Are there many other animals that are more beautiful and majestic than a peacock?
| Enchanted Plumes (2021) | |||||
| Designer(s) | Brendan Hansen | Artist(s) | Echo Chernik | Publisher |
Calliope Games |
 |
2-5 |  |
8+ |  |
30-50m |
There are few animals in the world that appear more elegant that peacocks. They each have a unique look thanks to their plumes (feathers) and the unique body color; their plumes almost give off an optical illusion that makes them even more mysterious. Of course with such unique creatures, there is bound to be a game that highlights this fascinating bird.
Enchanted Plumes is a game about creating stylish peacocks with beautiful plumes of 10 different colors. Players will take turns playing plume cards in rows like a reverse pyramid starting with the top, larger row and then drawing new cards. Strategic placement of your cards is key as the "top" row will cause you to lose points while the rest will earn you points.
Box and Components 
The game comes in a nice, sturdy box about the size of two packs of a cards side-by-side. The illustration on the front of the box is of a beautiful peacock and helps the game stand out among other games. The box has a nice linen finish which further improves the quality feel of the game.
- 101 Cards
- 100 Plume Cards: These cards are used to build out your beautiful Peacock. There are ten suits of ten cards numbered 0-9.
- 1 Peahen Card: This card is shuffled into bottom of the deck of Feather Cards that will be used to trigger the end of the game.
- Rulebook
The cards are made from a good quality cardstock that retains its shape very well and also sports a nice linen finish. The illustrations on the cards are very good and depict unique sets of peacock feathers. There is not much to say beyond the whole product feels high quality for a card game.
Mechanics
Game Setup
The game's starting deck varies depending on your player count. At 5-6 players, you will use all cards. As you decrease below five, you will take out the 9, 8, and then 7 of each set for each player less you have. Beyond that, game setup is pretty easy.
- Remove the Peahen card that depicts the body of the peacock. Shuffle the remaining cards together.
- Deal 9 cards to each player.
- Each player keeps 6 of these cards. The remaining cards are shuffled back into the deck.
- Count out 7 cards and shuffle the Peahen cards into those 7 cards. Place all eight cards onto the bottom of the deck.
- Finally, flip over five cards from the top of the deck creating a five card line beside the deck.
The player who last saw a peacock becomes the first player, or use your preferred method to decide.
Player Turn
Player turns involve two major steps:
- Play card(s) to a plume.
- Draw new cards.
Play proceeds to the next player in clockwise order.
Playing Cards to Plume
As mentioned earlier, plumes are built like reverse pyramids. You will begin adding cards to a "top" row and once you have 2+ cards, you can begin adding cards to the next row down. Each row built down will have a max size one less than row above (again, reverse pyramid); if you get to the point where you are adding a card to the bottom row that will only have a one card, place that bottom card face down to show it is a completed plume. You can and will likely build multiple plumes.
Rules for adding cards to existing plumes:
- Each row below the top must have one less than the row above it before a new row can be started. So if the top has 5, the next must have 4, then 3, then 2, and finally 1.
- The top row will determine the colors possible for the remaining of the plume and colors may not be repeated in the same row. The next row down may only contain the colors in the top row, the new row determines the colors of the next row, and so on. Completed plumes will have a color that matches in each row in the plume.
- Once a new row has been started, previous rows in that plume may not be added to or changed; it is locked.
Additionally, you may play one or two cards. Cards are played to existing plumes and to create new plumes. Cards played can be either played on the same plume or split across two separate plumes.
Drawing New Cards
You must draw new cards each turn. You will have three options for drawing:
- Draw two cards from the deck.
- Swap two cards from your hand with two cards in the face up row.
- Mix the two options above by drawing one card from the deck and swapping one card in the row.
If you have 6 cards in your hand, you may not draw new cards into your hand. You will need to swap two cards instead.
End Game 
Once the peahen game is revealed, the game ends immediately. Scoring is pretty easy; for each of your plumes, do the following:
- Add up the total on the cards on the top row, these are negative points.
- Count all remaining cards in plume and gain those points.
- If you finished the plume (the plume's bottom is a single card), gain 1 point for each card in that plume.
Add up the score of all of your plumes, whoever has the most points is the winner. In the event of a tie, the player who finished the most plumes is the winner. If there is still a tie, the win is shared!
Final Thoughts
I really enjoy this game. You get to create something interesting looking while also needing to think strategically about the cards you collect and where to play them. Once you play a couple rounds, it is very straight forward. I definitely encourage people to give this game a few rounds to grasp the strategy within because I could see people not really getting it until they see the creation of a full peacock.
I wasn't really able to find anything I disliked about the game. The quality, rules, and gameplay were able solid and well polished in my book.
If this looks like a game you would enjoy, I encourage you to check out the game on the publishers website or pick up a copy on Amazon or your FLGS if they have a copy in stock). 
Links/Media
Enchanted Plumes Board Game Geek Page
Enchanted Plumes Amazon Affiliate Link
Disclosure
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