Soureh: A Game with a Twist

Welcome to Soureh, a card game that turns the rules on their head! Instead of aiming for the highest score, the goal here is to have the lowest number of points when the game ends. There are a few variations to keep things exciting, but let’s explore the most common version.

Setting Up the Game

Now, before we dive into the game, we need to get everything set up. First, we need to create the playing deck. Take out all the Jokers and picture cards, leaving us with a deck of eighty cards. These are the cards the dealer will use.

Once the deck is ready, the dealer shuffles the cards and deals everyone a hand of eight cards. The cards are placed in two rows, one facing up and the other facing down. The rows run parallel to each other.

To start the game, you need to arrange the cards on the table. Put the cards facing down closer to you and the cards facing up farther away. The rest of the cards go in the middle.

How to Play

On your turn, draw a card from the pile. You can either replace one of your face-down cards, replace one of your opponent’s face-up cards, or discard the card. Any replaced card goes to the discard pile.

If you think your two rows of cards have the correct relationship, you can shout “Soureh!” But first, three conditions must be met:

1. If there is a face-up red card, there must be a face-down red card with a higher value.
2. If there is a face-up black card, there must be a face-down black card with a lower value.
3. If there’s an ace facing up, then there are no other aces.

You can swap any cards you want, except for your opponent’s ace. The game goes clockwise until someone says “Soureh” and gets it right! Everyone gets one more turn to swap a card with the declarer’s face-up card to mess up their win or to swap one of their own cards to lower their points.

The declarer can only swap one card before they take another turn. They can either show their face-down cards and win the hand, or they can keep playing if they lose their chance to win.

If I reveal my cards and win, you and the other players must also reveal your cards and add up your points. Each of us will choose one pair of cards, one faceup and one facedown, and add their value to our scores. The player with the fewest points at the end of the game, is the winner!

GAME OVER

There are two ways in which we can end the game, depending on what we decide. We can keep playing until we reach a certain point limit, and the player with the lowest score wins. The other option is for players to leave the game when they reach a certain number of points. We keep playing until there’s only one player left, and that player becomes the winner!