LINGER LONGER

Welcome to Linger Longer, an exciting English card game! It’s a game of strategy and fun that you can easily learn and teach to others. Let’s dive in and discover how to play!

First, let’s decide how many rounds to play. The number of rounds should be equal to the number of players. For example, if there are four players, we’ll play four rounds.

THE CARDS & THE DEAL

Linger Longer is played with a standard 52-card deck. To determine the dealer, each player picks a card from the deck. Whoever draws a Jack first becomes the dealer. After that, the winner of each round becomes the dealer for the next round.

So, here’s how it goes down: the dealer has the important job of thoroughly shuffling the cards, making sure they’re all mixed up. Now, when it comes to dealing the cards for this game, things get a little bit out of the ordinary.

Each player in the game should get a number of cards that’s equal to the number of players. Let’s say there are four players in the game. In that case, each player will be dealt four cards. And if there are five players, well, you guessed it, each player gets five cards. You get the idea.

Now, here’s the twist. The last card that the dealer deals goes face up on the table. This card is special because it determines the trump suit for the whole game. Everybody takes a peek at this card, and once everyone has seen it, the dealer can pick it back up and add it to their own hand.

(By the way, there’s a cool rule called Lift Smoke that changes things up. In this rule, the dealer keeps their card a secret. Instead, they take the top card from the draw pile, flip it over, and set it aside. That card becomes the trump suit, but it doesn’t get used in the actual game.)

Okay, moving on. The rest of the cards go right in the middle of the table. These cards are the draw pile, and they’re just waiting for players to snatch them up during the game.

I’m ready to start playing.

Let’s Begin the Game

First, I’ll pick a card from my hand to start the game. After that, it’s everyone else’s turn. They also need to choose a card from their hand and play it to the center. The card they pick has to match the suit of the card that was led. If they don’t have a matching suit, they can play any card they want.

The player who plays the highest card of the same suit as the lead card, or the highest trump card, wins the trick. The trick is set aside, and the winning player takes it. They also get to draw a card from the draw pile, giving them more cards than everyone else. As the game goes on, each player’s hand size will differ.

When I play a game of cards, the person who wins the trick goes first. They get to choose any card from their hand and play it. Then, it’s the turn of the other players, and they have to follow the same rules when choosing which card to play.

As we continue playing the game, we will start running out of cards in our hands. When a player doesn’t have any cards left, they’re out of the game. However, if they play their last card and manage to win the trick, they still have a chance to keep playing. They can draw a card and play it as long as they win the trick.

(Remember, there’s an alternative rule called Instant Out. Under this rule, if a player plays their last card, they’re automatically out of the game, whether they win the trick or not.)

SCORING

Hey there! So, here’s the deal: the goal of this game is to be the last player with cards in your hand. Cool, right? If you run out of cards in the draw pile, no worries – the last player to take a trick will win instead.

Now, let me explain how scoring works. When a player wins a round, they earn one point for each card left in their hand. So, the more cards you have at the end, the better!

WINNING

Alright, let’s talk about winning the whole shebang. After everyone has played a round, the player with the highest score takes home the victory. It’s as simple as that!

So, now that you know the basics, are you ready to jump in and start playing? Have fun and may the cards be in your favor!