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Origin | Germany |
---|---|
Type | Trick-taking |
Players | 3 |
Skills required | Hand evaluation, counting, cooperation |
Cards | 32 |
Deck | French, German or Tournament-suited 'Skat' deck |
Play | Clockwise |
Card rank (highest first) | (J) A 10 K Q 9 8 7 A K Q J 10 9 8 7 (only for Null-Games) |
Playing time | 3-5 minutes per hand played |
Random chance | Low |
Related games | |
Doppelkopf, Schafkopf, Sheepshead |
Skat (German pronunciation: [ˈskaːt]) is a 3-player trick-takingcard game of the Ace-Ten family, devised around 1810 in Altenburg in the Duchy of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg. It is the national game of Germany[1] and, along with Doppelkopf, it is the most popular card game in Germany and Silesia. It is considered one of the best and most interesting card games for 3 players[1][2] and has been described as 'the king of German card games.'[3]
- 2Rules
- 2.4Bidding
- 2.4.1Game value
- 2.4.2Bidding mechanics
- 2.5Declaring
- 2.6Playing
- 2.7Counting and scoring
- 2.7.1Winning conditions for declarer
- 2.4Bidding
- 3Game variants
- 4North American skat
History[edit]
Skat was developed by the members of the Brommesche Tarok-Gesellschaft[4] between 1810 and 1817 in Altenburg, in what is now the State of Thuringia, Germany, based on the three-player game of Tarock, also known as Tarot, and the four-player game of Schafkopf (equivalent to the American game Sheepshead).[5] It has become the most loved and widely played German card game, especially in German-speaking regions.[6] In the earliest known form of the game, the player in the first seat was dealt twelve cards and the other two players ten each. He then made two discards, constituting the Skat, and announced a contract.[7] But the main innovation of this new game was that of the bidding process.[8]
The first book on the rules of Skat was published in 1848 by a secondary school teacher J. F. L. Hempel.[9] Nevertheless, the rules continued to differ from one region to another until the first attempt to set them in order was made by a congress of Skat players on 7 August 1886 in Altenburg. These were the first official rules finally published in a book form in 1888 by Theodor Thomas of Leipzig.[9] The current rules, followed by both the ISPA and the German Skat Federation, date from Jan. 1, 1999.[10]
The word Skat is a Tarok term[11] derived from the Latin word scarto, scartare, which means to discard or reject, and its derivative scatola, a box or a place for safe-keeping.[12] The word scarto is still used in some other Italian card games to this day, and is not to be confused with the American game called scat[13]
Rules[edit]
- Note: Because of the many variations in the rules of Skat, the rules below are necessarily general, although rules not found in official German tournament play are marked as such.
General principles[edit]
Skat is a game for three players. At the beginning of each round or 'deal', one player becomes declarer and the other two players become the defending team. The two defenders are not allowed to communicate in any way except by their choice of cards to play. The game can also be played by four players. In this case, the dealer will sit out the round that was dealt. Players may agree at the outset how many rounds/deals they will play for.
A central aspect of the game are the three coexisting varieties called 'suit', 'grand' and 'null' games, that differ in suit order, scoring and even overall goal to achieve.
Each round of the game starts with a bidding phase to determine declarer and the required minimum game value (explained below). Then, ten tricks are played, allowing players to take trick points. Each card has a face value (except in null games) and is worth that number of points for the player winning the trick. The total face value of all cards is 120 points. Declarer's goal is to take at least 61 points in tricks in order to win that round of the game. Otherwise, the defending team wins the round. Points from tricks are not directly added to the players' overall score, they are used only to determine the outcome of the game (win or loss for declarer), although winning by certain margins may increase the score for that round.
After each round a score is awarded in accordance with the game value. If declarer wins he is awarded a positive score, if he loses the score is doubled and subtracted from the declarer's tally (i.e. a negative score).
Deck[edit]
The deck consists of 32 cards. Many modern decks use the French deck consisting of an ace (Ass), king (König), queen (Dame), jack (Bauer), 10, 9, 8 and 7 in all four suits (clubs ♣, spades ♠, hearts ♥ and diamonds ♦). Some players in Eastern and Southern Germany and Austria prefer traditional German decks with suits of acorns, leaves, hearts and bells, and card values of deuce (Daus), king (König), Ober, Unter, 10, 9, 8, and 7 in all four suits.[14] Until recently in Saxony and Thuringia, for example, German-suited decks were used almost exclusively. By contrast, regions of the former West Germany had adopted a French-suited deck.
Since German reunification, a compromise Turnierbild deck is used in tournaments that uses the shapes of the French suits but with corresponding German suit colors, green spades ♠ imitating leaves and gold diamonds ♦ imitating bells.[15] The choice of deck does not affect the rules.
Dealing[edit]
At the beginning of each round each player is dealt ten cards, with the two remaining cards (the so-called Skat) being put face down in the middle of the table. Dealing follows this pattern: deal three cards each, then deal the Skat, then four cards each, then three cards again ('three–Skat–four–three'). In four-player rounds, the dealer does not receive any cards and skips actual play of the round. He or she may peek into the hand of one other player (if allowed to do so) but never into the Skat.
Dealing rotates clockwise around the table, so that the player sitting to the left of the dealer will be dealer for the next round.
Bidding[edit]
After the cards have been dealt, and before the deal is played out, a bidding or auction (German: Reizen) is held to decide:
- Who will be declare' for the round, and thus eligible for picking up the Skat
- The minimum game value needed in order for declarer to win
The goal for each player during the bidding is to bid a game value as high as their card holding would allow, but never higher than necessary to win the auction. How the actual game value is determined is explained in detail below and is necessary to understand in order to know how high one can safely bid.
It is possible for a player to overbid, which leads to an automatic loss of the game in question. Often this does not become obvious before the player picks up the Skat, or even not before the end of the game in question (in case of a hand game, when the Skat is not picked up). Players have therefore to exercise careful scrutiny during bidding, as not to incur an unnecessary loss.
The bidding may also give away some information about what cards a player may or may not hold. Experienced players will be able to use this to their advantage.
Game value[edit]
The game value (also called hand value, German: Spielwert) is what the game will be worth after all tricks have been played. It is determined not only by the 10 cards held, but also by the two-card Skat. The Skat always belongs to the declarer, and if it contains certain high cards this may change the game value. It is therefore not possible in general to determine the exact game value before knowing the Skat.
The game value is determined by the type of the game and the game level as explained below for the suit, grand and null games.
Suit game[edit]
In a suit game (German: Farbspiel), one of the four suits is the trump suit.
Each suit has a base value (German: Grundwert), as follows:
suit (French deck) | suit (German deck) | value |
---|---|---|
Clubs (German: Kreuz) (♣) | Acorns (German: Eichel) () | 12 |
Spades (German: Pik) (♠) | Leaves (German: Blatt / Grün) () | 11 |
Hearts (German: Herz) (♥) | Hearts (German: Herz / Rot) () | 10 |
Diamonds (German: Karo) (♦) | Bells (German: Schellen) () | 9 |
This base value is then multiplied by the multiplier game level (German: Spielstufe or Gewinngrad) to determine the game value, so:
- game value = base value × game level.
The multiplier game level of 1 (for becoming declarer) is always assumed. It is then increased by one for each of the following:
- The matador's jack straight length (German: Spitzen), counting from the top, that is the J♣ and any trumps in unbroken sequence with it.
