I'm not going to lie: the game is more-or-less based on player disempowerment. Not in the @World sense of 'the MC makes everything up and the dice don't matter,' but in the sense that the gameplay is centered on low information and unreliable information. One of the major elements of the game is supposed to be figuring out what the goal even is. Almost anything I could tell you about the actual scenario would be a spoiler.
(On that note, anyone else who's had a look at the book, please don't spoil it here, even under spoiler tags.)
I know it's a niche taste, and a hard sell. All I can say is that I'm not actually an asshole and will do my best to make it as positive an experience as I can. If, despite the disclaimers, you're interested in trying out this unusual and challenging experience, here's the (abridged) player briefing:
If anyone has any questions, I will answer as far as I can without entering spoiler territory.• You'll be faced with an unreliable vision of the game world, which may change or be confusing, especially in the beginning. Don't be discouraged, it is a puzzle which is intended to be solved.
• There is no chargen.
• The resolution mechanic is card-based. You have a hand of cards drawn from a Major Arcana-less tarot deck, and attempt to perform challenging tasks by playing them for their face value (or 12/14/16/20 for Pages/Knights/Queens/Kings) against either a target number or another character's card play.
• Sample TNs are 5 for simple, 10 for ordinary, 15 for hard, and 25 for near impossible. TNs are not set in stone, a clever or foolish approach can raise or lower the TN.
• Suits matter. Wands represent physical force, Swords represent physical agility, Pentacles represent intellect, and Cups represent social ability. Wands and Cups are opposed suits, and so are Swords and Pentacles.
• A challenge has a preferred suit (e.g. a fistfight would have wands as preferred). When attempting a challenge, you must play a card of the preferred suit if possible. If you do, you may also play any number of non-opposed cards and total their values. If you cannot, you can attempt the challenge with a single non-opposed card.
• When you run out of cards in your hand, you draw up to your hand size (which starts at 5).
• At any time, you can put a card from your hand into your trace. Cards in your trace count against your hand size, but are not discarded when you play them. You cannot have more than one card of any suit in your trace, and you cannot voluntarily remove a card from your trace, so trace slots are best saved for high values.
• Events beyond your control may discard your hand and trace (and refill your hand), so don't get too attached. Also, when you draw an Ace into your hand, it means some sort of special event is happening; the Ace is discarded and a replacement card drawn, then the MC draws from a deck made up of the set-aside Major Arcana to see what happens.
edit: Kings are valued at 20, not 18 as I originally posted.