RED FROG BLACK FROG

Welcome to Red Frog Black Frog, a fun fishing card game that can be played by 2 to 4 players. The number of players affects the cards you have, the cards that score, and the amount of points needed to win. The objective is simple: score points by playing cards from your hand and taking cards from the table.

Red Frog Black Frog is similar to Chinese Ten, with the only major difference being the way scoring works.

SETUP

The setup process is different depending on the number of players. A dealer will shuffle the deck and then distribute the cards to each player. In a 2-player game, each player receives a hand of 12 cards. For a game with 3 players, each player is dealt 8 cards. And in a 4-player game, each player gets 6 cards in their hand.

Once the dealer has distributed the cards to everyone, they take the remaining deck and place it in the middle of the play area. Then, four cards are flipped over from the top of the deck. And now, we can finally start playing!

Understanding Card Rankings

It’s not important to worry about the suits and rankings of the cards in this game. However, if you’re not familiar with them, take a look at the numbers and face cards in the deck.

In this game, Aces are valued at 1. The rest of the number cards are from 2 to 10, but there are some special rules regarding the 10s that make them more like face cards. I’ll explain this further in the gameplay section. As for the face cards, they include jacks, queens, and kings.

Let’s Start Playing

When I start playing the game, the first thing I do is look at the layout. It’s important to take note of whether or not certain special circumstances are present, as they can change the way the game is played. If there are three cards in the layout that are either a King, Queen, Jack, 10, or 5, then whenever the fourth card of that type is played, it will score points for all the matching cards. On the other hand, if the layout consists of a four of a kind, the dealer will automatically score points for all four of those cards.

If neither of these special circumstances occur, then I can begin the game in the traditional way. Anyone can start the game, as long as we establish a turn order. On my turn, I will do two things. First, I will play a card from my hand and capture a card if I’m able to. Then, I will flip the top card of the remaining deck and capture another card if I can. It’s all about strategizing and making the right moves to gain the most points and ultimately win the game.

When I play a card from my hand, I check to see if I can capture any cards from the layout. If I have a card that, when paired with another card, equals a sum of 10, I can capture that pair. If I have a 10 or a face card, I’m looking for a card of the same rank. I can only capture one card this way, even if there are multiple choices. If I capture a card, both the captured card and the one I played are taken and put face-down next to me. If my played card doesn’t capture anything, it stays in the layout and can be captured later.

After I play a card from my hand, I flip over the top card of the remaining deck. The same process happens again to see if I can capture a card. If not, the card remains in the layout.

This way of playing continues until all the cards have been captured.

Scoring

When all the cards are captured, you can start scoring. In Red Frog Black Frog, the red cards don’t count for points. The black cards numbered 2 to 9 are worth their face value. The 10s, jacks, queens, and kings of the black suits are worth 10 points each. The ace of clubs is worth 0 points, but the ace of spades is a whopping 50 points!

Once you know your score, compare it to the winning score. In a game with 2 players, if you score higher than 105, you win! In a game with 3 players, the magic number is 80. And in a 4-player game, the score needed to win is 70.

End of Game

To win the game, you can have the highest score. But you can also tally wins from multiple games to determine the ultimate champion!