Starturn
This is a recreation of a rare game invented by Howard Storey, the inventor of Whot!
Here is the full set of classes of cards in our set - 15 Black and 16 Red. (there are 96 cards in total)
Our pack is a faithful recreation of the original cellulose cards in a more playable paper format. The only other difference is that we have added a third Black 15 to make a balanced set, and allow players to design new games for the pack. In Storey's game, the black has to be an even number of cards. You can buy a deck of Starturn printed on demand at Make Playing Cards here.
Here is the complete set of black, augmented by the extra 15. There are 3 each of 1-15 Black:
Starturn is a competitive patience game for two to four players by W. H. Storey, the inventor of Sorry! and Whot! As we don't have details on how Storey thought of it, we can only point out the rough similarity the game Flinch, one of many games in the lineage from the 19th-century Continental game Crapette through Spite and Malice to Mattel's Skip-Bo.
Like the Flinch, it uses its own pack numbered 1 to 15. Each player races to empty a private Store by building it onto shared runs from 1 to 15.
Storey called these runs "Tricks", though nothing is trumped or taken.
The game of Starturn
Storey's booklet (see below) is not that easy to follow, so we have rewritten it here. We've also included a version using a tally sheet rather than counters.
STARTURN
A building-and-discarding card game for 2 to 4 playersby W. H. Storey, inventor of Sorry! and Whot! — published by The Chad Valley Co. Ltd., Birmingham
Overview
Each player has a private Store of cards to get rid of. Cards leave the Store by being built onto shared Tricks, which are sequences running 1 up to 15. The first player to empty their Store wins the game. Completing a Trick along the way also earns a counter.
Luck governs what you draw. Skill lies in managing your Discard columns, in holding back cards that would help your opponent, and in blocking their attempts to unload their Store.
Components
Pack | Faces | Cards | Role |
Deck | Red | 51 | Shared draw pile: three each of 1–15 (45 cards), plus 6 Star cards |
Store | Black | 44 | Divided among the players, who each try to get rid of theirs: three each of 1–14 (42 cards), plus only two 15s |
You will also need a supply of counters.
Setting Up (Two Players)
1. Deck. Shuffle the Deck and place it face down in the centre of the table.
2. Stores. Shuffle the 44 Store cards and deal them face down, one at a time, so that each player has 22. Each player sets their Store pile face down to their right of the Deck.
3. Turn up. Turn the top card of each Store face up.
4. A 1 may not be the opening card. Return it to its pile and turn up the next card.
5. If the two turned-up cards are equal, return both and turn up the next pair.
6. First player. The player whose Store card is higher plays first.
Table layout
Starturn table layout
Each Store sits at its owner’s right hand. Discards are laid out in front of each player. Tricks in progress are built off to one side.
The original booklet’s photograph is printed in red only, so it can’t show which cards are black. In this redrawing:- the Stores (B and C) are the only black piles at the start;- the Discards (E and F) are always red, because a hand is drawn only from the Deck;- the Tricks (D) mix both colours, since Store cards are built into them alongside red cards from hand and Discards.
A Turn
A turn always runs in the same order: Pick up → Play → Discard.
1. Pick up
Draw from the Deck until you hold five cards. On your first turn this means five cards. Later it depends on how many you kept: a player holding three draws two.
2. Play
Play as many cards as you can and wish to. Each card must either start a Trick or be built onto a Trick(see below). You may play from three sources:
• Your hand
• The face-up top card of your Store. Once you play it, turn the next Store card face up at once; you may be able to play that one too.
• The foot of any of your Discard columns (see Discards)
If you cannot play at all, go straight to discarding.
3. Discard
End your turn by laying one card from your hand face up onto your Discard columns. Your turn is over the moment the Discard is laid.
If you have played every card from your hand, there is nothing to discard. You simply draw a full five next turn.
Tricks
A Trick is a run of fifteen cards, built upward one at a time: 1, then 2 on the 1, 3 on the 2, and so on up to 15.
• Starting a Trick. Only a 1 can start a Trick. Place it face up in the Trick area.
• Building. Both players may build on any Trick in progress, whoever started it.
• Limit. There may never be more than four Tricks in progress at once.
• Winning a Trick. Whoever completes the run, by playing a 15 (or a Star) on the 14, wins the Trickand collects one counter (or the agreed forfeit) from the opponent.
• Recycling. The fifteen cards of a completed Trick are immediately shuffled into the Deck. Store cards that were built into the Trick therefore join the Deck, so the supply of cards grows as the game goes on.
