Welcome to 2-Player Troeven!

Hey there! Have you ever heard of 2-Player Troeven? It’s a really fun card game designed for two players. The aim of the game is to be the first player to reach a score of 0. How do you get there? Well, by winning rounds, of course! To win a round, you need to score more points than your opponent.

Now, let’s take a look at the two different versions of the game that you can play.

Version 1: SETUP

First things first, to decide who gets to be the dealer, we’ll choose someone randomly. And guess what? The dealer position will switch between players for each new round!

Now, to set up the game, we’ll need a deck of cards. But don’t worry, we won’t be using a full 52-card deck. We’ll slim it down a bit by removing all the cards that have a value of 6 or lower. That means you’ll end up with a deck of 32 cards.

The dealer gets to shuffle the deck and then the player to their right gets to cut it. Sounds exciting, right?

Let me explain the different versions of the card game to you. Stick with me, and you’ll understand how to play in no time.

Version one starts with the dealer giving both players eight facedown cards. These cards are divided into two lines, with each line having four cards. Next, the non-dealer gets four face-up cards placed on top of their facedown cards. Out of these four cards, they need to choose the trump suit. Once the trump suit is chosen, the dealer continues dealing cards until each player has two rows of facedown cards, covered by two rows of four face-up cards.

Now, version two is slightly different. First, the dealer gives the non-dealer four cards. This player must then call the trump suit. After the trump suit is called, the dealer deals until each player has a hand of eight cards each. Any remaining cards form a stockpile to be drawn from throughout the game.

Card Rankings and Values

Now, let’s talk about the ranking of the cards. It’s a traditional ranking system, where the Ace is considered the highest card, followed by the King, Queen, Jack, 10, 9, 8, and 7 being the lowest.

When playing this game, I want to make sure you understand the scoring system. Each card has a value that determines how many points you get. The cards are ranked in the following order: 4 points, 3 points, 2 points, and 1 point. So, in each round, there’s a chance to earn a total of 40 points.

How to Play

Now, let’s get into the gameplay. In version 1 of the game, the player who isn’t dealing the cards will start the round. After that, players will take turns. The first player can play any card they want. The other players have two options: they can either play a card of the same suit as the first player or play a trump card if they have one. If a player doesn’t have a card of the same suit, they can play any card, including a trump card. However, remember that you can only play face-up cards from your layout. If you flip a face-down card, you have to play it face-up.

When I play a game of cards, the trick is won by the highest-ranked trump, if there is one. If there isn’t, then the highest-ranked card of the suit that was led wins the trick. I take the cards that I win and put them in a face-down pile to count the score later. And after I win a trick, I get to lead the next one!

In version 2 of the game, things are a little different. The person who is not dealing the cards starts the round. Each player plays just one card to the trick, and as long as there are still cards in the stockpile, we don’t have to follow suit or use a trump card.

To win a trick in this version, I need to play the highest trump card or the highest-ranked card of the suit that was originally led. If I win the trick, it’s my turn to lead the next one.

After each trick is won, and as long as there are still cards left in the stockpile, all players will draw a card from it. First, the winner of the trick gets to draw, and then the loser. But once the stockpile is empty, things change a bit. Now, all players must follow suit or use a trump card if they have one.

SCORING

When all tricks have been won for the round, we can start scoring. It doesn’t matter which version you’re playing; the scoring rules are the same.

At the beginning of the game, each player starts with a score of 7. After each round, the player who scores the most points will decrease their score by one. However, if the dealer wins the round, the trump caller needs to add a point to their score.

If both teams score the same number of points in a round, then no changes are made to either team’s score.

If you prefer to play with traditional scoring, you can use a piece of paper and draw a long vertical line to divide it in half. Each side will be assigned to a player. At the beginning of the game, each player starts with 7 horizontal lines (or branches). Whenever a player wins a round and scores more points, they can add a ball to one of their lines to cancel it out. On the other hand, if the trump caller loses a round, they need to add a branch to their side.

END OF THE GAME

The game ends when a player reaches a score of 0 or cancels out all of their branches. The first player to achieve either of these conditions is declared the winner.