Trumps: Large Party Games (3-8 Players)
Dealing: 12 rounds. Round 1 you give one card to each player. Round 2 – two cards to each player. Up to six cards per hand – Round 6 and 7 would be six cards to each player.
Trump: Cut the deck (player behind the dealer) every round to determine trump suit. This suit outranks any other suit. Remember you must Follow Suit.
Optional Rule: When you have 4 cards in your hand – there is no trump suit to flip over.
Assume a heart is flipped from the deck. Two of hearts will beat out a king of spades.
First Hand
Hearts are flipped from the deck – therefore hearts are Trump – Are you going to win 1 or 0 tricks?
Third Hand
Clubs is shown as trumps. How many will you win 0,1,2, or 3 tricks? If you win all 3 tricks you get 3+5 points. If you call 0 tricks and get 0 tricks you get 5 points. If you are wrong on your guess you get 0 points and no bonus point for bonus tricks.
Example of Game Play
Showing the first Trick. Example shows if hearts led and clubs is trump. Who wins this hand? 9 of clubs because it was trump suit and they did not have a heart (always follow lead suit).
Bidding: Bidding starts left of the dealer. You will guess the number of tricks you think you will win prior to the round. Remember you want to be correct of Bidding!
Playing: Start Left of the dealer – play a card to the center of the table. All players play a card and the highest card of the lead suit wins the hands. If a player plays a trump suit because they do not have the lead suit – they win the hand or the trick. And yes Aces are high and yes you must follow suit.
Scoring: 5 points for being correct. Zero points for overbidding/underbidding.
- If you guess zero and get zero tricks you get 5 points
- If you guess two tricks and get to tricks you get 5 + 2 points or seven points
- If you guess three tricks and get four you get 0 points. No Points!
Follow Suit in Effect: You must follow suit with whatever is led. If a diamond is led you must play a diamond. If you do not have a diamond – you can play any suit. If spades are trump and you play a spade – it is better than any other suit.
Tips for Beginners
You MUST Follow Trump. When you look to your hand – can you follow the led suit? (If you are leading – you can choose any suit)
If you cannot follow suit – do you want to win the trick – yes or no? If yes – try to play a trump card, the higher the more likely you are to win.
Any other suit will not allow you to win the trick.
Beginner tip is if you want to win the trick and you have the opportunity to win the trick – you should try to. If you bet 1 trick before the round started, Hearts led, you have no hearts and clubs are trump, you should be play that 7 of clubs in your hand so you trump the existing cards and have chance to win your trick.
Trumps is a game that requires just enough strategy and just enough break times to have conversation between rounds. This game is ideal for a hosting night because it can be played with such a wide array of players and it basically always is fun with whatever group size you have. It is a great game because it can be fun with 3-8 people and is equally fun with all sizes. The game will be played in several rounds with points awarded after each round. We thought this would be a good way to teach you a favorite game.
Your Friendly Kritter Monster