'Cold Iron'
A Solo Card Game by Matthew Hartley
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John Atkinson Grimshaw - Spirit of the Night - 1879
This year Matthew Hartley brings us a solo game which sees us trying outwit a cruel fae and reclaim a stolen child.
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“It bit me!”
“What did you expect faeries to do?”
“I thought it would do nice things, like granting wishes”
“Shows what you know don’t it”
Conversation between Sarah and Hoggle, Labyrinth (1986)
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Introduction
Hobholedrain is a lonely parish. Windbreaked from the roiling North Sea but just as wild, it stands encircled by a sickly marsh that lures the unwary. Earth becomes water under a pagan sky.
Not for these folk the ribbon-bedecked poverty of the Morris. Their generations have walked the coffin road and tasted its salt. No laughter or gaiety here, for them only an iron, cold and hard.
A babe is taken, but a changeling is caught. A horseshoe binds and a poker plays...
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The Game
The game is played using a normal pack of paying cards. A pen and paper or similar will also need to keep track of the Changeling’s health and the number of turns played.
The deck of cards should include all twelve court cards and the 2 Jokers.
During questioning (see below) cards will be discarded into a discard pile. This discard pile may not be examined at any time and it is NOT reshuffled if the deck runs out. If the deck is exhausted, the game ends in failure.
To rescue the babe from the fairy court the magic phrases must be spoken before midnight.
It is 6pm, and each turn represents 15 minutes, so the parents have a maximum of 24 turns to discover the magic phrases. It is important to keep an accurate record of number of turns played.
The magic phrase is made up of three sequential numbered cards of the same suit, for all four suits. The numbers do not have to be the same between suits, but 4 sets of 3 numbers, one of each suit must be present at the end of the 24th turn.
The game ends either as soon as the phrases are completed and the babe is rescued, or at the end of the 24th turn, when the babe is lost and only the Changeling remains.
For example, a successful phrase could be:
Hearts: 1,2,3
Diamonds: 7,8,9
Clubs: 4,5,6
Spades: 3,4,5
There is no limit on the number of cards the parents may hold and any time.
In order to extract the cards for the phrase, the Changeling will need to be questioned.
Each turn the parents can apply one of the following methods to the Changeling:
1) Threaten
Draw one card from the deck.
That card may be kept if it is a numbered card, or discarded if it is a court card with no ill effects.
If the drawn card is a Joker, the Changeling is helpful and 3 additional cards may be drawn. Numbered cards kept and court cards
discarded.
2) Apply the Iron
Draw one card from the deck.
That card may be kept if it is a numbered card, or discarded if it is a Court card. The Changeling suffers 1 point of Hurt. If the Changeling total Hurt equals 6, the Changeling is slain and the babe is lost.
If the drawn card is a Joker, the Changeling is piteous and 3 additional cards may be drawn. Numbered cards kept. Court cards are discarded, each causing one point of Hurt.
Applying the Iron may be used up to 3 times in a single turn. Each attempt uses the method described above.
3) Rack the Creature
Name either a specific number or a specific suit.
Draw cards from the deck until a card matching either the number of the suit named appears. Keep that card. All other cards are discarded. Each discarded Court card causes the Changeling 1 Hurt. If a Joker is drawn, the Changeling is slain.
4) Rest and Lament
Draw and discard one card.
The Changeling recovers 1 Hurt.
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Webmaster's Notes
An Orcs in the Webbe Original! This stand alone game was written exclusively for Orcs in the Webbe and was first published on the 1st December 2025 as part of its 2025 Advent Calendar.
Any comments in maroon in the article above have been added by me either to provide additional information or clarity. I may also have made small changes to grammar and layout but may not have marked those.
You can see all the previous stand alone games that have been written exclusively for Orcs in the Webbe by clicking on the maroon tag just below and to the left.
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