Pacal is a 2-player card game that seems to have gotten lost in last year's shuffle. Using only a deck of cards numbered 1-50 with no repeats and no suits, each player tries to construct a pyramid faster then the other or force the other to give up construction. The rules call for three wins as a victory, but this is an arbitrary number since the card draw is somewhat mitigated by the way the game is played.

Each player is dealt 10 cards face down, and these are laid out in a pyramid structure (one on the top, two below that, etc.) without being revealed. This becomes the base for the development in the card play. The top cards of each are then revealed to determine who starts. The remaining cards are dealt out, 15 to each, and the play begins. Each player will try to construct a pyramid of face-up cards that must meet two rules: the lowest card must be placed on the bottom right-hand location, and the card value must continually increase to the highest card on the top. During the play, once a card is built on a location it cannot be moved and can only be covered once by another card. The winner is the first player to complete their pyramid or alternatively the one who forces the opponent to take a card that cannot be placed.

On your turn, you select two cards from your hand and place face up. Your opponent selects one and plays it on his structure, then you take the other and build onto your own pyramid. Play alternates, and if the play extends through 14 pairs of cards (leaving each player with only one left), you are allowed to play your card on your own pyramid if it meets the rules. Here are three examples:

1. I am holding a lot of low cards, and Marcia offers the 24 and 26 on the first turn. I take the 26 and place it on 7th position from the bottom, knowing that with my many low cards I will probably be able to fill more spaces below 26 than above. Marcia places on her 5th position, a more moderate placement suggesting to me that her hand is more balanced.
2. At a later point in the game, I have three consecutive positions filled with the 19, 26, and 31 cards. Marcia then lays the 29 and 30 cards. I have no choice but to take one of the two and cover either my 26 or my 31, keeping my number hierarchy intact. Once a card is covered, though, it is fixed for the game and cannot be covered again.
3. At the end, I have the 21, 30, and 32 showing all as a result of covered cards. Marcia lays the 23 and 29 and wins the game, since either card would force me to cover a second time.

This creates a very interesting dynamic, as almost half of your hand will be played by your opponent, and you have enough information to develop a good strategy but not enough to be sure it will work. There are two basic strategies to employ: pairing and splitting. By pairing, you choose two cards close in number that ensures you can place in a friendly position. This works well when, for example, you are in a position with one empty spot between the already-played 34 and 41. By playing the 36 and 38, you can easily fill the gap but must watch to see how the other card will help or hurt your opponent. By sorting your hand into logical pairs, you can assure yourself as many as seven spaces on your structure. Splitting, conversely, means playing cards with very different values and forcing your opponent to choose the high or low value. This is used less often, but helps to gain insight on the player's hand and can help set up a future pairing situation.

The game moves quickly, and it feels a bit like breaking a serve in tennis when you play a set that forces your opponent to cover their card while you fill an empty slot. You now have a one-card advantage that can only be lost by being put into the same position yourself. Choosing where to place the early cards is often the key to victory, as is assuring yourself of filling slots by proper use of your own hand. If both pyramids are completed at the same time, the winner is the one with largest variance between the low and high cards, giving extra emphasis to choosing carefully on the first and top spaces.

Pacal is fun, and the card play is more important than the draw. Each round is different, since 18 cards are never revealed, and it often feels that you could have played something smarter when you find yourself in a hole. The game comes with a small board and two pawns to use to keep score of the hands won, but these are superfluous and only make the game a little more expensive. You can play with any deck that has cards numbered 1-50, but like most of us I prefer to buy an original copy and support the designer if I am actually going to play it beyond the test run.

With all of the hype given to Lost Cities (and I like the game, too), it is odd to me that Pacal does not have more visibility. Obviously people are comfortable with a two-player card game that requires planning and fast play, and Pacal fits this exceedingly well. Get the rules from the Gaming Dumpster and try it with cards from your 6 Nimmt deck, and you likely will not be disappointed.