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Goal

Take tricks that hold face-up cards for your team. At the end of each round each team adds up the face-up cards its players took, and every player scores their team’s total. After 4 rounds (5 with 5 players) the highest total wins.

Cards

A standard 52-card deck plus 2 Jokers, 54 cards in all. Suits don’t matter at all.

Ranking

From low to high: any face-down card, then A, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, and the Joker. Every face-down card ranks the same. Played face up, the Jack, Queen, and King have no rank: each has an ability instead (see Card abilities). The highest card wins the trick, and of two equal cards the one played first wins.

Starting hand

First turn over the stock, 2 cards with 4 players or 4 with 5, face up for everyone to see. If it shows both Jokers, shuffle and turn it over again; a single Joker stays. Then deal 13 cards each with 4 players, or 10 each with 5.

Setup

The start player of round 1 is picked at random, and the start passes to the next player each round, so everyone starts once. On Play again, round 1’s start passes one seat on.

Secret teams. The players dealt a Joker are the Fools for the round, and everyone else is the Court. Nobody says who holds a Joker. A Fool shows only when a Joker is played face up, and the board marks that seat with a Fool’s hat . When only one player holds a Joker, that player is the Lone Fool and plays alone against everyone else. That happens when one player is dealt both Jokers, or when the stock shows a Joker and one player is dealt the other.

Setup options. Length can be set to a single round.

Party Crasher. When Party Crasher is on and the Lone Fool’s hand has only Jacks, Queens, and Kings left, they can show it on their turn to end the round at once. The cards still in hands and the trick in play score nothing, and the round is scored on the tricks already taken.

Play

1. Lead and follow with any card. The start player leads, then each player in turn plays 1 card, any card, face up or face down.
2. Every trick needs both. A complete trick must hold at least 1 face-up card and at least 1 face-down card that no Queen covers. So the last player to a trick may have to play face up, or face down.
3. A Queen can’t be led face up, because there’s nothing to cover yet. A Queen you lead goes face down.
4. Face up, a Jack, Queen, or King uses its ability instead of a rank (see Card abilities).
5. The winner takes the trick. They keep every card the way up it was played, and lead the next trick.
6. Nobody looks at face-down cards. Only the player who played a face-down card knows what it is, even after the round ends.

Scoring

Only face-up cards score, 1 point each whatever their rank. When the round ends the teams are revealed, and each team adds up the face-up cards its players took.

• The stock goes to the Fools. Its 2 cards (4 with 5 players) are all face up, so they add 2 (or 4) to the Fools’ total, whoever takes the tricks.
• Everyone scores the team total. Each player adds their team’s total for the round to their own score.
• Lone Fool. The Lone Fool’s team total, the stock included, is multiplied by 2 with 4 players, or by 3 with 5 players.
• No tricks. A player who won no tricks in the round adds 5 points times the round number: 5 in round 1, 10 in round 2, and so on. This bonus comes after the Lone Fool’s multiplier, so it’s never multiplied.

After the last round the highest total wins, and players who tie share the win.

Card abilities

Played face up, these cards use their ability instead of a rank. Played face down, they’re ordinary face-down cards. The picture beside each is the one in the corner of the card.

• Jack. The lowest card wins the trick instead of the highest. A second Jack switches it back, a third switches it again, and so on. Face-down cards are the lowest, so with 1 or 3 Jacks the first uncovered face-down card wins, unless a King decides.
• Queen. Cover a card another player has already played in this trick. A covered card doesn’t count when deciding who wins, so a covered Jack or King loses its ability, but it still scores. A Queen can cover another Queen, which uncovers the card under it. You can’t cover your own card, or a card that already has a Queen on it.
• King. Name any other player, even one who hasn’t played yet. That player wins the trick, whatever else is in it, Jacks included. With more than 1 uncovered King, the first one played decides.
• The Fool’s hat marks a Fool. The Joker itself has no ability: it’s the highest rank. The Ace has none either: it’s the lowest rank, just above face down.

Examples

These are the 7 trick examples in J Simmons’ rules, explained in our own words. Player 1 leads each trick, and the others follow in order. Under a Queen, “on Player 1” means it covers that player’s card. Under a King, it means the King names that player. The Points column counts the face-up cards in the trick, covered or not.

Player 1	Player 2	Player 3	Player 4	Winner	Points
				Player 1	2
Both 9s are equal, so the one played first wins.
				Player 4	3
A second Jack switches the first one back, so the highest card, the 3, wins.
on Player 3				Player 3	2
Player 1’s King names Player 3, who wins whatever else is in the trick.
			on Player 1	Player 2	1
Player 4’s Queen covers Player 1’s card. The uncovered face-down cards tie, so the first one played, Player 2’s, wins.
on Player 4	on Player 1	on Player 2		Player 4	3
Player 3’s Queen covers Player 2’s Queen, which uncovers Player 1’s King. That King names Player 4.
				Player 3	2
The Joker is the highest rank, so it beats the 10.
on Player 3	on Player 4			Player 3	3
With 2 uncovered Kings, the first one played decides, so Player 1’s King names Player 3.

Playing with your own deck

Keep each trick’s cards the way up they were played, so the face-up ones can be counted at the end of the round, and don’t look at the face-down ones. You need a pencil and paper for the totals.

How this version differs

• The No Tricks bonus is 5 points times the round number. The published rules give 10 times the round number.