BASICS

REQUIREMENTS

• 2 - 5 players.
• A normal deck of 52 playing cards. (Optionally 1 - 2 jokers - see Joker Aces extension.)

BASIC IDEA

One suit is removed as rewards / penalties: the players either avoid being robbed by brigands (if black) or are brigands hunting for goods (if red).

• Depending on the removed suit (♤, ♧, ♥, ♦), the game has 4 sub variations. The red games are trick collection, and black games trick avoidance.
  • * The heart (♥) and spade (♤) games are about having most (rewards / penalties), while the diamond (♦) and club (♧) games are about having fewest.
• Each round is played as two sets of tricks and each player has 7 hand cards per set. The winner of the trick collects the reward / penalty.
  • In the 1st set 6 rewards / penalties are revealed (= placed face up overlapping each other) and played for one by one, and each is left with 1 hand card.
  • In the 2nd set, each gets 6 fresh cards and the remaining 7 rewards / penalties are revealed and played for, and then the round ends.
• The player with the most/fewest rewards/penalties gets a win/loss (according to the suit). The game is usually played for 3 wins/losses.

START UP & DEALING

The players are positioned into a ring, and one player chosen as the first dealer.

• The players decide whether to play for wins (♥ and ♧) or losses (♦ and ♤), and how many (usually 3). The dealer decides the colour: rewards or penalties.
• The dealer (removes the excluded suit) and deals each player 7 hand cards. Each player can then optionally exchange one hand card (in free order).
  • The players discard a card and draw a new one from the deck. However with 5 players, the dealer is not allowed to exchange (unless includes at least 1 joker).
• The player on the dealer's left starts. After the 1st set, the player on the right of the last winner deals the 2nd set (= last winner starts the 2nd set).
  • 2 PLAYERS: In the 2nd dealing, both players are dealt 6 new hand cards from the remaining deck (without reshuffling) and new exchanges follow.
  • 3 PLAYERS: The exchanged cards are shuffled back before dealing the remaining deck. To exchange again, reshuffle the played cards into a new deck.
  • 4 - 5 PLAYERS: The remaining deck and the played cards are shuffled together, and each player dealt new hand cards and new exchanges follow.

PLAYING

LINE OF REWARDS / PENALTIES

The game is played in 2 sets. In the 1st set there are 6 cards of the excluded suit face up overlapping each other, in the 2nd set 7 cards.

• The 2's and 3's are worthless and turned face down in the line (and collected face down as well). The face up cards are rewards / penalties.
• The cards are played for trick by trick starting from the top. The winner collects the card face up (or down if 2 or 3) in front of him.
• The last trick of the 1st set determines who starts the next trick as well as who deals the 2nd set: the player on his right.

PLAYING TRICKS

During a trick each player plays 1 hand card in clockwise order. After all have played, the cards are revealed and discarded.

• The first player starts by playing a hand card face up (determining the trick suit & number), and others respond by playing a hand card face down.
  • The last player can play his card directly face up (for fluency) - accordingly with just 2 players both cards are usually played face up.
• The only trick rule is that if you have cards of the trick suit or trick number, you must play one of them - otherwise can play any card.
• The trick is won by the highest card of the trick suit or number, each card of the trick number being slightly higher (+0.25) than the previous one.
  • Face cards are their number equivalents (J = 11, Q = 12, K = 13), while aces (A) are 1 when starting a trick (= face up), but number 14 when responding.
  • In case of responding to an ace with another ace (= of non-trick suit), they behave as the trick number: so slightly higher (= +0.25) than the original ace (= 1).
• The winner collects the reward / penalty face up (or down if 2 or 3) in front of him (overlapping earlier) and starts the next trick.

SCORING

After the last trick of the 2nd set, the round ends and the winner(s) / loser(s) are counted from the collected cards.

• The 2's and 3's (face down) are worthless, while other low cards (4 - 10) are worth 1 p., face cards (J, Q, K) 2 p. and aces (A) are 3 p. (Negative for black.)
• The one with the most rewards (♥) / least penalties (♧) wins, or with fewest rewards (♦) / most penalties (♤) loses - if shared, each gets 1 win / loss.
  • The game is usually played until 3 wins / losses. The next dealer is again on the right of the winner of the last trick (of the previous round).

