Dr. Science

Dr. Science is a "thinky" trick-taking game by Adam West where you don't have to follow suit, but you constantly have to choose: do you play a card to win the trick, or protect your hypothesis? The game combines classic trick-taking with building sets and runs in your own tableau, and was successfully funded on Kickstarter this past spring.

Each scientist starts with eleven cards plus their own Researcher card. A turn follows the fixed "PhD sequence": first you play a card from your hand or tableau to the trick, then you may add 1 to 4 cards from your hand to your tableau to form sets and runs that earn Validation cards, and finally you draw a card from the open display or the deck. Play your Specialty suit and it becomes trump for that trick. Be careful: playing a card from your tableau can break your carefully built hypothesis.

The beauty is in double scoring: a card you first meld and then play into a trick earns you something twice. There are almost always several good plays, but rarely a perfect one. Whoever has the most prestige at the end from Validation cards, tricks and tableau wins.