KING

Hey there! Let me tell you about a super cool game called King. People from all around the world play this trick-taking contract game. Fun fact: even though it’s called “King,” there’s no proof that it actually comes from England or any other English-speaking country. Neat, huh? You’ll find this game being enjoyed in some parts of Europe, the Middle East, Russia, and Latin America.

So, here’s how it goes: you have ten rounds to play, and each round has its own set of rules. In the first part of the game, you’ve gotta be careful and avoid certain tricks and cards. If you mess up, you’ll get hit with some negative points. Not fun! But wait, it gets better! In the last part of the game, you actually get awarded points for taking tricks. Sounds awesome, right?

THE CARDS & THE DEAL

When it comes to playing card games, one of the classics is King. This game is played with a standard deck of 52 cards from France. The first step is to determine who will be the dealer and score keeper for the game. To do this, one player starts by dealing out the cards one at a time. The player who receives the King of hearts will become the first dealer and score keeper. After each round, the dealer role and dealing direction pass to the left.

Once the dealer is determined, they should collect the cards and shuffle them. Then, they will proceed to deal 13 cards to each player, one card at a time.

Time to Play!

Now it’s time to dive into the game. Each round, the dealer will announce the contract. The player to the left of the dealer starts the game by playing any card they desire. The following players must play a card of the same suit if they have one. However, if they don’t have a card of the same suit, they can play any card they want, unless the contract rules state otherwise.

The game continues this way until all the contracts have been played.

What are the Contracts?

Negative Hands

Let’s play a game where the goal is to capture as few tricks as possible. The dealer has the power to choose a trump suit, but that’s up to them. Here’s the twist – every time you capture a trick, you’ll lose 20 points from your score. So, be careful!

Hearts are troublemakers in this game. You’ll want to avoid capturing tricks that contain hearts. In fact, you can only lead with hearts if you have no other options. And for every heart card you capture, you’ll lose 20 points. Ouch!

Queens are another source of trouble. Make sure to steer clear of capturing tricks with Queens in them. If you do capture a Queen, you’ll lose a hefty 50 points. Yikes!

Finally, watch out for the Kings and Jacks – they’re trouble too. You’ll want to avoid capturing tricks that have Kings or Jacks in them. For each King or Jack you capture, you’ll say goodbye to 30 points. Bummer!

Oh, and one more thing – in this game, there’s no King of Hearts. So don’t even bother looking for it!

When I play the game, I try really hard not to capture the King of Hearts. It’s a bad thing if I do because then I lose a lot of points, 160 to be exact. The King of Hearts is a very important card, and I have to play it as soon as I get the chance. That means even if someone else leads with another suit or if I don’t have any cards in that suit, I still have to play the King of Hearts.

Another thing I want to avoid is taking the last two tricks. If I do, then I lose 90 points for each of those tricks. So I have to be careful not to win those tricks.

Good Hands

During the Good Hands part of the game, I get to deal and choose the trump suit. I shuffle the cards and give each player 13 cards. Then I look at my own hand and decide which suit will be trump, or if we should play without trump at all.

When you’re playing this game, it’s all about capturing tricks to earn points. In fact, you get 25 points for each trick you capture during the hands.

The game comes to an end after each player has had their turn as the dealer.

How to Win

At the end of the game, the player with the highest score emerges as the winner.

The player who manages to rack up the most points by the end of the game is declared the winner.