EXTENSIONS

JOKER ACES (recommended)

The deck can include 1 or 2 jokers. In short jokers are aces of any suit you don't have.

• So you are only allowed to play a joker when you don't have that suit - be it for starting or responding to a trick. Upon starting must declare the suit.
• And like with other cards, you must play the joker if you don't have any other cards of the trick suit or trick number (as it is then an ace of the trick suit).
  • With only cards of 1 suit and joker, the joker represents the trick suit when responding to a trick. Upon starting you may choose (from the suits you don't have).
• In case the real ace of the same suit is played in the same trick, the starting ace/joker is 1 while the responding ace/joker is 14.

STRATEGY

PLAYING SUITS

• There are only 3 suits in the game, so the dynamics of winning and avoidance are "tighter" than in more traditional trick games.
• In black games low number cards are precious, and aces are useful for starting tricks. It's beneficial to completely get rid of a suit early on.
• In red games low cards are generally speaking the least useful, while face cards and aces are used for the most important hunts. It's common to try to consume other players' highs away before the important moments come.

PLAYING NUMBERS

• In black games it's of course best to waste away high cards when there's no or low penalty.
  • However, playing relatively high can sometimes work in the middle of the set - if someone has the same number and no (lower) cards of that suit.
• This can also happen in red games if the reward is low (or none) and there is juicier rewards coming - to consume away high cards from others.
• Another pattern is to try to keep your number spectrum wide in red games (for better capture luck) while narrow in black games (eg. many 2's is very safe).
  • Although, it's the opposite when you have the initiative: in black games you want number matches (to escape), and in red games you don't (to keep it all).

RANDOM WISDOMS

• The most important strategical point is to learn to play the sequence - or to play to the rhythm of the set.
  • Often this means taking some hits / not taking rewards voluntarily in order to take some bigger rewards later. Or making other surprising moves.
  • For example when a black face card or ace is near, you might take a penalty beforehand to avoid the big hit (by starting with an ace or something very low).
  • In red games it's common to try to capture the initiative before the pointworthy cards and then play a K (or other high, but not A) to keep the winning flow.
• It's beneficial to think in numbers: For example, if you have 3 cards of the same number, there's no matches out there. With 2 there's 1 or none.
  • In red games it's common that the players have kept K's (and other highs) for the last juicy rewards - so an attack with, say, a 10 might work better.
• With 2-3 players, it's also important to remember which cards were played in the 1st set - as they won't appear in the 2nd set.
  • In black games you try to remember which lowest cards were used, and in red games it's about the highest cards. In both cases aces are important, too.
• One good visual tool is to think of a grid with 3 columns (for suits) and many rows (for numbers).
  • At best in red games you end up with the initiative and are alone in the grid. Even low cards of one suit can be good if the timing is right.
  • Conversely in black games you want to end up alone but without the initiative - so that you become untouchable.
  • In both cases the opposite is the worst: you end up getting all the penalties or none of the rewards.
  • Finally, when there's little separation / solitude and many matches, things become wilder and more chaotic.
• In each round, there are 16 points (rewards / penalties) to be delivered in two sets: The 1st set carries 4 - 11 points, and the 2nd set 5 - 12 points.
  • It's common to try to smuggle a good hand card to the 2nd set, especially if the first set carries very few points.

HISTORY

v1 - Brigands (2024-04-23 - 2024-05-19)

• only extensions (2024-05-19): Refined Joker Aces extension so that jokers are aces of any suit you don't have.
• v1.1 (2024-05-09): Changed 2's and 3's to be 0 p., added trick number mechanics to the gameplay and changed Joker's trick (to use trick number).
• v1.0 (2024-04-23): While exploring mechanics for Mexican Standoff (in 2021), came across interesting trick avoidance dynamics with 3 suits. This is also the most direct implementation of the 4-suit-games core idea (explored in 2022 - 2023) that yielded Scavengers, Round Robbin' and Amish Lords.

THANKS

FOR IDEAS, HELP WITH DEVELOPMENT & PLAYING

Johannes Aho, Ville Viitala