- If the top trump (J♣) is held, count the length of the straight of trumps from the top (for example having all jacks and the ace but not the 10 of the suit counts as 'with 5', other trump cards are not considered).
- If the J♣ is missing, count the missing trumps from the top (for example owning the J♦ but no higher jack counts as 'without 3')
- The Hand game (when the Skat is not picked up by declarer).
- The Schneider (when the game is won or lost with 90 or more trick points taken by the winning side).
- The Schwarz (when the game is won or lost with all tricks taken by the winning side).
In case of a Hand game (declarer does not pick up the Skat), the following special cases are allowed. Each one increases the multiplier game level by another point:
- Schneider is announced by declarer after the bidding (declarer has to take 90 or more trick points to win the game)
- Schwarz is announced by declarer after the bidding (declarer has to take all tricks to win)
- Ouvert (declarer plays with open cards and takes all tricks; that is Schwarz has to be announced in order to declare Ouvert in a suit game)
To summarize in tabular form:
Ordinary Skat game | Hand game | |
---|---|---|
Matador's jack straight (with or without) | 1 each | 1 each |
Game (for becoming declarer) | 1 | 1 |
Hand (the Skat is not picked up) | N/A | 1 |
Schneider (win with 90 or more points) | 1 | 1 |
Schneider announced | N/A | 1 |
Schwarz (win all tricks) | 1 | 1 |
Schwarz announced | N/A | 1 |
Ouvert (declarer plays with open hand) | N/A | 1 |
Cards in the trump suit are ordered as follows (this is important to know when counting the length of the matador's jack straight):
- Jack of clubs, J♣ or B♣ or U (German deck: Unter of acorns/Acorn Unter)
- Jack of spades, J♠ or B♠ or U (German deck: Unter of leaves/Green Unter)
- Jack of hearts, J♥ or B♥ or U (German deck: Unter of hearts/Red Unter)
- Jack of diamonds, J♦ or B♦ or U (German deck: Unter of bells/Bell Unter)
- Ace of trumps
- 10 of trumps
- King of trumps
- Queen of trumps (German Deck: Ober)
- 9 of trumps
- 8 of trumps
- 7 of trumps
J♣ is the highest-ranking card in a suit game and is called in German der Alte ('the old man').
The non-trump suit cards are ranked A-10-K-Q-9-8-7 (or A-10-K-O-9-8-7 for the German deck respectively).
As mentioned above, the cards in the Skat are to be included when determining the multiplier game level (also in case of the Hand game, where the Skat is unknown until after the deal has been played out). During bidding, each player therefore has incomplete information regarding the true game value. The final game value is calculated by multiplying the base value for the suit by the multiplier game level:
Grand game[edit]
Grand game is a special case of suit game, in which only the Jacks are trumps in the same order as in the suit game:
- Jack of clubs, J♣ or B♣ or U
- Jack of spades, J♠ or B♠ or U
- Jack of hearts, J♥ or B♥ or U
- Jack of diamonds, J♦ or B♦ or U
All other cards are ranked the same as in a suit game: A-10-K-Q-9-8-7.
The base value for the grand game is 24 in the official rules. It used to be 20 until 1932, and many hobbyists continued to use 20 well into the postwar era.
All other rules for determining game value are as in a suit game, that is, the base value of 24 is multiplied by the multiplier game level.
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Null game[edit]
In the null game, declarer promises not to take any tricks at all. There is no trump suit and jacks are treated as normal suit cards sorted between 10 and queen. Thus the cards are ordered: A-K-Q-J-10-9-8-7. The game values of null games are fixed, as follows:
- 23 for a simple null game
- 35 for a Null Hand game (the Skat is not picked up by declarer)
- 46 for a Null Ouvert game (declarer plays with open cards)
- 59 for a Null Ouvert Hand game (combination of the above two)
Examples[edit]
The following examples give a player's holding and the contents of the Skat (which will be unknown to all players during the auction) and explain how to derive the game value.
Example 1
- Holding: J♣J♦A♥10♥K♥8♥7♥9♦8♦7♦
- Skat: A♠Q♠
The length of matador's jack straight will be 1 (J♣ is present, J♠ is missing). The multiplier game level will be 2 (1 for matador's jack straight plus 1 for becoming declarer).
The possible game value now depends on which game is declared, for example:
- With hearts as trumps (base value is 10), the game value is 20 (10 × 2).
- If the Skat is not picked up, the game value is 30 (the multiplier game level increases from 2 to 3 for declaring Hand).
- If declarer manages to win with at least 90 trick points, the game value will be 30 as well (the multiplier game level increases from 2 to 3 for achieving Schneider).
- In the grand game (base value is 24), the game value will be 48 (24 × 2).
Of course, many other possibilities exist.
Note that game value is dependent not only on the cards held (including the Skat) but also on which game is being declared and the outcome of the play. Each holding can thus be evaluated differently by different players. A risk-taking player might be willing to declare Hand on a holding on which another player might not — these two players will therefore give different valuations to the same holding. However, after all tricks have been played, it is always possible to determine the exact game value by combining the actual holding with the type of game and outcome of the play. Only then it becomes apparent if declarer has won or lost (if he overbid).
Example 2
- Holding: J♣J♠J♥A♥10♥K♥8♥7♥10♣7♣
- Skat: J♦Q♠
Assuming a trump suit of hearts in a suit game, this holding will have a different valuation before and after the Skat has been examined.
Without knowledge of the Skat (assuming Hand is not declared)
- the multiplier game level is 4 (3 for the J♣J♠J♥ straight, plus 1 for becoming declarer)
- the base value is 10 (for Hearts being the trump suit)
Card Games
This holding can be safely valuated at 40 (10 × 4), regardless of the Skat. With Hearts as trump, the game value will always be at least that much.
Now, assuming declarer wins by taking 95 points in tricks, after having declared Hand and Schneider, the actual game value will be as follows:
- The base value is 10 (for Hearts being the trump suit)
- The multiplier game level is 11
- 1 for becoming declarer
- 7 for the straight of J♣J♠J♥J♦A♥10♥K♥
- 1 for declaring Hand
- 1 for declaring Schneider
- 1 for achieving Schneider (at least 90 points in tricks taken)
- The actual game value will be 110 (10 × 11)
The player could have bid up to that value (110) during the auction. In practice this would have been too risky because only J♦ in the Skat increased the length of matador's jack straight to 7.
Note: Most players will declare a grand game with the above hand, as it will be much more lucrative than a suit game in Hearts (declarer will concede at most two club tricks, probably achieving Schneider for a game value of at least 144 (24 × 6).
More examples[edit]
- J♣J♠: with 2, plus 1 is 3.
- J♣J♥: with 1 (counting interrupted by the missing J♠), plus 1 is 2.
- J♣J♠J♥J♦ with 4, plus 1 is 5.
- J♥J♦: Without 2, plus 1 is 3.
- J♥ alone: This is also without 2 (counting is interrupted by the present J♥), plus 1 is 3.
Now for the special cases: if you think you can do more than just win, you can add points for the special cases.
- J♣J♠: With 2, plus 1 (game) plus 1 (for Hand) is 4.
- J♣J♠: With 2, plus 1 (game) plus 1 (for Schneider) is 4.
