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Hey there! Let me tell you about Anrufen, a super fun card game where you have to bid and take tricks to win. The goal is to bet on the type of game you think you can win and earn points from your opponents when you do! On the flip side, if you lose your bet, you’ll have to give away some of your hard-earned points.

GETTING STARTED

Before we dive into Anrufen, we need to set up the game. Get yourself a standard deck of 52 cards, but we’re going to take out the 8s and lower cards. You’ll be playing with the 9s, 10s, Jacks, Queens, Kings, and Aces, which makes a modified 24 card deck.

Each player will need a way to keep track of their points. You can use chips or some other kind of counters. Every player starts with 10 markers.

Alright, now it’s time to shuffle the deck and have the player on the dealer’s right do the honors of cutting it. Remember, everything in this game happens clockwise. Once the round is over, the dealer for the next round will move to the left of the previous one.

Alright, let me break it down for you. When we play this card game, each of us gets dealt three cards at a time until we all have six cards in our hands. Once we have our cards, we can start making bids. The player to the left of the dealer gets to make the first bid.

Card Rankings

Now, let’s talk about how the cards are ranked. The Ace is the highest card, followed by 10, King, Queen, Jack, and 9. There is also a ranking for the suits, which sometimes comes into play during bidding. The suits are ranked as follows: hearts (highest), diamonds, spades, and clubs.

Oh, and here’s something interesting. Certain cards and combinations of cards have point values when played. Each Ace and 10 is worth ten points. And if you have a marriage (meaning you have a king and queen of the same suit together) in the trump suit, that’s worth a whopping 40 points! For any other marriages, they’re worth 20 points each. And don’t forget, you get a cool 10 points for winning the last trick of the game.

In a game where no marriages are called, a total of 90 points are up for grabs by winning tricks. Sounds simple, right?

The Bidding Game

Now, let’s move on to bidding. This is when things start to get interesting. Each player takes turns calling out bids, trying to exceed the previous player’s bid. Of course, if you’re not feeling confident, you can always pass and let the next player take a shot. If all players pass initially, a second round of bidding begins. Still no takers? Well, then it’s back to the drawing board with a brand-new shuffle and deal.

When it comes to bidding, there are different levels to consider. The first level is what we call a regular game. This means you, along with your partner, have the potential to win the majority of the available points. In a game without marriages, that amounts to 50 points. But if marriages are in play, the point value goes up. Exciting, right?

When it comes to bids in a card game, there are different levels to consider. Let me break it down for you:

The first level is known as a basic bid. It’s the starting point. You don’t need a partner for this bid – all you have to do is win at least 60 points. It’s a good way to get your feet wet and learn the ropes.

Next up is the second level, which is a 100-point bid. Here’s where having a partner comes in handy. With their help, you’ll be able to win at least 100 points. The catch? You’ll need to claim at least one marriage to achieve this bid. It adds an extra layer of strategy to the game.

Now, let’s move on to the third level. This one’s a bit tricky, as you won’t have a partner. The goal here is to bid to win no tricks. That’s right – you want to avoid winning any tricks. It may sound counterintuitive, but hey, sometimes it pays off to think outside the box.

Ready for the fourth level? This is where things get interesting. Your task is to win all the tricks. With the help of your partner, you’ll strive to conquer every single trick in a hand. It’s a high-stakes bid that requires careful planning and flawless execution.

And finally, we have the fifth level. This one’s a doozy. You not only have to win all the tricks, but also secure 100 points. That means pulling off a perfect game with your partner and calling at least one marriage. It’s the ultimate test of your skills and teamwork.

So, whether you’re a beginner or a seasoned player, these different bidding levels offer a range of challenges and opportunities. It’s all about finding the right strategy and making bold moves to outsmart your opponents. Good luck!

When I make a bid, I can either increase the bid or match the previous player’s bid. If two players make the same bid, we each choose a trump suit. The higher-ranking trump suit wins.

The bidding phase continues until all players except one have passed and at least one bid has been placed. The winner of the bidding round gets to declare the trump suit, if it hasn’t been established already. They also choose a card of the trump suit that they don’t have. The player who holds this card becomes their partner, but they keep this information secret from the rest of us at the table.

GAMEPLAY

Have you ever played Anrufen, a fun card game? It’s a lot like the traditional trick-taking games you may be familiar with. Let me tell you how it’s played!

The person who wins the bidding starts the game and plays a card for the first trick. Everyone else in the game has to follow suit if they can, or play a trump card if they have one. And if they can’t do either, they can play any card they want. The goal is to win the trick by playing the highest-ranking card. Even if your partner is already winning the trick, you still have to play your higher-ranking card!

If there’s a trump card in play, the trick is won by the highest-ranking trump card. But if there’s no trump, then the trick is won by the highest-ranking card of the led suit. The person who won the previous trick gets to lead the next one.

When we start the game, a few important things happen. If the person I’m playing with wants to, they can increase our bid. They do this by raising the level of our bid, but not higher than level three. If I don’t have a partner and I’m trying to win no tricks, we skip this step. The other team can also bet that we won’t be able to complete our bid by calling “contra.” This increases the potential payout of the bids at the end.

In order to play a marriage, I have to be leading a trick and have both a king and queen of the same suit in my hand. I let everyone know by playing one of the cards in the marriage first and then declaring it.

We play a total of six tricks until everyone has played all of their cards. Then we start scoring.

Scoring

So, here’s how scoring works. After each round, we tally up the scores. If you’re playing as a team, one team will win and the other will lose, and they’ll trade tokens accordingly. But if there’s only one bidder in the round, that person gets to keep or give away all the tokens!

Now let’s talk about how points are calculated. Each team adds up their points. If the bidder successfully meets their bid, they score points and come out on top. But if they fail to meet their bid, they’ll end up paying points to the other team. Here’s the key thing: bidders only gain or lose tokens based on the bid they made, not the actual outcome of the bid. So let’s say you bid for a regular game, but you end up winning over 100 points – you’ll only receive scores for the regular game.

When it’s a regular game, I get or give away 1 score marker. But if I bid 100 points, then I receive or give away 2 tokens. If I bid no tricks, everyone gives or receives 2 tokens to the bidder. Now, if I bid all the tricks, we exchange 2 tokens. And if I bid all the tricks and 100 points, we exchange three tokens. Oh, and if we declared “contra,” the winners get an extra token.

Let’s talk about three players.

When there are three players, each of us gets dealt 7 cards instead of 6. There are three cards left in the center. The person who wins the bid doesn’t have a partner, but the other two players form a team. The winner gets to look at the three cards left in the center and take them. They can also discard any three cards, even the ones they just took. But the other team earns points if the winner discards any aces or 10s. Everything else works the same way as in a regular game.

Game Over

I’m finished when only one person has all of the points.

I’m over when just one player is left with all the points.