MARJOLET

Hey there! Have you heard of Marjolet? It’s a super fun card game that you can play with a friend. The goal of the game is to be the first one to score 500 points!

Marjolet is played in rounds, and the rules change a bit towards the end. But don’t worry, I’ll explain everything step by step!

SETUP

Before we start, let’s make sure we have everything we need. Take out all the cards with values 6 and lower from a regular deck. This will leave you with a deck of 32 cards.

To decide who goes first, pick a dealer randomly. The dealer will change with every new round. Shuffle the deck and deal 6 cards to each player. The remaining cards are placed face-down to create a draw deck. The very top card is flipped over and determines the trump suit. It’s placed next to the draw pile. Oh, and if the revealed card is a 7, the dealer instantly scores 7 points!

Card Ranking and Values

Hey there! Let me break down the ranking for this game for you. We’ve got Ace (that’s the highest), then 10, King, Queen, Jack, 9, 8, and 7 (that’s the lowest).

Now, only Aces and 10s actually have point values. When you win them in a trick, they’re all worth 10 points each.

But here’s where it gets interesting. Cards are also used to form melds in the game, and those melds can earn you some points too! Let me explain.

There are different types of melds you can form. For example, if you have a meld of 4 aces, that’s worth a whopping 100 points! If you have a meld of 4 kings, that’s worth 80 points. A meld of 4 queens gets you 60 points, while a meld of 4 jacks will get you 40 points.

Now, if you have a marriage (that’s when you have a king and a queen of the same suit), and they’re trumps, that’s worth 40 points. If they’re not trumps, it’s still worth 20 points. And hey, if you have a trump jack and a trump queen, that’s another 40 points in the bag. If you have a trump jack and any non-trump queen, it’s worth 20 points.

Oh, and here’s the cool part: melded cards can still be played in tricks and used in other melds. So you can keep racking up those points!

Ready to Play?

When the game begins, it’s me who starts if I’m not the dealer. I can choose any card I want to play for the trick. Then, the next player can also play any card they want.

The player who plays the highest trump card, if there is one, wins the trick. If no one played a trump card, then the trick is won by the player who played the highest-ranking card of the suit that was led. The trick cards are gathered into a pile and the winner gets to start the next trick.

After winning a trick, I can also announce any melds I have in my hand before we start the next trick. I have to show these melds face up in front of me. I earn points for the melds I announce. Then, the winner of the trick draws a card from the deck, followed by the other player. And then we start the next trick.

The 7 of trumps has some special abilities. If I have it in my hand after winning a trick, I can trade it for the trump card that was revealed. This instantly gives me 10 points. I can also choose to keep it and play it in a trick. Playing it in a trick also earns me 10 points, regardless of whether I win or lose the trick.

Once the game is finished and all the cards in the draw pile have been used, the player who won the game will draw the last card from the draw pile, and the other player will receive the trump card that was revealed. Both players will now take all the melded cards they have collected and add them to their hand. The rules for the remaining tricks will change.

From now on, players must follow suit if they have a card of the same suit as the lead card. All players are required to win a trick if possible. If you don’t have a card of the same suit, you must play a trump card if you have one. No melds can be declared during this phase of the game.

SCORING

After we’ve played all the tricks and won them, it’s time to tally up the points. Aces and tens are worth points, and don’t forget to count the melds that you declared. The winner of the final trick scores 10 points, and if someone manages to win all six of the last tricks, they get a whopping 50 points. Oh, and whoever takes the 10th trick also gets 10 points. Lastly, the player who drew the revealed card earns an extra 10 points.

END OF GAME

The game comes to an end once a player scores 500 or more points. They are crowned the winners of the match. However, if both players exceed 500 points in the same round, the player with the higher score is declared the ultimate victor.

That’s it! Keep playing, aim for 500 points, and may the best player prevail!