- J♣J♠: With 2, plus 1 (game) plus 1 (for Hand) plus 1 (for Schneider) plus 1 (for Schwarz) is 6.
- J♣J♠: With 2, game 3, Hand 4, Schneider 5, pre-declared Schneider 6, Schwarz 7, pre-declared Schwarz 8, Ouvert 9.
The highest possible multiplier game level is 18: that is with (or without) four jacks and all seven cards of trump suit (including those in the Skat, if any) 11, plus the maximum of 7 for becoming declarer, Hand, Schneider, declaring Schneider, Schwarz, declaring Schwarz and Ouvert. The lowest possible multiplier game level is 2: either with J♣, or without J♣ and with J♠ 1, plus 1 for becoming declarer.
Bidding mechanics[edit]
Order of bidding[edit]
The order of bidding is determined by the seating order. Starting from the left of the dealer players are numbered clockwise: the first seat (German: Vorhand), the second seat (German: Mittelhand) and the third seat (German: Hinterhand). In a three-player game, the dealer will be the third seat. In a four-player game the third seat will be to the right of the dealer.
Bidding starts by the player in second seat making a call to the player in first seat on which the latter can hold or pass. If the first seat player holds, the second seat player can make a higher call or pass himself. This continues until either of the two players passes. The player in third seat is then allowed to continue making calls to the player who has not yet passed. Bidding ends as soon as at least two players have passed. It is also possible for all three players to pass.
The starting order can be memorized as “deal–respond–bid–continue” (German: 'geben–hören–sagen–weitersagen'). The player who continues in this mnemonic is either the dealer (in a three-player game) or the player in third seat. The mnemonic is commonly used among casual players.
Example: Alice, Bob and Carole are playing, and seated in that order around the table. Alice deals the cards. Carole makes the first call to Bob, who passes right away. Alice then makes two more calls to Carole, who accepts both bids. Alice then passes as well. The bidding ends, with Carole being the declarer for this round.
Possible calls[edit]
The calling player (i.e. the player currently calling the bids) may either
- “pass”, leaving the bidding and forfeiting the chance to become declarer in this round, or
- bid any possible game value that is higher than the highest bid made so far in this round.
The responding player (i.e. the player currently responding to the bidder) may either
- “pass”, leaving the bidding and forfeiting the chance to become declarer in this round, or
- “accept”, staying in the bidding and waiting for further calls.
Responder must wait for caller to bid or pass before passing herself.
Except for 'pass', only the possible game values are legal calls. Therefore, the lowest possible call is 18, which is the lowest possible game value in Skat. Players are free to skip intermediate values, although it is common to always pick the lowest available call while bidding.
The sequence of possible game values through 60, beginning with 18 is 18—20—22—23—24—27—30—33—35—36—40—44—45—46—48—50—54—55—59—60 (higher bids are possible albeit rare in a competitive auction). Among German players the values representing null games, especially 23, the most common one, are often replaced by the call “null”. Also, numbers are frequently abbreviated by only calling the lower digit of a value not divisible by 10 (e.g. “two” instead of “22” or “five” instead of “45”); this is unambiguous if values are always called out in order and intermediate values never skipped, as is the custom. (As the German words for 'null' and 'zero' are identical, this yields the rather unintuitive sequence 18—20—2—0—4—7—30 and so on.)
Passing out[edit]
If all players pass, the hand is not played and the next dealer shuffles and deals. A dealer never deals twice in a row.
It is common in informal play to play a variant of Skat called Ramsch (junk, rummage) instead of skipping the hand and dealing for the next one. This is not part of the sanctioned rules, however.
In a pass-out game, the player in first seat will be the last one to pass. If that player intends to become declarer, however, he has to make a call of at least 18 (picking up the Skat in that situation implies the call).
Example auction[edit]
Players Alice, Bob and Carol are seated in that order, clockwise; Alice is the dealer. The auction proceeds as follows:
- Carol: '18'
- Bob: 'Accept'
- Carol: '20'
- Bob: 'Accept'
- Carol: '22'
- Bob: 'Pass'
- Alice: '23'
- Carol: 'Accept'
- Alice: '24'
- Carol: 'Accept'
- Alice: 'Pass'
On this deal, Carol will be declarer with a final bid of 24 (the highest accepted bid).
Declaring[edit]
The winner of the auction becomes declarer. He will play against the other two players. Before the hand is played, declarer either
- picks up the Skat, combines it with cards in his hand, then puts two cards back face down on the table (German: drücken) or
- declares Hand (in this case the Skat remains face down on the table).
In either case the two cards in the Skat count towards declarer's trick points.
After putting two cards back into the Skat, declarer then either declares a suit game by announcing a trump suit, declares a grand game or a null game.
If Hand has been declared, the player may make additional announcements such as Schneider, Schwarz and Ouvert.
Variants[edit]
A common variant in non-sanctioned play allows the defenders to announce 'Kontra' just before the first trick is played, if they have made or held at least one call. In this case, the stakes will be doubled for the hand. Declarer, in turn, may announce “Re”, to redouble the stakes. In a less common further variation this process can be repeated twice more by announcing 'Supra' and 'Resupra' (or more colloquially, 'Bock' [(roe) buck] and 'Hirsch' [red deer], or the like, which are colloquial augments of 'Reh' roe deer).
Playing[edit]
The player in the first seat sitting to the left of the dealer leads to the first trick. The other two follow in clockwise direction. Every player plays one card to the trick, which is in the middle of the table. The winner of a trick stacks the cards face down in front of him and leads to the next trick, which is again played clockwise.
Suit game[edit]
The players must play a card in the same suit as the first card of the trick, if possible (“following suit”). If a player cannot follow suit, he may play any card (including a trump card). Trumps, including all four jacks, count as a single suit. If a trump is led, every player must also play trump, if he has any.
If there are trump cards in the trick, the highest trump in it wins the trick. If there are no trumps in it, the highest card of the suit led wins the trick.
The non-trump suit cards rank in order A-10-K-Q-9-8-7. The trumps rank the same way with the four jacks on top in the order J♣, J♠, J♥, J♦.
Completed tricks are kept face down in front of the players who won them, until all the cards have been played. Examining completed tricks (except for the last one) is not allowed. The tricks of the two players who are playing together are put together, either during or after play.
Grand game[edit]
In the grand game, only the four jacks are trumps in the suit order given above for a regular suit game. All other ranks are the same as in the regular suit game (10 is ranked just below the ace). There are thus five 'suits' in the grand game (if a jack is led to a trick, the other two players must play jacks too, if they have them).
Null game[edit]
In a null game there is no trump suit, and in each suit the cards are ranked A-K-Q-J-10-9-8-7.
The goal of a null game is for declarer not to take any tricks. If declarer takes a trick in a null game, he immediately loses and the game is scored right away.
Conceding and claiming[edit]
Declarer may, unilaterally, concede a loss while he is holding at least nine cards (i.e. before playing to the second trick). Afterwards approval of at least one defender is required. Defenders may concede at any time, but may be requested by declarer to complete the play (e.g. if declarer thinks that Schneider or Schwarz is still possible).
Claiming of remaining tricks is possible as well, but for a defender only if she would be able to take the remaining tricks herself.
A game in which the necessary trick points have been won can not be lost, regardless of claims.
Counting and scoring[edit]
Download krishna bhajans. After the last trick has been played, the game is scored. Winning conditions for null game are different from suit and grand games.
