Card games
The Crew
IELLOThomas Sing2019
- players
- 2–5
- minutes
- 30
- years
- 10+
Deutscher Spiele Preis 2020Kennerspiel des Jahres 2020As d’Or Expert 2021
In the box
40 colour cards (4 colours, from 1 to 9) · 4 Rocket cards · 36 Mission cards · Task and Communication tokens · 1 logbook of 50 missions
Official rules (PDF, publisher's site)
Box details
- Designer
- Thomas Sing
- Artwork
- Marco Armbruster, Sensit Communication GmbH, Folko Streese
- Publisher
- IELLO
- Mechanics
- Communication LimitsCooperativeDeductionHand ManagementScenarios
- Expansions
- The Crew: En Route Vers L'ISS · 2020
- The Crew: L'Aventure Déimos · 2020
Where to buy it
Near you and online
In a shop
Within 50 km.
Online
Affiliate link: Marquoir may earn a commission, at no extra cost to you.
The basics
Together, complete a trick-taking mission: each task is fulfilled when the player who holds it wins the trick containing the matching card. Tricks are played following suit, the rockets acting as trumps; each player may communicate only once, showing one card with their communication token, and all other communication is forbidden. The mission succeeds when all the tasks are fulfilled, and fails as soon as a player wins a task that is not theirs.
Checked against the official rules · October 2026
The rules, step by step
Setup
Everything dealt, 4 rocket: commander, Tasks set by the mission
- Forty space cards: four colours from 1 to 9, plus four rockets from 1 to 4 that act as trumps. With three players, one player has an extra card, which will not be played.
- All the cards are dealt. Each player places their communication token in front of them, green side up; the 36 task cards form a draw pile.
- Reveal as many task cards as the logbook mission states.
- The holder of the 4 rocket becomes commander: they choose a task first, then each player in turn clockwise, until none are left. A player may have several tasks, another none.
How to play
Follow suit, Only 1 communication
- The commander leads the first trick; after that, the winner of a trick leads the next one.
- You must follow the suit led (colour or rocket) if you can; otherwise you play any card. You are never obliged to win the trick.
- The highest card of the suit led wins, unless a rocket has been played: the highest rocket then wins. Only the last trick may be looked at.
- Once the tasks are handed out, each player may communicate once per attempt, before a trick and never during one: place a colour card (never a rocket) in front of you, and the communication token shows whether it is your highest, your only or your lowest card of that colour. A reminder card in hand signals this until you play it.
- All other communication is forbidden.
- Distress signal: before any communication, the team may decide that each player passes one card (not a rocket) to their neighbour, all in the same direction; this costs one attempt in the mission's tally.
Scoring
No points, Success or failure, Attempts recorded
- No points: the mission succeeds or fails. The logbook records the number of attempts for each mission, plus one if the distress signal was used.
- Marquoir's counter enters 1 for a successful mission, 0 for a failure.
End of the game
All tasks fulfilled, Win another's task: fail
- A task is fulfilled when its holder wins the trick containing the matching card. The mission succeeds as soon as all the tasks are fulfilled.
- It fails as soon as another player wins a task card that does not belong to them, or a special rule is broken: deal everything again and start over.
- The campaign has fifty missions of increasing difficulty, which can also be played out of order.
Going further
Frequently asked questions · Rules on video · In the same family
Frequently asked questions
How is this trick-taking game different?
It is cooperative: the team must complete missions together. In each mission, certain tricks must be won by a specific player, assigned by task cards.
How do you communicate?
Hardly at all. A single token per player lets you, once per attempt and before a trick, show one colour card, saying whether it is your highest, your lowest, or your only card of that colour. You never communicate about a rocket, and nothing else may be said about your hand.
How do you win a trick?
You must follow the suit led if you can; otherwise you play any card, with no obligation to trump with a rocket. The highest card of the suit led wins the trick, unless a rocket (the trump) has been played: the highest rocket then wins. The mission succeeds if every task is fulfilled exactly.
What happens if a task is failed?
The mission fails immediately, and the team plays it again. The campaign runs through fifty missions of increasing difficulty.
Must you always follow suit?
Yes, if you have it in hand. That is what makes some tasks tricky: promising a trick to someone who will be forced to discard at the wrong moment.
Rules on video
Videos in French, hosted on YouTube.