NAPOLEON

Hi there! Let’s talk about Napoleon, an exciting card game that can be played by up to 5 people. In this game, the goal is to be strategic with your bids and win as many scoring cards as possible.

Napoleon combines elements of bidding and payouts. When it comes to payouts, it’s important for all players to agree on the value of a single stake.

SETUP

To start the game, we need a dealer. The dealer is randomly chosen. They will shuffle the deck and then deal 10 cards to each player, going in a clockwise direction. The remaining 2 cards are placed face down in the center as the blind. After each round, the dealer position moves to the left.

Card/Suit Ranking and Scoring Cards

In Napoleon, the ranking of the cards follows the traditional order. The Ace is the highest card, followed by the King, Queen, Jack, 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, and 2 as the lowest card.

Did you know that playing cards have a certain order of rank? It’s pretty cool! Let me explain. The first one is Spades, which are the highest, followed by Hearts, then Diamonds, and finally Clubs, which is the lowest. This rank is important during bidding, which I’ll tell you about in a bit.

Now, there are a few cards that are special. These ones beat all the other cards, but they still belong to their original suit. The ace of spades is the absolute top dog, it trumps everything! And then we have the jack of the trump suit, which is the second-highest ranked card. And lastly, we have the jack of the same color as the trump suit, which is the third-highest. It’s like having a secret weapon!

Let me give you an example to make it easier to understand. Say we have hearts as the trump suit. In this case, the order of rank for the hearts would be: Jack, Ace, King, Queen, 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, and 2. As for diamonds, they have the same order of rank. And the other two suits, Clubs and Spades, also have the same order of rank.

Now, some cards are more valuable when it comes to scoring points. These are the Aces, Kings, Queens, Jacks, and 10s of each suit. These cards are like gold – the more of them you collect, the better your chances of winning!

And now, let’s talk about bidding.

When we start playing a card game, each of us gets a turn to bid on how many scoring cards we think we can win in a round. It’s like a mini-auction! The bidding starts with the person sitting to the left of the dealer and goes around the table.

Here’s how it works: a bid is made up of two things – a number between 11 and 20, and a suit. The lowest bid you can make is 11 clubs, and the highest bid you can make is 20 spades. If you want to bid higher, you can increase either the number or the suit rank. The number represents how many scoring cards you think you can win, and the suit will be the trump suit – the most powerful suit in the game.

If, for some reason, all the players pass without making any bids, we collect all the cards and the dealer starts dealing again.

Once everyone except one player has passed, that last player becomes the “Napoleon” – the person who gets to choose their partner for the round. How cool is that?

Hey there! Let me tell you about a card game called Napoleon. It’s a pretty unique game because you don’t know who your partner is until you start playing!

First, the Napoleon chooses their partner, but they keep it a secret. The partner only gets revealed as the game progresses.

Next, the Napoleon can pick up the blind. They’ll take two cards from their hand and discard them. If the discarded cards are score cards, they’re placed face up and scored for the opposing team. But if they’re not score cards, they’re discarded face down on the side.

The Napoleon also has the option to play alone. They can either call a card they already have or find their card in the blind.

How to Play

When it’s my turn, I get to lead the first trick. It’s a special trick because we only use the regular ranking of the cards, ignoring trumps and special ranked ones. The other players have to play a card from the same suit if they have one, but if they don’t, they can play any card they want. The winner of the first trick is the person who plays the highest card from the suit I led. They get to collect all the cards from the trick and start the next one.

Now, for the rest of the game, we can use trumps and special ranked cards. But there’s also another rule called “rule of twos” that we use. This rule says that if everyone plays cards of the same rank in a trick, the 2 of that suit becomes the fourth highest ranked card. The players still have to follow suit if they can, but if they can’t, they can play any card they want.

When it comes to winning a trick, there is a specific order that determines the winner. First, the ace of spades takes the prize, if it’s in play. Then, the jack of the trump suit has a chance. If not, the same colored trump card tries its luck. After that, the highest-ranked trump card takes a shot. And finally, if no trump cards are in play, the highest card of the lead suit becomes the winner. Once a trick is won, the victorious player collects the cards, scores them, and discards any remaining ones. They also have the privilege of leading the next trick.

PAYOUTS

When the round is over, players add up their score cards to determine their final tally. If the Napoleon’s team managed to win as many score cards as they had bid in advance, they receive a stake from each opponent. The Napoleon receives 2 stakes, while the teammate receives 1 stake. However, if the team falls short and loses the round, they must pay each opponent a stake. Here, the Napoleon pays 2 stakes, and the teammate pays 1 stake.

There is one more scenario to consider. If the Napoleon’s team manages to win all 20 score cards, regardless of their bid, they are still required to pay a stake to each opponent. In this case, the Napoleon pays 2 stakes, and the teammate pays 1 stake.

If you make a bid of 20 and it works out, you get double the payout. But if it doesn’t work out, your opponents also get double the payout.

GAME OVER

The game continues until players want to quit or end the game.

The game continues until players want to quit or end the game.