Winning conditions for declarer[edit]
To win a suit or grand game, declarer needs at least 61 card points in his tricks. If declarer announced Schneider, he needs at least 90 card points in order to win. The two cards in the Skat count towards declarer's tricks. If declarer announced Schwarz, he must take all ten tricks in order to win.
Rank | J | A | 10 | K | Q | 9 | 8 | 7 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Value | 2 | 11 | 10 | 4 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
The highest-ranking cards for taking the tricks (the jacks) are not the highest scoring cards. The aces and 10s combined make up almost three quarters of the total points; taking as many as possible of them is thus imperative for winning. On the other hand, taking 7s, 8s and 9s (the Luschen or blanks) doesn't help (or hurt) at all, unless Schwarz was declared.
To win a null game, declarer must not take a single trick. null games are often not played through to the end, either because declarer is forced to take a trick, ending the game prematurely, or because it becomes apparent to the defenders that they will be forced to take the rest of the tricks. There are no card points in a null game.
Overbid hands[edit]
Even with the majority in card points, declarer may still lose if the game value is lower than the value he bid during the auction. This is called overbidding. An overbid hand is automatically lost, leading to a negative score for declarer.
An overbid hand is scored by determining the lowest possible game value that is a multiple of the base value of declarer's suit (or 24 in case of a grand) which is at least as high as declarer's bid. This value is then doubled and subtracted from declarer's score (negative score).
Example: Declarer bids 30, missing the two top trumps (without 2), intending to play a club suit game (game value would be 12 × 3 = 36). She then finds the J♣ in the Skat (with 1). Her game value is now only 24 (12 × 2) — she has overbid. Unless she manages to play at least Schneider (raising the game value to 36), or makes a game other than clubs with a game value of at least 30, the game will be lost. She will receive a negative score of −72 (36 is the lowest multiple of 12, the base value of clubs, greater than the 30 she bid; 36 times two is 72). She can try to minimize her loss by declaring a game in Hearts instead of Clubs (base value 10 instead of 12). This will be worth only −60 points, unless opponents score Schneider against her.
Scoring[edit]
The score is always assigned to the declarer (positive or negative).
The score to be awarded is the actual game value. How high the player bid during the auction is immaterial, as long as the game value is at least as high as declarer's bid (see Overbid Hands above). Note that often the score will be higher than the auction value, because players typically do not bid as high as their hand would allow.
For a won game, that score is added to declarer's tally. For a lost game, the score is doubled and subtracted from declarer's tally (negative score).
Until 1998, lost Hand games did not count double, but this rule was dropped in that year. The reason was that in tournament play nearly all games played were Hand games. This increased the game level by one, but did not penalize as much as a normal game would have if lost.
In league games, a fixed number of points is added for each game that is won by the declarer to lower the chance factor and to stress the skill factor. In that situation, it becomes far more important for each player to bid his hand as high as possible.
Example 1: Declarer bids 20 and declares a grand game. He then wins with 78 points in tricks. Declarer held J♣J♠J♦. The game value is 24 × (2 + 1) = 72 points. These are awarded to the declarer.
Example 2: Declarer bids 30 and declares a Null Ouvert game. She, however, is forced to take the ninth trick, losing the game. The game value is 46, it will be doubled and subtracted from her total score (−92 points).
Game variants[edit]
Ramsch[edit]
Ramsch ('junk') is not part of sanctioned Skat rules, but is widely practiced in hobbyist rounds, and is the variant most often suggested to be officially sanctioned. It is played if all three players pass in the bidding. There is no declarer in Ramsch; every player plays for himself, and the goal is to achieve as low a score as possible. The idea behind Ramsch is to punish players who underbid their hands.[16]
To make Ramsch more interesting, an additional rule is often played that adds a second winning condition: the Ramsch is also won by a player if that player manages to take all tricks (German: Durchmarsch i.e. 'march'). At first, this seems to be not too difficult, since the other players will initially try to take as few tricks as possible and to get rid of their high-ranking cards. Once they get suspicious, however, they may thwart the effort simply by taking one trick from the player trying for the Durchmarsch.
Suit ranks in Ramsch are the same as in the Grand game, with only the four Jacks being trumps.[9]
Hobby players often add the following rule: 10s are lower in trick taking power than Queens and Kings, but still count as ten points. Sometimes, they only count one point. There are a couple of variants to the rules concerning 10s, so this should be sorted out before starting the game. Often, the players are allowed to check and exchange cards with the skat, or decline to do so and pass the skat on to the next player, doubling the score (known as Schieberamsch). Jacks are not allowed to be passed on in this variation. The two cards in the Skat are usually added to the tricks of the player who takes the last trick. After all ten tricks are played, the player with the highest number of card points (or alternatively, every player) has their card points amount deducted from their score as negative game points. If one player takes no tricks at all (Jungfrau, English: virgin), the points of the losing hand are doubled. Some players also give a fixed value of 15 negative points to the loser and if there are two 'virgins', 20.[16]
Another variation used in smaller tournaments is the Gewinner-Ramsch (winner-rubbish). If none of the players bid a Ramsch is played. Unlike the original negative game the winner is who achieves the lowest score and is awarded 23 points, the score of a won Null. Additionally they are awarded the won game. The skat is given to the player with the highest score. If two players achieve the same lowest score they will both be awarded the 23 points and the won game. While not very widely spread this variation is a nice addition as it rewards the player who most rightfully did not bid.
Two-player skat[edit]
It is possible to play a modified version of the game with only two players. The cards that would be dealt to a third player are simply laid down as a “dummy” hand instead and not used.
A popular two-player variant is called Strohmann (strawman), in which the dummy hand is played by the player who loses bidding. After the game has been declared, the third hand is flipped and can be seen by the other players. Thus, it is possible to predict what hand the opponent has and play much more strategically. It is sometimes used to teach new players the principles of Skat.
Another variant is Oma Skat where the dummy hand is known as Oma or 'Grandma'.
Officers' Skat[edit]
Officers' Skat (German: Offiziersskat) is a variant for two players. Each player receives 16 cards on the table in front of him in two rows, 8 face down and 8 face up on top of them. Bidding is replaced by the non-dealer declaring a game type and trump. When a face-up card is played, the hidden card is turned over. Each deal results in a total of 16 tricks and players must agree whether a game lasts for a certain number of deals or until one player scores a certain number of game points. Scoring is similar to normal Skat.
North American skat[edit]
Skat in the United States and Canada was played for many years as an older version of the game, also known as Tournee Skat, which shares most of its rules with its modern European counterpart with the addition of a few different games and an alternate system of scoring. Tournee Skat is declining in popularity. Most tournament Skat players in North America play the modern game described above.
The games in North American (tournée) skat[edit]
- Tournée
- To determine trump, declarer picks up one card of the skat and looks at it. If declarer wants this card's suit as trump, the card is shown to the other players. Otherwise the hand is played as Passt mir nicht (it doesn't suit me) and the other card in the skat is turned up to determine trump. A jack gives declarer the choice of either playing grand (jacks only) or the jack's suit as trump. Once trump has been determined, both the skat cards are added to declarer's hand and then two are removed and placed face down to begin his or her pile of cards won.
- Solo
- The skat remains on the table and declarer names trump in any suit or grand. Grand may also be played ouvert with declarer's hand spread face up for all player to see.
