Zhamaq game with Romulan Pixmit cards

[think]

https://memory-alpha.fandom.com/wiki/Zhamaq



Trying to make this Romulan game more real. Along the lines of how Klingon is a language now just from it's use and for it's use. This game seems easy enough to make into a real game. The frame work is already outlined at memory alpha. Is this game somewhere on the net, maybe already? Or should we do that?? Looks fun! And possible!

 

[JRoss]

Ooh, yes, please!

 

[Yistaan]

That other Star franchise is a lot better at outlining rules for their fictional games--we have 2 sets of sabacc rules, regular and Corellian Spike, and 3 sets of dejarik rules, the most recent being sold at Disneyland/Disney World's Galaxy's Edge.

The only Trek game that has rules is tridimensional chess, and those were made by fan Andrew Bartmess and even he had to go through a bunch of legal hoops regarding collectible 3d chess set manufacturers selling his rules without permission.

 

[Unimatrix Q]

That other Star franchise is a lot better at outlining rules for their fictional games--we have 2 sets of sabacc rules, regular and Corellian Spike, and 3 sets of dejarik rules, the most recent being sold at Disneyland/Disney World's Galaxy's Edge.

The only Trek game that has rules is tridimensional chess, and those were made by fan Andrew Bartmess and even he had to go through a bunch of legal hoops regarding collectible 3d chess set manufacturers selling his rules without permission.

And there is a Klin Zha game app for Android in the Google Play.

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.fineGameArts.KlinZha&hl=gsw&gl=US

I'd love if someone did this for Zhamaq too (and Kal-Toh).

 

[137th Gebirg]

Allamaraine!!!

 

[Harpsichord]

Info dump! This is what the prop master had to say on the Ready Room about the game:

Early on it was necessary that the Romulans had something called "Romulan tarot cards" (pixmit) but then later we discover that those tarot cards are actually part of the zhamaq game. It's actually a 3-player game and in it each player has 5 cards in their hand. So, for example, here is an "instant death" card you would play that card to instantly kill your opponent and take his space. Once you occupy each one of these (red spaces surrounding the central raised portion) you've won the game.

Here are Michael Chabon's notes on the game:

As with tarot cards on Earth, the pikhmit “fortune telling” cards originated as part of a game, called Zhamaq.

Zhamaq can best be understood as combination of chess and bid whist, played with both a deck of cards, the pikhmit, on which the gods, heroes and demons of the Romulan (ancient Vulcan?) pantheon are depicted, and with tokens representing stylized military figures (munifex, conicen, immunes, centurion, praetor, quaestor, and emperor) on a soft fabric game mat. A Zhamaq mat is inscribed with stylized “landmarks”: mountain ranges, rivers, and forts, overlaid with a triangular grid. Traditional mats are often quite beautiful.

Zhamaq is a game of alliances and counter-alliances, treaties and betrayals, played by three players. The tokens come in three colors (red, white and black). The game play is generally understood to be modeled on the dual nature of warfare: the interaction of the tactical (play on the mat) with the psychological (play with the cards, which involves bluffing and trick taking). Some see a metaphor for destiny, human life, in that card play (the gods) controls and determines the possibilities of mat play. The Romulans view Zhamaq, rightly, as the game of games, the one that most perfectly balances skill and luck.

And here is a blog post categorizing the 32 cards themselves. Most relevant portion below:

Pixmit cards seen so far have a gold border with openings on one, two, or all three sides. As far as I can make out, no card seen so far has an unbroken border. Romulan script can be found on all three edges, and navy blue curlicues (in the same pattern for every card except Seb-Cheneb) surround the central image within the gold border.

Border opened on the right: [5 cards]

Border opened on the left: [6 cards]

Border opened on the base and the right: [9 cards]

Border opened on the base and the left: [0 cards]

Border opened on all three sides: [12 cards]

Some completely amateur opinions on this:

Hands should be drafted rather than drawn randomly. The sending and reading of signals during a draft feels very Romulan to me. The mind games will start before you even have your first hand.

With regards to what Chabon says about card play controlling/determining the possibilities on the play mat I can see a way for cards to be used for either their effect (ie the aforementioned Instant Death card) or for movement using the broken edges from the blog post. More powerful cards should be the ones with 3 open edges (free movement) so that opportunity cost is high for these cards. The fact that half the triangles on the board are 'upside down' does complicate this idea, though.

As for incorporating bidding into the game.. I'm not sure. Maybe something somewhat like El Grande where you bid the number and type of troops you will add to the board and the player with the least powerful bid is the one who goes first? And trick taking, well, I've played euchre once and barely remember how to play so I've got no ideas.

And, of course, this rule from Small World must be incorporated:

 

[BlueEyedTroll]

Has anybody designed a 3d printable board for this? I have the pieces but nothing to play on