Simple Strange

A not so "simple" trick-taking game for three players.

Object

To take more tricks than your opponent.

Starting

Two packs of cards are needed. These should be shuffled together to form a single deck of 104 cards. Thirty four cards are dealt to each player (a total of 102 cards) and the last two are turned face up and placed at the edge of the playing area.

Trump suits and Super-trumps

Like many other trick-taking games, Strange uses a trump suit system. The trump suits are determined by the two cards turned-up at the end of the deal. This means it is entirely possible (and indeed quite likely) that there will be two trump suits.Also, since there is two of every card in the deck (by virtue of having two packs of cards), the cards turned-up will have duplicates in the deck. These cards are called the Super-trumps.

e.g. If, after the deal, the two cards turned-up are the JClub and QHeart, then the trump suits are Club and Heart and the Super-trumps are the JClub and QHeart.Super-trumps are better than any other card of that trump suit, and the higher of the Super-trumps is better than its lower counterpart.So in our e.g. the QHeart is the best Heart trump card the JClub is the best Club, with the Q being better than the J (which stands to reason).

Play

The player left of the dealer leads for the first trick, and all subsequent tricks are lead by the player who won the previous trick. Each trick consists of two cards played by each player, the first player leading any two cards he wants and the rest of the players following suit (playing a trump or throwing away if this is not possible).

e.g. Suppose player one leads 3Club and 8Spade then player two must play a Club and a Spade if he has them. If he has a Spade but no Club he must play the Spade but can either trump or throw away against the 3Club. if he has no Club orSpade he may trump or throw away against both cards.

Once all players have played cards for a trick, it is necessary to determine the trick winner (see below). The winner collects the cards to indicate his won trick, and then leads cards for the next trick.

Determining the trick winner

In order to determine who has won a particular trick, and by how much, a pip system is used. For minor (non-trump) suits each card has a pip value equal to its face value. With J's worth 11 pips, Q's 12, K's 13 and A's 14. For trump suits, each card has a pip value of 13 + its face value. This means that K's of the trump suits are worth 26 pips. The Lower Super-trump is worth 28 pips and the higher Super-trump 29 pips. However if a minor suit card is played against a card of any other suit (i.e. it is thrown away) it is worth 0 pips, whereas trump suit cards always have their same pip value no matter what suit they are played against.

Example 1

In game where 6Spade an KDiamond are the Super-trumps we have the following trick

Example 1
Here player one has 24 + 3 = 27 (for the J of trumps and the 3 minor), player two has 22 + 4 = 26 (for the 9 of trumps and the 4 minor) and player three has 20 + 6 = 26 (for the 7 of trumps and the 6 minor). Therefore player one wins, collects his/her trick and leads for the next trick.

Example 2

In a game where JClub and 4Spade are the Super-trumps, consider the following sequence of play

Example 2A
So no-one wins the trick! In this case the cards are left on the table and player one leads again for another trick. This continues until one player wins the most recent trick. when this happens the winner gathers all his individual tricks and then leads for the next trick. Suppose then we have the following next trick

Example 2B
Player two wins by playing his Super-trump! He/she collects both of the tricks and then leads.If the last trick of the game is drawn, then all the undecided tricks are abandoned and only those tricks already won are counted.

Winning the Game

The game ends when all the tricks have been played (seventeen in all). The player with the most tricks is the winner.

Variations

Credits

Devised by Andy B and Francis.

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