- Grand guckser
- Declarer picks up both of the skat cards, adds them to his or her hand and discards two. Game is played with grand trumps. Grand Guckser is the only game in North American Skat where declarer picks up both skat cards at once.
- Null
- The skat remains untouched and declarer wagers to take no tricks. In null, cards rank A-K-Q-J-10-9-8-7. If declarer takes a trick, then the hand is lost and a new deal commences. Null may also be played ouvert.
- Ramsch
- If middlehand (Mittelhand) and rearhand (Hinterhand) both pass, forehand (Vorhand) may not pass, but if he does not wish to bid may declare ramsch in which players each play for themselves in trying to take the fewest number of tricks with grand as trumps. The skat is not used.
Upon determining the game, declarer may also state that he or she intends to Schneider or Schwarz for extra game points or penalties.
Scoring in North American (tournée) skat[edit]
Card points are the same as in German Skat: A=11, 10=10, K=4, Q=3. J=2 and all other cards have no value. The game points, however, are a bit different. Base value for the different games are as follows:
- Tournée: ♦ 5, ♥ 6, ♠ 7, ♣ 8, Grand 12. If a tournée is played Paßt mir nicht and declarer does not make 61 card points, then the game point penalty is doubled.
- Solo: ♦ 9, ♥ 10, ♠ 11, ♣ 12, Grand 20, Grand Ouvert 24.
- Grand Guckser: 16, 32 if lost.
- Null: 20, 40 if played ouvert.
- Ramsch: player taking the fewest number of card points wins 10 game points, or 20 for taking zero tricks. A player taking every trick loses 30 and other players do not win any.
As in German skat, game points in North American Skat are tallied by multiplying base game value by:
- 1 for each top trump, either with or without, plus:
- 1 for game (61 or more card points).
- 2 for Schneider (91 or more card points).
- 3 for Schwarz (winning every trick).
- If Schneider was declared add 1.
- If Schwarz was declared add 2.
Note that if Schneider or Schwarz are declared but not made, then the contract is not met and declarer loses the amount that he or she would have won if successful. The above multipliers do not figure into games played null or ramsch.
Organization of players[edit]
League games are organized worldwide:
- By the International Skat Players Association[2]
- In North America by ISPA Canada and ISPA USA [3]
- Within Germany by the German Skat Association. [4]
- Online by the German Skat Union [5]
- Local clubs may organise Preisskat competitions
In the event of disputes, players may appeal to the International Skat Court in Altenburg.
See also[edit]
References[edit]
- ^ abSkat at www.pagat.com. Retrieved 3 Jun 2018.
- ^Keller, Thomas and Sebastian Kupferschmid, 'Automatic Bidding for the Game of Skat' in KI 2008: Advances in Artificial Intelligence: 31st Annual German Conference on AI, Kaiserslautern: Springer, 2008, p. 96. ISBN978-3-540-85844-7.
- ^Skat: König des deutschen Kartenspiels at kelbet.de. Retrieved 23 Feb 2019.
- ^Michael Dummett, Sylvia Mann, The game of Tarot: from Ferrara to Salt Lake City, p. 487, United States Games Systems (1980), ISBN0-7156-1014-7
- ^David Parlett, Oxford Dictionary of Card Games, p. 254, Oxford University Press (1996), ISBN0-19-869173-4
- ^International Skat Order, International Skat Players Assoc., Rev. 15APR2007
- ^David Parlett, Teach Yourself Card Games, p. 191, McGraw-Hill (2003), ISBN0-07-141974-8
- ^David Parlett. 'Parlett on Skat (5) History'. parlettgames.uk. Retrieved 13 April 2010.
- ^ abcR. F. Foster, Foster's Skat Manual, pp. 7, 8, 162, Averill Press (2008), ISBN1-4437-2151-4
- ^Encyclopædia Britannica [1] Skat
- ^Robert MacHenry, Philip W. Goetz, Encyclopædia Britannica, vol. 1-30 p. 252, Encyclopædia Britannica (UK) Ltd. (1983), ISBN0-85229-400-X
- ^Robert Frederick Foster, Foster's complete Hoyle: an encyclopedia of all the indoor games, p. 378, (1897)
- ^'Difference between American Scat and German Skat'. pagat.
- ^John McLeod. 'Games played with German suited cards'. pagat.com/. Retrieved 25 November 2010.
- ^A. Pollett. 'Shapes, Sizes and Colors'. a_pollett.tripod.com/. Archived from the original on 21 February 2009. Retrieved 13 April 2010.
- ^ abA. Hertefeld, The Game of Skat in Theory and Practice, pg. 36, BiblioLife (2009), ISBN1-115-53837-3
External links[edit]
- International Skat Players Association Rules in English, Spanish and French.
- 'Skat' . Encyclopædia Britannica (11th ed.). 1911.
- The Skatordnung, official rules of Skat, in English.
- Keller, Thomas and Sebastian Kupferschmid, 'Automatic Bidding for the Game of Skat' in KI 2008: Advances in Artificial Intelligence: 31st Annual German Conference on AI, Kaiserslautern: Springer, 2008, pp. 96ff. ISBN978-3-540-85844-7.
Thirty-one or Trente et un is a gamblingcard game played by two to seven people, where players attempt to assemble a hand which totals 31. Such a goal has formed the whole or part of various games like Commerce, Cribbage, Trentuno, and Wit and Reason since the 15th century.[1]
The game is also known as Big Tonka, Nickel Nock, Blitz, Clinker, Klinker, Scat, Cadillac in south Louisiana and Mississippi, Cad in Pennsylvania, Whammy! in central Indiana, Juble in Oklahoma and Kansas, and as Skedaddle, Snip Snap Snoop and Schnitzel in other countries. Like cribbage and many other card games. 31’s depending on the players can have the choice of runs. The traditional German version has runs where the French version does not. Scoring also consists of cards of the same suit.
- 3Common variations
Object[edit]
The object is to obtain a hand with a value total as close as possible to 31, from which the name of the game is taken.[2] The game is usually best played with at least four players.
Details of play[edit]
Thirty-one uses a standard deck of 52 playing cards. Aces are high, counting 11, court cards count 10, and all other cards count face value. Each player gets a hand of three cards. The rest of the deck sits in the middle of the table as stock for the game, and the top card of the stock is turned over to begin the discard. Players keep track of how many games they have lost by folding the corners of a five-dollarnote. The five-dollar note is also their stake in the game. This can be substituted with other denominations or currency.
After the hands in the first round are dealt, play proceeds with each player, starting with the player to the immediate left of the dealer and going clockwise around the table, taking the top card of either the stock or the discard and subsequently discarding a card. All players are trying to collect a hand value of 31 (or the nearest to it) in the same suit. If a player has three cards of the same value from different suits, the hand is worth 30.5 points. Play continues clockwise around the table until any player knocks or obtains a blitz.
When it is a player's turn, and that player believes their hand is high enough to beat at least one of the opponents, they knock on the table in lieu of drawing and discarding. All other players, going clockwise from the player who knocked, have one more turn to draw from the stock and discard, or they have the option of keeping all three cards in their hands, known as standing. The round ends when the player to the right of the player who knocked has had a final turn. If no one knocks by the time a player exhausts the stock, the round ends in a draw. Because knocking relies on the confidence that the player will not have the lowest score, a skilled player may memorise which suits the other players are discarding. If a player discards a different suit than that which he discarded his previous turn, it can be inferred that the player is 'changing suits'. Changing suits puts a player at a distinct disadvantage because the resulting lowered score raises the risk that another player may knock.
