APPLES
Apples is a cool card game from France that can be played by four people. Sometimes, you can even play with more players. Unlike other card games, Apples doesn’t require teams. Every player is on their own!
HOW TO GET STARTED
First, we need to decide who will be the dealer. The easiest way to do this is by drawing cards and seeing who has the highest one. The player with the highest card gets to be the dealer, and then the dealer role moves to the next player in a clockwise direction. Each player will be dealt thirteen cards by the dealer. Now, we’re all set to start!
HOW TO PLAY
Let’s start with bidding, the first phase of the game. I go first if I’m sitting to the left of the dealer, and we take turns clockwise. What we’re trying to figure out during bidding is the trump suit for this round. I’ll say a number and then name a suit. The next player can either pass or try to make a better bid.
We have four suits in the game: Spades, Clubs, Hearts, and Diamonds. Spades is the strongest, followed by Clubs, then Hearts, and Diamonds. The suit that wins the bidding becomes the trump suit. Once we have a trump suit, we have to play cards from that suit equal to the number we bid.
Now, after the bidding, we shuffle the cards in the bidding pile and deal them again. This time, each player picks a card from their hand and puts it face down next to them. This card will be their target card.
When we start the game, I get one card. Then we take turns playing cards, trying to match the suit. If we don’t have a matching card, we can play any random card. The person with the highest card wins the round!
The winner gets to keep all the cards played in that round. Those cards go into a pile, and we use them to calculate our score. We play twelve rounds in total, and then we add up the points.
The number cards two, three, four, and five are worth negative fifteen points. The six, seven, eight, and nine cards are worth five points. The ten, Jack, Queen, and King are worth ten points. And the ace is worth fifteen points.
When you play this game, you earn points based on the cards you have. If you have a pair of cards, you get the value of one card. If you have three of the same cards, you get double the value. And if you have four of the same cards, you get four times the value. If you have three of your target card, you get forty points. But be careful, because you can also earn negative points.
The Game Ends
The game ends when someone reaches two hundred and fifty points. That person is the winner!
Want to play another game? Give Apples to Apples a try!
Want to play another game? Give Apples to Apples a try!