Hornafjarðarmanni

I want to tell you about Hornafjarðarmanni, which is a really cool card game that three people can play together. The goal of the game is to have the most points by the end. You’ll know the game is over when one player reaches 10 points or more.

You earn points by winning tricks, but there’s a catch – you have to win 4 tricks in a round to get any points at all. This sets Hornafjarðarmanni apart from other trick-taking games, but it still has some things in common with them. That’s what makes Hornafjarðarmanni so exciting – it’s a unique twist on a classic game!

Getting Started

When setting up for Hornafjarðarmanni, we start by shuffling and dealing the deck. To determine the trump suit, the player to the right of the dealer cuts the deck. The bottom card of the cut is important here. If it’s a 10 or higher, there won’t be any trumps for the round. If it’s a card ranked 6 through 9, the suit of that card becomes the trump suit. And if it’s a 5 or lower, the round is played Nolo, which means no trump suit and tricks are avoided.

Now, when it comes to dealing the cards, the dealer will give each player 12 cards, dividing them into sections of 4 cards each. After everyone has their hand, the remaining 16 cards are placed face down in the center. These cards, called the Manni, will come into play later.

GAMEPLAY

As soon as the cards are given out, it’s your turn to decide whether to keep your hand or exchange it with the Manni. If you choose to exchange, you can get rid of up to 7 cards from your hand and draw new ones from the Manni. The cards you discard are removed from the game. Then, it’s the player to the right of the dealer’s turn to decide if they want to exchange. They can discard up to 5 cards and draw from the Manni. Finally, it’s the dealer’s turn to exchange. They can discard and draw as many cards as they want from the remaining Manni.

Once all the card exchanging is done, it’s time for the player to the left of the dealer to start the first trick. In this game, players should always try to follow the same suit if they can. But if they can’t, they can play any card they like. The player who has the highest trump card wins the trick. If there are no trump cards, then the player with the highest card of the lead suit wins.

When we play a card game, like the one I’m about to explain to you, the winner of the last round gets to start the next one. This goes on until everyone has played all their cards.

THE END OF THE GAME AND SCORING

We keep track of the score throughout the game and count it at the end of each round. At the beginning of the game, everyone has zero points. Points are earned or lost based on the number of tricks a player wins or avoids in a round.

In most rounds, the goal is to win 4 tricks. If a player wins more than 4 tricks, they earn points equal to the number of extra tricks won. But if they win fewer than 4 tricks, they lose a point for each trick they didn’t win.

In the special round called Nolo, the goal is still 4 tricks. If a player avoids winning any tricks, they earn a point for each trick avoided. But for each trick they win that is more than 4, they lose a point.

The game continues until one or more players reach a total of 10 points. The player with the highest number of points at the end is the winner.