I don’t often like trick-taking games. Theme based games with games mechanics lovingly intertwined with the theme to help accentuate the game’s theme/story is where I like to live, which is pretty hard to accomplish with a trick-taker. But then along comes my wife who LOVES trick-takers. And so, my collection of trick takers began to grow. 

Upon my Gen Con 2024 research, I stumbled upon a game called Rebel Princess – a trick-taking game for 3-6 players where you are a Princess and you do not want to get married. Freaking hilarious. 

Designed by Daniel Byrne, Gerardo Guerrero, Kevin Peláez, and Tirso Virgós, and published by Bèzier Games, Rebel Princess is a trick-taking game where players assume the role of Princess at a 5-day (rounds) long party, and though the Prince Charmings and the dreaded Frog Prince are not invited, they will eventually crash the party to try and make their move on the players and propose. It is up to you to avoid their charms and not get married. 

Gameplay 

Rebel Princess has 4-suits (Queens, Fairies, Pets, and Princes) and you don’t always want to win the trick. You must follow the suit of the lead player, and players cannot lead with a Prince suit (since they aren’t invited). The player with the highest number of the lead suit wins the trick, taking all the played cards into their scored pile. If you cannot follow the lead player’s suit, you can play whatever suit you want, which the game calls “Void” cards. If someone’s Void card is a Prince, they have snuck into the party and can now be used as lead cards.  

When all players have played all of their cards, the round is over and you count how many Prince cards you have in your scored pile. Each Prince represents a 1 marriage proposal. Beware of the Frog Prince, a Pet Suit card that is worth 5 marriage proposals. The player with the lowest amount of marriage proposals at the end of 5 rounds wins. 

Every round has a special rule which can spice up the party dramatically, such as “Princes this round count as 2 marriage proposals” or “At the beginning of the round, pass 2 cards to your left.” Furthermore, each player picks a Princess at the beginning of the game which grants them a once-per-round power unique to each Princess. The last large caveat is if a player ends the round with all the Princes AND the Frog Princes, they get -10 to their Proposal count. This is pretty hard to accomplish, and has not yet occurred in my play throughs.

The amount of strategy for this trick taker is wonderful. There are several ways to maneuver yourself to safety if there are Princes on the table from both the round’s rule and your Princess power. I love the gameplay of deciding what trick to take and when, and with what card. Hand management is key as in every trick taker, but throwing in the Princess powers and the round rules makes every round feel fresh. Plus, you play with 5 out of 21 round cards and there are 10 Princesses to choose from, which offers a lot of replayability if your group enjoys trick takers.  

Art

Artist Alfredo Cáceres captures the essence of illustrated fairy tale books nicely with his gorgeous artwork on the cards. The iconography is clear and easy to understand after reading the rules once. My only wish was for each Queen, Fairy, and Prince cards (especially the Prince cards) to be a unique artwork, rather than the same art across the suits, but that is nitpicky, especially knowing that would be expensive to do for a small box card game. 

The real star for me was the art on the Princess cards. Each Princess card art feels familiar enough to know who it is without reading the name, but unique enough for it to stand out amongst the several iterations of the Princess. My personal favorite was Snow White, who is wielding a bow and arrow and surrounded by apples with arrows pierced through them. Super cool.

Components

There is a charm to having the Princess cards be thicker cardboard, unlike the rest of the cards in the box. It allows them to stand-out much more, and it does feel a bit powerful announcing you are using your Princess Power and flipping the thick cardboard upside down and hearing it click on the table. 

Everything is of high quality and fits nicely in the box, even with my Gen Con expansion. Speaking of the expansion, Carmesina is the expansion Princess with the power to mimic any other unexhausted (unused) Princess power. Her card has a holographic mirror on the card, and is the coolest among the cards for that reason alone (though my favorite is still Snow White). 

The rulebook was laid out well and was easy to read. I very much appreciated the latter half that further explains rulings for each Princess Power and Round Rule. Very helpful.

Final Thoughts

Rebel Princess might be my favorite trick taker. Themes melding well with mechanics is a big deal to me, and this one hits all marks. The idea of mostly trick-dodging rather than always trick-taking is quite fun, and something I want to see more trick takers do. It’s easy to learn, and sometimes can get a bit mean. You can throw in a Prince for a trick you know a certain person will win, and it’s extra spicy when other players follow with their own Prince. But I found that reinforces the theme quite well. 

Play if you like:
Trick Takers
Cat in the Box
Asymmetric Powers

Just Don’t Expect: 
Long game time
Everyone to be nice
To kiss a frog

Added to collection: Yes!
Rating: 7.8/10