At the end of the round, the players show their hands and total each one up, only counting cards of the same suit. For instance, if the three cards in a hand are all different suits, the highest value card would stand as that player's score. The player whose hand scored the lowest is declared the loser, and must subsequently fold a corner of his/her five dollar bill. It is important to note that in the event of a tie between two players for lowest score, both players are declared losers and each folds a corner of their five dollar bill. If there is a tie involving the knocker, the knocker pays, this is in accordance with the concept that the one betting must beat at least one player or else they pay up.
If, at any time in the round prior to someone knocking, a player acquires a hand value of 31 in the same suit, known as a blitz, they immediately show it, the round immediately ends, and all other players fold a corner of their five dollar bill.
When a player has folded all 4 corners of their bill, they continue to play on a 'free ride', also sometimes called 'on the bike' until that player loses again. At that time, they leave the game. The last player in the game wins all the five dollar bills.
There is one case where it is possible to pick up one's own discard. This happens when there are only two players left in the game and one player knocks. The card that the other player discarded just before the knock is still on top of the pile, so it is now available to take back if desired. For example, if the player had just broken up a suit for tactical reasons, he or she can now restore it.
If the knocker fails to beat anyone (has the lowest hand) he/she is charged double.
Common variations[edit]
Banking[edit]
American Skat Card Game Rules
The play is the same as the regular version of Thirty-one described above, but with the following changes. Before each round, each player has to ante one token or coin onto the centre of the table. While dealing, after each player has received one card, the dealer puts one card face down on the table to form a pile of three cards known as the 'widow'. A player may use a turn to exchange one or more cards in their hand with an equivalent number of cards in the widow, leaving the cards they put in the widow face up.
At the end of the round, the player with the highest-valued hand takes all the tokens or coins on the table. If any player acquires a blitz in their hand, they immediately show it, the round ends, all other players place one token or coin on the table, and the player who blitzed takes all of the tokens or coins on the table.
West Lansing Cut Throat[edit]
The play is the same as the regular version of Thirty-one described above, but with the following changes:
- Three tokens are purchased for the agreed upon amount of money prior to play beginning, and the last player with any tokens wins the pot.
- There is no 'free ride'. A player who knocks but does not beat at least one other player, pays two tokens. In this scenario the knocker tying for the lowest score will lose two tokens. All others with the same total as the knocker will not lose a token.
- Three cards of the same rank count as a score of 30½, however all hands ranking as 30½ are equal and considered a tie, E.g. 2,2,2 and A,A,A.
Side wagers between individual players are quite common and often encouraged. Typically the first players knocked out will often choose an active player and place a 'side bet' on which player will win or go further in the game.
Switch[edit]
The goal of the game is the same as in normal Thirty-One. The difference for this version called Switch is that instead of picking from the pile or the discard up-card, players exchange cards from two hands on the table. At the beginning of the game, the dealer is dealt two hands, and one extra hand is dealt and placed in the middle of the table face-down. The dealer looks at both hands and chooses the hand they want to play with and places the other hand face-up next to the face-down hand. Then it is the turn of the player next to the dealer.
During a turn, a player has four options:
- Pick up a certain card in one of the hands on the table and exchange it for one of the cards held in their hand (if they pick up a face-down card, their discard will be face-up).
- Swap one of the hands entirely with their own hand.
- Renew one of the hands on the table. (If they renew a hand on the table, they have the choice to place it face-up or face-down. If they choose face-up, their turn is over; if they choose face-down their turn continues.)
- 'Nock'. Nocking applies the same as it does in the normal game.
At the end of the game, the winner is decided in the same way as in the normal game of Thirty-One, although if a player has a hand of three cards of the same suit and is greater than 21, they may choose to restart the game making their hand the new face-up hand for the new game and re-dealing all hands for the other players and the face-down hand.
No-Elimination Thirty-One[edit]
This is a good version to use if you do not want to play with money or tokens. The main difference between this game and the normal Thirty-One is in the scoring. It is a good game for social groups as all players are able to play every hand (no elimination), from beginning to end.
Object of No-Elimination Thirty-One:To obtain the highest total count of cards in one suit. The highest score possible is 31, which is an ace and 2 face cards (or the 10).
Setup:Use a standard 52-card deck of playing cards. First dealer is determined by picking the highest card. Shuffle and deal three cards to each player. The remainder of the pack is placed in the center of the table, forming the stock. The top card of the stock is flipped face-up and placed next to it and is called the up-card, the top card of the discard pile.
Object of the Game:Each player is trying to obtain - as close as possible - a score of 31 (an ace and two face cards) in one suit. The value of each card is as follows:
- aces are worth eleven points
- face cards are worth ten points
- all other cards are worth their face value in points
Game Play:The player to the left of the dealer goes first. This player takes either the up-card or the top card from the stock, then discards one card face up onto the discard pile. Play then continues with the next player to the left. (A player can take a card ONLY when it is their turn. A buried card is gone from that hand.)
If and when a player obtains a score of 31 card points in one suit, this is called a blitz, and the player immediately reveals it, saying 'Blitz” or “Thirty-One,” ending the hand. All play stops, all players reveal their hands, and card points are tallied for each hand.
If no blitz has not yet been called, and a player is satisfied with their card point tally, instead of drawing and discarding, they knock once on the table. Each player after them has one additional turn to improve their hand (and perhaps get a blitz). When the turn of play returns to the player who knocked, the hand ends.
Scoring:At the end of the hand, whether by a player knocking or revealing a blitz, all players reveal their hands, and card points are tallied for each. If a hand contains three cards of different suits, the highest card is the hand’s score. If the hand contains two or three of one suit, the point values of these cards may are totaled to score the hand - whichever gives player the higher score. For instance, a king of spades (10 points) is a higher value than a 5 and 3 of hearts (8 points).
How to Score:
- Lowest score – 1 point, except Knocker gets 0 points
- Middle score(s) – 2 points, except Knocker gets only 1 point
- Highest score – 3 points, except Knocker gets 4 points
- Blitz (31) – 6 points
- Ties – All ties get highest score possible. For instance, a tally of 30, 27, 27, 27 means 30 is high, and all 27s are middle (no low score for that hand).
Stop the Bus[edit]
Stop the Bus is a game common in England that uses the hand rankings from three card brag, instead of scoring closest to 31. The hand rankings are: three of a kind (a 'prial') as the best hand, followed by a running flush, then a run, then a flush, then a pair followed by a high card. If a hand is otherwise similar then the card is ranked by high card or high pair, then by middle card or kicker, then low card. Suits are irrelevant.
Instead of drawing from a stock, the game starts with three face-up cards on the tables. On their turn, players may swap one or three cards from their hand for the table cards.
See also[edit]
References[edit]
- ^David Parlett, Oxford Dictionary of Card Games, pg. 307-308 Oxford University Press (1996) ISBN0-19-869173-4
- ^Diagram Group The Little Giant Encyclopedia of Card Games pg. 341 Sterling (1995) ISBN0-8069-1330-4
External links[edit]
- Pagat.com, Rules of Card Games: 31 (Scat), at Pagat.com
- Blitz31Open-source game for Windows
In preparation for this article, I put a flow chart together. I wanted to see where 'traditional' pub games landed on the map in relation to my favorite pub games. It was also an excellent preparatory exercise because it forced me to think about these games categorically, which resulted in the structure of this entry. Many of these games/categories do not fit perfectly, but I'm generally comfortable with the groupings.
