The Lost Game of Lodam

Have you ever heard of a game called Losing Lodam? It’s an ancient trick-taking game that goes all the way back to 1586. In this game, the goal is to capture tricks without getting penalty cards. It’s a bit tricky, but I’ll explain how it works.

The Cards and How They’re Dealt

In Losing Lodam, you play with a regular deck of 52 cards. The cards are ranked from 2 to 10, then J, Q, K, and A. Remember, in this game, the Ace is the highest card.

If you’re playing with four or eight players, you’ll need to deal out 48 cards evenly. The remaining four cards are set aside as a “kitty.” If you’re playing with a different number of players, just deal out all the cards evenly and set aside the extras as the “kitty.”

Each round, the dealer passes the deck to the left.

How to Play

The First Trick

When we play a card game, we start off by picking a dealer. The person to the left of the dealer goes first and can play any card they want. Then, the other players must follow suit if they can, or they can play any card if they don’t have a matching suit. The trick is won by the player who has the highest card in the lead suit. Whoever wins the trick gets to lead the next one.

But here’s the twist: when someone can’t follow suit and plays a card of a different suit, the top card of the kitty is turned up. This determines the trump suit for the rest of the round. This can happen in the middle of a trick, and it can completely change how the game is played. Once everyone has seen the trump suit, the card is turned back down. It’s important for each player to remember the trump suit. If you forget and accidentally collect a trick without realizing you were trumped, no one should say anything about it.

So the game keeps going, with players taking turns and playing cards. The goal is to win as many tricks as possible and earn points. It’s important to pay attention and strategize, because the trump suit can make a big difference. Keep an eye on what cards have been played and try to anticipate what your opponents might have. By staying focused and making smart moves, you can increase your chances of winning the game.

In this game, we keep playing until we’ve captured all the tricks.

Next Rounds

Every time someone gets eliminated, each player gets more cards in the next round.

Keeping Score

We earn points by capturing penalty cards.

Aces are worth 11 points each.

Tens are worth 10 points each.

Kings are worth 3 points each.

Queens are worth 2 points each.

Jacks are worth 1 point each.

At the end of each round, if someone has 31 or more points, they lose a chip. If no one has 31 points, the player with the highest score loses a chip. Once a player loses all three of their chips, they’re out of the game.

Winning the Game

We’ll keep playing rounds until there’s only one player left. That player will be the winner.

My Personal Thoughts

Wow, this game sounds super interesting! It’s like a party game that you play with regular cards. Kind of like hearts, where you don’t want to collect certain cards. But what makes this game really cool is the surprise element of the trump suit. It could show up in the middle of a trick! And I love how they use poker chips as “lives” in the game. You lose a life if you reach 31 points, just like in the game Thirty-One. The only downside is that it might take a really long time to play if there are 10 players. That means there could be up to thirty rounds!

Oh, and I should mention that there are a few extra rules for this game. Some people might not like them, but if you’re curious, you can check them out on David Parlett’s page here.