DRUNKARD

Hey there! Have you heard of Drunkard? It’s a cool card game, also known as P’yanitsa, that you can play with 2 to 4 people. It’s got two different game modes, each with its own goal. In one mode, you want to avoid collecting all the cards. In the other mode, you want to make sure you don’t lose all of your cards.

Here’s the interesting part: instead of having a winner, this game has a loser!

SETUP

So, first things first, you need a special deck for this game. The deck you use should only have cards from Ace to 6.

Once you’ve got your deck ready, it’s time to choose a dealer. Just pick someone at random, it’s all fair and square.

The dealer will shuffle up the deck and give each player an equal number of cards. Everyone gets their own little deck to play from.

Card Ranking

When it comes to ranking cards in the game, it follows the traditional order – Ace is the highest, followed by King, Queen, Jack, 10, 9, 8, 7, and 6 (which is the lowest). The 6, however, can become the highest-ranked card when played with aces in a trick. But in all other cases, the 6 maintains its position as the lowest-ranked card.

GAMEPLAY

Playing the game involves a series of tricks. Each player reveals the top card from their deck at the same time. The card with the highest rank wins the trick, allowing the winner to collect all the cards and add them to the bottom of their deck.

If there’s a tie for the highest-ranked card, we have two options. We can decide before the game begins whether all players will play the top card of their deck face down and then play a faceup card, or if they’ll just play a faceup card. Either way, the winner gets all the cards from the trick.

END OF GAME

The game ends when one player is the last with cards in their deck or when a player is the first to lose all their cards. In both cases, that player is the loser.

I’m Amber (They/Them), a writer and gaming enthusiast from Austin. I consider myself a gaming master and I adore dogs, plants, and D&D.