Well, my thanks to Evie for letting me know about this thread - and my apologies to her for not getting here sooner. Unfortunately I’ve had very little time for a good long while now and haven’t been very active on the net. I’m still rather limited but I will try to keep track of this thread and contribute when I can.
I have had a go at re-writing my old account of this game and hope that it is clear enough. If it does need more clarity, do let me know.
Zwanziger-Rufen
This is the simplest of its family, though I have also been guilty of underestimating it. As such it is an excellent introduction to these games being both easiest to learn, while still good enough to stand on its own merit.
It is usually played with an Austrian Tarock pack, though you can use an Italian pack just the same. You will need to reduce it to just 40 cards and unusually the reduction includes a couple of trumps.
I should note that I have the habit of standardising some conventions and terms to make it a little easier for people to move between games of different families and countries - though these do not constitute changes to the game as such. For example, Dummett reports that this game is played clockwise but as most tarot games are played counter-clockwise, that is how I play it. (Having said that, I have read accounts on Austrian web sites - you’ve got to love Babel Fish - that report it being played counter-clockwise, so take your pick!)
You can, of course, find lots of variations, these rules are just those that I have found to play best. You should feel free to seek out or to invent your own - that’s how new games develop and thanks to the likes of Michael Dummett, we know that tarot has a long and very rich history of just that, making it the diverse family of games it is today.
The pack will consist of:
Trumps I, and IV to XXI - and the Fool, which counts as the highest trump for these games.
The I, XXI, and Fool are referred to as the Honours.
Five cards of each of the Black/Long suits:
King, Queen, Cavalier, Valet, 10
Five cards of each of the Red/Round suits:
King, Queen, Cavalier, Valet, Ace
The card points are:
Honours 5
Kings 5
Queens 4
Cavaliers 3
Valets 2
Other Trumps 1
Pip Cards 0
Card points are tallied individually so that there are 88 points in the pack.
Deal:
Four people play and one is chosen at random to take first turn at being Dealer. This player shuffles the cards and deals to each player, from right to left, ten cards in two rounds of five. (Cards are rarely dealt individually in tarot games)
Bidding:
Starting with Eldest (the player to Dealer’s right), players take turns to either bid to play as Declarer or to pass - except for Eldest, who is obligated to bid. The Declarer plays against the others to win the hand (also called the deal or round) by winning 45 or more card points.
There are just three available bids:
Call: This is the only bid open to Eldest. It is made by calling the lowest trump below the XXI that the bidder does not hold (ie XX or less, hence the name of the game “Call Twenty”). If the bid is won, then that player will be declarer’s partner - though they may not announce this unless they announce a Pagat Ultimo (see below). This scores 1 game point.
No Trumps: This outbids a Call. If won, Declarer plays alone and trumps lose their ability to trump other cards - though the rules governing their play remain the same. This scores 2 game points.
Solo: This outbids Call and No Trumps. If won, Declarer plays alone to the usual rules. This scores 4 points.
Announced Bonuses:
At their turn players may announce for one of two bonuses if they bid - except for the Pagat Ultimo, which may be announced without a bid only by the player who holds the trump called by Eldest.
Pagat Ultimo: The player contracts to win the last trick with the I of trumps (called The Pagat). This scores 4 game points
Grand Slam: The player contracts to win every trick. This scores 12 points.
Contras:
Any player may call Contra to any bid, which has the effect of doubling that bid’s score. After this, any player may call Re-Contra to double it again, and then Sub-Contra to double this once more. If playing for money, this has the effect of increasing the stakes significantly and should not be done lightly - if you do gamble, you may wish to rule that only one Contra is allowed to a bid.
Playing the Hand:
Declarer leads to the first trick by playing any card. Then each player in turn, moving to the right, plays a card. If they can, they must follow suit (ie play a card of the suit led), if they cannot, then they must play a trump. The highest trump played, or, if no trumps have been played (or if playing a bid of No Trumps), the highest card of the suit led wins the trick. The player of the winning card takes the cards into their trick pile. The winner of the trick then leads to the next one. This continues until all the cards have been played - this is called a round, or a hand, or a deal.
Winning and Scoring:
Declarer counts the card points won (including those of a partner, if there was one) and if they total 45 or more that hand has been won and the game points of the bid are paid by each of the opponents. (If there is a partner, these points are shared)
If Declarer loses the bid, then the points must be paid to each of the opponents. (We don’t have partner share this penalty on the grounds that partner was drafted into the role!)
If any announcements were made then they are paid as for the bid.
There are two bonuses that are paid out for possessing certain cards. If a bid of No Trumps was played then a player who held all four Kings may claim 1 point from each of the other players. Under any other bid, if a player held all three Honours, they may then claim 1 point from each.
Continuing and Ending Play:
The player to Dealer’s right then takes up the cards and the role of Dealer for the next hand.
When someone wishes to bring play to an end, the last deal will begin with the player who is next dealt the Fool. Potentially this can mean that play continues for another four deals after a player wishes to finish, so it is up to you if you want to stick to the rule - there is no good reason to.
. But a possibility?