Game instructions
How to play
- 2–4 players
- ranked
Goal and preparation
Two to four people play individually. Avoid being the last player holding cards. The deck contains 36 cards: 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, J, Q, K and A in each suit, from weakest to strongest. Everyone receives six cards. A face-up card determines trump, the suit that can beat other suits. It sits beneath the stock and is drawn last. The lowest trump in a player's hand determines who attacks first; that player may lead any card.
Attacking and defending
The defender is the next active player clockwise. The attacker selects a card and presses Play. To defend, select the attacking card on the table, select your covering card, then press Defend. A higher card of the same suit beats an attack. Any trump beats a non-trump; a trump can only be beaten by a higher trump. You may take the cards even if you could defend. There is no transfer of an attack to another player.
Adding cards
After each defense, the principal attacker and then the other opponents clockwise may add one card or pass. An added card must match the rank of any attack or defense already on the table. The defender answers each new card. A new card reopens the opportunity to add cards for everyone. You cannot pass before the first attack. At most six cards may attack in one bout, and never more than the defender held at its beginning. The number refers to attacking cards, not to the combined attack and defense cards.
Taking or beating
Take commits the defender to collecting all cards from the bout. Opponents may still add matching cards up to the same limit. Once everyone passes or the limit is reached, the defender takes the cards. With a successful defense the cards are removed from play. The principal attacker draws back to six first, followed by the other attackers clockwise, with the defender last. Drawing stops when the stock is empty. After a successful defense the defender attacks next. After taking, that player is skipped and the next active player attacks.
Finishing, settings and departures
Once the stock is empty, players with no cards after a completed bout are safe and no longer take turns. The last player holding cards loses; everyone who got out shares first place. If the final players run out together, there is no loser. Choose 2, 3 or 4 players, each player's total thinking time and the increment added after an action. Resignation or an expired return period forfeits that player's result. With enough players left, that player's hand and the unfinished bout are removed, hands refill in the usual order, and play continues. A player who had already got out keeps that result. A brief disconnection pauses the clocks and allows reconnection.
You know the rules — time for a game.
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