Tricked-Out! (A Guide to Trick-Taking)

I have such found memories of sitting around the card table at big family gatherings that it’s almost unfathomable to consider that others from my generation (and earlier) never experienced the same joys.  But sure enough, every so often I encounter someone who has never played any classic, traditional card games.  They think “tricks” are pranks played in college.  And you might as well be speaking Greek when trying to explain them, because terms like trump, ruff, kitty, stock, marriage, bower, revoke, slough, and “shoot the moon” and “going alone” all mean something very different to them, if anything at all!  Today, it seems like those time-honored card games are getting rarer and rarer.

So, if you’re looking to re-kindle an old flame and introduce these oldies-but-goodies to your friends and family, here’s our guide to the mechanic that comprises the vast majority of traditional card games and how it has infiltrated the modern hobby.

[*Note: For gamers who are familiar with the hobby, I will not be discussing climbing games, which are close cousins to trick-taking games and are often categorized as such for convenience, yet play very differently. This is why you will not see titles like Tichu, Haggis, or Frank’s Zoo, etc.]

A Blaze of Lightning (a review of Rook)

The mass-market games in the background are appropriate for this
easy-to-acquire gem of a card game.

It's not often that I admire marketing copy. In fact, I often consider myself immune to tricks and gimmicks (though for some reason I want a ShamWow...) and doubt the effectiveness of most advertisements. But even though I already owned a copy of Parker Brothers' Rook game, I bought the newer version because of the marketing copy, mostly so I could read it aloud before each game. In order to get the full effect, or at least to understand why I love it so much, try reading it in a deep, gravelly voice, emphasizing each time "rook" appears in all capitals:

A blaze of lightning. A wind turned cold. Beware the power of the Rook. The eerie black bird can make all the difference. Four players (options for two, three, five, or six). Partners or not. You bid. You name trump. You take tricks (when you're lucky and smart). But beware the wild ROOK! When he lands, everything can change. A classic game. (A favorite since 1906. Oh, my!) Easier than bridge. More challenging than Hearts. Custom-designed cards. Gorgeous. Perfect for a dark, stormy night. Bring home the ROOK card game and find out.

Then, after reading this, it's necessary to read the front of the box in a shrill, scared-sounding voice: "It's only a card game, but I'm feeling an odd chill in the air!"

Does the game live up to its marketing copy? Well, judging by my admission that I already own two copies of this game, you can guess that yes, it does. But humor me.

On the Beaten Path: General Market Games

It's so hard to find a happy medium in life. And we know that what's true in life is also true in board games.

I've noticed that many in the board game hobby, in order to distance themselves as far as possible from Monopoly, have completely eschewed general-market (read: readily available) games. While it's true that a good Euro is hard to find on the shelves of your local Target store, this doesn't mean that what's there is all bad. True, I might steer clear of Monopoly, Risk, and and Candyland, but there are plenty of other options, whether you're looking for a good card, strategy, word, or party game. Below is my list of games I enjoy that are readily available. Feel free to add your own in the comments.

Friday Question: What Game Has Produced the Most Memories?

Let's face it: gaming is not about winning and losing (despite what Scotty Sore-loser-pants says when you try to console him). It's about the common experience of bringing people together. So this Friday's Friday question addresses just that: what game has produced the most (or fondest) memories for you or your group? Feel free to answer (and share some of those memories) in the comments.

@FarmerLenny answers:
I've probably spent the most time with Monopoly or Risk, but strangely enough, those memories have (for the most part) been repressed. The game for me that carries some of the fondest memories is Kill Dr. Lucky. My brother-in-law introduced me to this game on one of my summer visits, and I promptly ordered a copy from the publisher (whose name on the shipping box produced raised eyebrows when it arrived in the mail). This was before the fancier version came out, but after the original edition. I bought the director's cut, the version with all the creative modes of failure ("The doctor vanishes inexplicably in a cloud of feathers," etc.). When I introduced it to my friends at college, they were skeptical at first, but it soon became a Family Game Night staple (along with Pit, Bang, and Silent Football). Kill Dr. Lucky was always a good time--even when someone else did the doctor in. Runners up in the fond memories category are Dutch Blitz, Pinochle, and Rook, memories of which I've described elsewhere.

@Futurewolfie answers:
Oh man.  Despite my relatively recent foray into the deeper world of quality board games, I actually do have a lot of memories of playing board-and-card games with family and friends.  We would play Pit very loudly around the dining room table, and the hit French road-racing game Mille Bornes (which I recently discovered is absolutely not fun at all with only 2 players).  When it was just me, my sister, and my parents, we would play Sequence, very competitively.  I remember playing The Game of Life with my sisters and from what i recall never actually playing with all the rules correctly intact by the end of the game.  My mom, who gave me my creativity and love of writing,  bought me UpWords and we would play together.  My friend Bryan introduced me to Heroclix and I dumped boatloads of my allowance towards that collection.  We even built a custom 3D heroclix map with skyscrapers and a truck, which is probably the most productive thing we ever voluntarily did in high school.  I realize I kind of broke the "favorite memory" shtick by listing off a dozen memories, but as I didn't really get into board-gaming until recently, all these little memories flow together in the melting-pot of my memories.


Oh yeah, and The Omega Virus. 


Your turn. :-)