I'm sure we all have our favorites, and I would love to hear about yours (feel free to add them to THIS list, which I started ages ago and needs an update), but this article will focus on what my experiences have been with these games, and how I came to qualify them as my favorite pub games and why.
(This is an early draft. I plan to continue to modify this as I think more about this topic.)
I also added some common pub game characteristics which I think are significant:
Material
- wood: the warmth of wood used in a game often compliments the ambiance of a classic tavern or pub.
- plastic/bakelite: durable, resilient, tactile
- poker chips: In many cases, I add or substitute them to provide a tactile and durable component to the game.
Tradition
- Some of the most popular pub games in the world are rooted in tradition and culture.
Family
- dexterity, push your luck, bidding, betting, bluffing
Accessibility
- short play times and rule sets
- skill and winning matter little, in fact, games like Cockroach Poker and Pairs, have only one loser and several winners.
- Their general lack of theme puts them in a place that is close to games folks already know. We are all proud geeks, but if you try to introduce a non-gamer to something even as abstract as Dragon's Hoard, which qualifies as a pub game on many, but not all levels, they will look at you kind of funny. But with a game like Cockroach Poker, the bugs are just suits, a concept with which they are already familiar, and one that requires no additional thematic link or game play mechanic.
Let's break down the chart in detail. . .
1. Floor Games
- Pool/Billiards
- Darts
- Shuffleboard
Most of us are familiar with these old favorites. For me, shooting Pool was a rite of passage for all of us who were recently legal. An important characteristic here is that winning and skill have little to do with the enjoyment of playing these games. This is only the first time I'll mention how the 'experience' of playing pub games is what sets them apart.
So, do pub games require booze to qualify as pub games? Is it built into their DNA? Is the 'experience' to which I am referring, based on the fact that the players have a buzz on while playing? With this group of traditional pub games, I'm saying yes. Darts, billiards, shuffleboard and other 'furniture' pub games are the roots of the pub game family tree, and to me, they are things to do while you drink. I'm sure pub owners originally added them to attract drinkers. Of course, these games have grown beyond the pubs and have had professional organizations and tournaments for ages. Even so, these are games I would rarely play outside of a pub and certainly not without a beer in hand. And while they are more frequently and readily associated with drinking, these games do share many characteristics with their offspring, such as a focus on dexterity, a strong tactile element, and handsome wooden craftsmanship.
2. Table Games
- Crokinole
- Tumblin-Dice
- Chess/Checkers
- Cribbage
- Backgammon
- Cock & Bull
- Jenga
- Quarto
- Shut the Box
Table games do not live in pubs as exclusively as Darts and Billiards do. These games are just as comfortable in parks, cafes, homes, schools, inns, and cabins as they are in pubs and taverns. We have all seen 64 black and white squares built into tables in many of these places. Obviously, I'm talking more about backgammon, chess and checkers than I am Crokinole and Tumblin' Dice, but I think, situationally, these games exist on similar levels. If I walked into a pub and there was a Crokinole or Tumblin' Dice board set up at a table, I would be completely comfortable, sitting down and playing, just as many of us would be with playing Checkers and/or Backgammon in a similar situation.
I also see some crossover here for games like Cribbage, Jenga, and an obscure, but personal favorite, Cock & Bull. It's the use of wood here that strikes me as most significant. The evolution is clear (and I don't necessarily mean a chronological evolution, I'm referring more to the categories of my flow chart): you start with big wooden games that ARE furniture, to small wooden games that BECOME furniture. In fact, I have seen several examples of Cribbage boards as furniture. I, myself, have found a bench at a yard sale that someone took a drill to 130 times! (see photo) The warmth and comfort of the wood used in these games or in a beautifully crafted pool table or dart board cabinet is undeniable.
2a. Abstract/Puzzle Games
- Icehouse
- Qwirkle
- IOTA
- ZÈRTZ
- Hive
- Pentago
This was a difficult group of games to pin down. They partly belong under the 'Table Games' header, but several of them could easily live in 'Tile Games' as well. In the end, I felt they belonged grouped together and separate from those other two categories.
A game like Hive is easy to list as a pub game based on its portability, terrific, chunky and durable pieces, and chess-like familiarity. The lack of a board and beautiful pieces of ZÈRTZ also make sense here. The only other GIPF Project game I have played is YINSH, and I don't see that in the pub as easily due to the relatively large and geometric cardboard board, even though it's a game I enjoy a great deal.
Next we have Qwirkle and IOTA, which seem like a natural next step. These two games may fly under many gamers' radars when they think of pub games. But Qwirkle fits all of the criteria - simple rules, durable pieces, etc. And as gamers, we have to acknowledge it as an SDJ winner, which usually means it's a real crowd-pleaser. IOTA's remarkable portability pretty much makes it a no-brainer, and that's before you get to the fact that this is Qwirkle for gamers! A terrific little puzzle game that fits in beautifully at the pub.
While we've come away from the warmth and comfort of wood with these games (Qwirkle may be wood biologically, but stylistically it's more disco than tavern), we have moved to a shiny, sleek, smooth, almost alien sensibility here. The small wooden version of Pentago bridges the gap between this group of games and table games nicely.
The Looney Pyramid Games family of games are exactly the kind of games this category is about - quick, fun puzzle games that are pretty to look at, fun to manipulate, flexible in rules complexity and player count, ultimately portable, affordable and approachable. Imagine sitting down at a pub, and seeing a half-dozen rule sets for these games ModPodged on the wooden tables. Then you notice a little cup containing the game pieces. Wouldn't it be great if, instead of staring at our phones and the 36 sports-filled televisions, we could go to a pub, grab a beer and play Treehouse?
1. Traditional Card Games
The first games I played were card games with my grandfather. He taught me Rummy and Pitch as a boy. As a result, I continued to play and enjoy card games for years to come. In high school, we had an awesome run of lunchtime Pitch senior year. In college, it was Rummy, beer, cigarettes and Frank Zappa (it was the 90s actually, though it sounds like the 70s!). When I finally learned Cribbage just a few years ago, I realized that these games offer an intimate connection between the players, which can't be said of the complex, lengthy games that all of us here on BGG love. And here is why - most traditional card games can be played repeatedly, back to back, with built-in, rhythmic pauses for shuffling/resetting. This rhythm allows for, and encourages, conversation between the players and apart from the game play. My Cribbage mentor frequently begins a story with, 'I was playing Cribbage in a cabin on a fishing trip . . .' or, 'The guy who taught me Cribbage when I was in the Air Force . . .' This is when I became interested in exploring pub games further.
Cards have been a constant. Different places, different people, the same 52 friends that constitute the foundation of my love for gaming . . . and always reminding me of Gramps.
1a. Tile Games
- Mahjong
- Dominoes
- Rummikub
- Bananagrams
I don't have a lot of experience with Mahjong and Dominoes, but I love the cultural significance and tradition of them. There is clearly a tactile aspect here that they both share. Resilient pieces always make for a good pub game, but where these games may lack a simple rule set, they are so heavily based in tradition, that people all over the world grow up knowing and understanding them. The same is true for many traditional card games in this country, which is why I thought these games worked well as a branch of the traditional card game category.