Star cards
The Deck contains six Star cards, which carry no number. A Star may be played at any time as any number from 2 to 15.A Star may not start a Trick and cannot stand in for a 1.
Discards
Discards are laid face up in front of their owner in columns, overlapping as in Patience, so that the newest card sits at the foot of the column.
• You may have no more than four Discard columns.
• You may play only the card at the foot of a column. Once it is played, the card above it becomes the new foot and is available too. You may keep playing from your columns for as long as the Tricks allow.
• A new Discard may go on any of your columns, or start a new one if you have fewer than four.
Choosing which card to discard and which column to put it on is the heart of the game. Bury a card you will soon need and it is locked away until you uncover it again.
Ending the Game
• The first player to play the last card from their Store wins. It makes no difference how many cards remain in their hand or Discards.
• After playing their last Store card, the winner may finish the turn, making any further Tricks they can. The game then ends at once, and the opponent does not get another turn.
• Payment. The loser pays the winner an agreed number of counters, two or more, for each card still in the loser’s Store.
Then separate the red and black cards back into the Deck and the Store, ready for the next game.
If the Deck runs out
There must be enough cards in the Deck to bring a player’s hand up to their hand size before they start their turn. If there are not, take the Trick in progress that has reached the highest number, shuffle its cards into the Deck, and carry on. No counter is paid for that Trick.
Three Players
Play exactly as for two players, with these changes:
• Stores. Deal the Store into three piles of 14. The 2 cards left over are laid face up, out of play, for everyone to see.
• Hand size. Players fill their hand to four cards, not five.
• Tricks. No more than three Tricks in progress at once.
• Discards. No more than three Discard columns per player.
• Scoring. Each player pays one counter to the player who completes a Trick. The winner collects the agreed rate from each opponent for the cards left in that opponent’s Store. For example, if one opponent has 5 cards left and the other 3, the winner is paid for 5 by the first and for 3 by the second.
Four Players (Partnerships)
Play as two partnerships. Partners sit next to each other. Play exactly as for two players, with these changes:
• Stores. Deal the Store into two piles of 22, one per partnership. Turn up the top of each as in the two-player game. The pair showing the higher card begins.
• Order of play. The partner on the right of the starting pair plays first, then their partner, then the opponents in the same order, and so on around.
• Hand size. Each player fills their hand to four cards.
• Tricks. No more than three Tricks in progress at once.
• Discards. Each player may have up to three Discard columns.
• Winning. The first pair to play out their Store wins, and collects the agreed rate for each card left in the losers’ Store. Gains and losses are shared equally between partners.
Tip: the right-hand partner should watch the other partner’s Discards closely. Knowing what your partner has available, and what they need, is where a partnership wins or loses.
Scored Play (without counters)
This version keeps a running score on the Starturn Score Sheet in place of counters. It suits a match of several games. Each dotted line on the sheet records one game.
Agree the Store rate
Before the match, agree the Store rate: the number of points lost for each card left in a Store. Storey’s own minimum was two counters a card, against one for a Trick, and 2 is recommended. At a rate of 1, a player who never empties their Store can still outscore the player who does, by winning more Tricks.
During each game
• Trick bonus. Each time you complete a Trick (a 15 or a Star on the 14), score +1. Keep a tally for the game, then enter it on that game’s line under Trick Bonuses.
• A Trick taken when the Deck runs out scores nothing, as in the original.
At the end of each game
• The player who empties their Store scores no penalty for that game.
• Their opponent loses the Store rate × each card left in their Store. Enter it on that game’s line under Store Penalties.
At the end of the match
1. Add up each column’s Total Trick Points and Total Penalty Points.
2. Net Score = Total Trick Points − Total Penalty Points.
3. The higher Net Score wins the match.
4. Tiebreaker: if the Net Scores are equal, the player with the lower Total Penalty Points wins.
Decide the length of the match beforehand, either a fixed number of games (the sheet has room for six) or play to an agreed Net Score.
Partnerships
Each partnership uses one column. Tricks made by either partner go into the team’s tally. The penalty for the partnership’s shared Store is entered once.
Three players
The sheet has two columns, so three-player scoring needs a third column. Score in the same way: each player completing a Trick takes +1, and each loser takes their own Store penalty.
Original game booklet
Here ius a scan of the original booklet for reference
New Games for a Starturn Pack
As mentioned above, these games require the New Tradition Games recreation, with 45 each of red and black. We will describe these in a separate post soppn.
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