of all three.
Setup
The game uses the basic deck. Place 18 cards face down on a flat surface in a diamond pattern; that is, progressive rows with 1-3-5-5-3-1 cards. Now place the remaining 18 cards, face up, atop the face down cards. This will create a random tableau of card pairs, each with one face down card and one face-up card. The starting player is chosen by whatever means you like, and the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th players–starting with the last player–may flip over 1, 2, or 3 card pairs, respectively (e.g. in a three-player game, the 3rd player may flip over two card pairs, and then the 2nd player may flip over one). Note: Card pairs that have been flipped may be flipped again by the same or different player, but it still counts towards your allotted number of flips. The game then begins.
Game play
On your turn you may do three things in this order: 1) play/discard a card from your hand and/or 2) collect a single run or set of three or more cards from the tableau, or 3) pass your turn. Play then continues in a clockwise order around the table. The general shape of the tableau is already defined, but as the game progresses, voids and fragmented memories (cards) will start to manifest. However, it is important to preserve the original shape of the tableau.
Play/Discard:
You start the game with no cards in hand, but hopefully, after a few turns, you will have a plethora of memories (cards). On your turn, you may play a single card anywhere on the tableau. This includes empty space and even on top of other face-up cards. Played cards must be adjacent to or on top of other cards in the tableau. If, instead, you chose to discard a card to a face down discard pile, you may flip over a single faceup-facedown card pair. You cannot flip over a face-up card unless it has a face-down card underneath.
Collect a run or set:
Once per turn, you may collect a run or set from the tableau. The cards must be adjacent as you go from one card to the next, either orthogonal or diagonal.
—To collect a run
Runs must have a shared suit. Runs represent the Huntress' attempt at remembering a complete event in her life story. You must start at the highest rank card in the run and then collect the remaining cards in a line through the tableau in descending order. The next card in the run must be adjacent to the current card you picked up. This allows you to 'wiggle' your way through the memories from one side of the tableau to the other, if possible. This means you could potentially have a run of up to 10 cards (If you're that lucky, or your opponents have their minds on other things!). You must then immediately discard the top and bottom rank cards from the run that you just collected to a face-down discard pile, keeping the remaining cards from the run in your hand. (e.g., a
, 8
, 6
, 5
, and finally, A are all adjacent to one another in a line through the tableau in descending order. You collect the run and then discard the and A. If you manage to hold onto these cards until the end of the round, this run will score you 19 points.) After the run, you then flip over any face down cards that have their card backs now showing.
—To collect a set
Sets are made of three or more cards of the same rank and must be adjacent to one another, either orthogonal or diagonal. Sets represent strong core memories, and all cards in a set may be kept in hand. The cards are picked up from one end of the set to the other, 'wiggling' your way through the tableau, just as you did with a run. Also, just as before, any face down cards revealed may be turned face up at this time (e.g., the 7, 7
, and 7
are all adjacent to one another. All may be collected and kept in hand. This can potentially score you 21 points at the end of the game. Then, any revealed face-down cards are turned face up.) Note: crowns and aces may create sets of more than three. Therefore, all adjacent crowns or all adjacent aces may be collected, if possible.
Pass:
Pass your turn if you cannot or do not want to do either of the two previous options. If you pass your turn, this doesn't mean you are out. You may play again next time your turn comes up. The only exception is if everyone else passes their turn, then the current round is over.
End of Round:
The round is over if all players have consecutively passed their turn or if the tableau is empty. At this point, you count up the rank of each card in your hand and record it with a paper and pen. are worth 10, 2-9 are worth their face value, and A are worth 1.
Variants
Burst of inspiration:
Once you play a few rounds you may want to introduce the Excuse card to the splay of face down cards. Discard any remaining cards during setup. Once the Excuse is turned face up–either during setup or through normal gameplay–immediately place the four
and four 
on the surrounding 8 spaces around the Excuse. For scoring purposes, the and are both rank zero and, if tied for lowest, you choose which card you want to discard during a run, keeping the rest.
Different tableaus:
For the more experienced players you may change up the original tableau. Some suggestions are
Castle (hard)
5-2-4-2-5 with the tableau splayed out in an open square
Bridge (hardest)
4-10-4 with the tableau in a dog bone shape
Sandman, a single player variant:
Before splaying the cards, deal 4 cards out face down and 4 cards, atop those, face up. This represents the memories the Sandman is going to interject into the sets and runs to be acquired. Continue to set up the game as normal with a tableau that is 3-5-5 in number with the top row of three centered. Any remaining cards start your hand. Take turns with the Sandman, trying to get all of his cards to the tableau and then collected in a set or run. When gained/collected, set his cards face up in a discard pile next to the face down discard pile. The game ends when either all the Sandman's cards are collected as memories or if at any time one of his cards are discarded to the face down discard pile. The final score is the total of the card ranks in both hands. For an easier mode, only put out three cards face down and three cards face up during the set up. For an expert mode put out 5 cards face down and 5 cards face up during setup.
Credits
Play testers: Richard Skifton, Ashley Skifton