THIS video was posted by user Dave Bernazzani a couple of years ago. It totally captures the spirit of these games for me.
Would Darts in the UK and Pool in America compare to Mahjong in Asia and Dominoes in Latin America? It's pure speculation on my part, and I can't say with any certainty what relationships exist between these games and these regions, but I like the idea of different cultures having strong and very similar connections to their respective 'national' (or at least, 'widely popular') pub games.
I plan to discuss Rummikub at length in my entry for the Voice of Experience Review Contest. It clearly belongs in this category given the fact that the 106 plastic tiles represent two traditional decks of cards with two jokers. It's an absolute gem of a game for the pub or anywhere! It's also another SDJ winner.
2. Hobby Card Games
- Loot
- Love Letter
- Hanabi
- Morels
- Coloretto
- No Thanks!
- Battle Line
- Lost Cities
- Cheaty Mages!
- Cockroach Poker
- Bohnanza
- Brew Crafters: Travel Card Game
- For Sale
- Kobayakawa
- Friese's Landlord
- Slapshot
- Eggs and Empires
- Rent a Hero
- Skull*
(*not really a card game)
Our hobby has a lot of games to offer. There are games for every possible taste, preference and situation. As a result, picking a handful of hobby card games to put into this category seems kind of silly. Especially when small card games are a weakness of mine - I'm just a sucker for them (I just saw that Mike Fitzgerald's Mystery Rummy series has been reprinted. . . and . . . click . . . bought). But as far as I'm concerned, if it comes in a small box, plays relatively quickly, does not take up a huge amount of table space and has a relatively simple rule set, that card game qualifies as a pub game. The ones I've included here are simply my favorites, and there are many more waiting on deck. But I do want to explain WHY these games made the list.
When I mentioned the Mahjong video above, I used the phrase 'spirit of the game'. These games capture the 'spirit' of pub games for me - light, simple fare with lots of laughs, without rules lawyering or much interest in winning. They provide ample dialogue space for non-game-related chit-chat and socialization. They also offer dynamic player interaction which is where this 'spirit' lives I think. You will find, as you go down the list again, that this is true for all of the titles in this category.
At the heart of this dynamic player interaction, you often find bluffing, bidding, and betting. These three categories of games consistently deliver immensely entertaining situations and interactions. It's for this reason that I go out of my way to get these games to the table and try to plan and encourage events centered around pub games. I recently attended TotalCon, and I was fortunate to have a willing partner help me to make the Friday night of the convention, 'Pub Night'. All it took was the two of us pushing it gently, and by the end of the night, we had eight players. It delivered on all of the levels I discuss above and we had an awesome time. Click HERE for the full recap.
3. Traditional and Hobby Hybrids
- Tichu
- Parade
- Linko!
- Red7
- Pairs
- Haggis
- Diamonds
- Mystery Rummy
The games in this category live in that special, wonderful place between traditional card games and hobby card games. These are the games you can trick your uncle and/or father-in-law into playing with you. These games tend to hit the table already translated for players of traditional card games. 'Oh yeah, I see.' is what you tend to hear. Whether it's trick-takers (Tichu, Diamonds) or melders (Linko, Mystery Rummy), there is so much familiarity in this set of games that they tend to be very well received. This familiarity also allows for a bit more complexity in the rules, which adds tension and excitement and increases the interest level for hobby gamers. This may be my favorite category of them all.
1. Traditional
- Yahtzee
- Farkle
- Poker Dice
- Cosmic Wimpout
AKA: the push-your-luck all-stars!
Yahtzee the dog
A couple of important personal notes here: first - Yahtzee is my wife's favorite game and second - my dog's name is Yahtzee, so yes, I'm going to be a bit biased about it.
What Yahtzee accomplished in gaming back in the 50's cannot be understated. It separated the dice from the games people were playing and created an entire genre of games - the same way Dominion changed the gaming landscape as the first deckbuilding game. What's unfortunate, is that designers have had 60 years to work with the base mechanics of Yahtzee and players have all but dismissed it completely.
Well I'm here to say THIS IS A GREAT PUB GAME! It has a small footprint, simple rule set, durable pieces, short play time, it offers plenty of room for casual conversation, and it encourages multiple plays. This game hits on all of my pub game criteria!
Okay, enough yelling. I'm just asking you give Yahtzee a play with fresh eyes is all. I also highly recommend giving Yahtzee Free for All a shot. This variant does a nice job cranking up that dynamic player interaction I mentioned earlier.
Farkle was introduced to my family by our babysitter Jimmy, who wrote the rules down with a magic marker on a crumpled up piece of scrap paper. The first thing I did after my first couple of plays was introduce poker chips for scoring. This immediately made the game feel more like the race that it is. As the stacks and values of chips increase, so does the tension. This is another near-perfect pub game. The push-your-luck aspect is pure and satisfying. Those rolls that get you 1,500 points and use all six dice . . . sweetness! This game is great fun and I've had a blast playing it with my son (no, we do not drink beer when we play).
A quick story about the accessibility of traditional dice games:
I was visiting John, my cribbage mentor, in rural PA. He belonged to the local American Legion club. We frequented the club for reasons [cheap beer] that were strictly about [cheap beer] honoring his service in the Air Force [cheap beer] and showing our patriotism [beer, cheap]. This also happens to be where I first saw and played shuffleboard like the one pictured above. Man did I love that game! Anyway . . . John asked the bartender for 'the dice cup'. She handed him a standard dice cup containing five dice. He handed her a dollar or two, and then he rolled . . . and again . . . and again. Then he slid the cup away.
I inquired.
'If you hit five of a kind, you win the pot.'
'Oh.' I said, and took a sip of beer.
Even rural PA's American Legion crowd has made Yahtzee their own!
2. Hobby
- Pickomino
- Liar's Dice
- Zombie Dice
- Martian Dice
- Can't Stop
- SUTAKKU
- VivaJava: The Coffee Game: The Dice Game
- Las Vegas
- Qwixx
- Quorsum
I find it fitting that we end this discussion on Liar's Dice. This game is in my top ten games of all time. It has bluffing, bidding, push-your-luck and dynamic player interaction galore! It's such a simple concept: ones are wild, there are 30 dice, everyone rolls five and hides them under their cup. One at a time, players then begin guessing how many of a specific number (including wilds) are under all of the players' cups. Every player must increase the bid until someone says, 'No way.' At this point, all dice are revealed, the incorrect player loses dice to the middle of the table. Last player with dice wins.
The situations generated by this simple rule set are fantastic! When probability states, 'There are no way more than eight fours!' and it turns out there are twelve! -causing the player to lose four of his five dice?! Just awesome. In the final at the WBC a couple of years ago, it came down to two guys and two dice. Now THAT was exciting to watch because it became all about the lying. Liar's Dice takes everything that is great about pub games and puts it all together. Here we have bidding, bluffing, pushing your luck, and a simple rule set that generates plenty of dynamic player interaction - a pub game poster child to be sure!
I would like to end by reiterating what I would like you to take away from this article:
Thanks for reading.
I would like to thank the users whose photos I used in the entry. Hopefully, I tipped accordingly!