Rosbiratschka is a

trick-taking A trick-taking game is a card game, card- or tile-based game in which play of a ''Hand (card games), hand'' centers on a series of finite rounds or units of play, called ''tricks'', which are each evaluated to determine a winner or ''taker'' of ...

compendium A compendium ( compendia or compendiums) is a comprehensive collection of information and analysis pertaining to a body of knowledge. A compendium may concisely summarize a larger work. In most cases, the body of knowledge will concern a specific ...

card game A card game is any game that uses playing cards as the primary device with which the game is played, whether the cards are of a traditional design or specifically created for the game (proprietary). Countless card games exist, including famil ...

for three or four players that is played with a

German-suited pack German-suited playing cards are a very common style of traditional playing card used in many parts of Central Europe characterised by 32- or 36-card packs with the suits of Acorns (''Eichel'' or ''Kreuz''), Leaves (''Grün'', ''Blatt'', ''Lau ...

of 32 or 24

cards {{Redirect, CARDS, other uses, Cards (disambiguation){{!Cards The CARDS programme, of Community Assistance for Reconstruction, Development and Stabilisation, is the EU's main instrument of financial assistance to the Western Balkans, covering spec ...

Overview

Despite the name, Rosbiratscka is a game of

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

origin for three to four players that is known in different regions under different names. It is easy to learn and suitable as a

parlour game A parlour or parlor game is a group game played indoors, named so as they were often played in a parlour. These games were extremely popular among the upper and middle classes in the United Kingdom and in the United States during the Victorian er ...

i.e. with friends and family.

Rules

The following rules for four players are based on Altenburger.

Aim

A full game involves a '' partie'' of six different contracts and the aim is to score as few penalty points as possible.

Rule for four players

A 32-card pack is used with German suits i.e.

Acorns Acorns may refer to: * Plural of acorn, the nut of the oak tree * Acorns (company) Acorns is an American financial technology and financial services company. Based in Irvine, California, Acorns specializes in micro-investing and robo advice ...

Leaves A leaf (: leaves) is a principal appendage of the stem of a vascular plant, usually borne laterally above ground and specialized for photosynthesis. Leaves are collectively called foliage, as in "autumn foliage", while the leaves, stem, ...

, Hearts and Bells. The ranking of the cards in each suit is

Sow Sow or SOW may refer to: * Sowing, the process of planting Female animals * Badger * Bear * Guinea pig * Hedgehog * Suidae ** Wild boar ** Pig Arts, entertainment and media * Sow (band), a musical project of Anna Wildsmith * "Sow", a poem by Sy ...

(~Ace),

King King is a royal title given to a male monarch. A king is an Absolute monarchy, absolute monarch if he holds unrestricted Government, governmental power or exercises full sovereignty over a nation. Conversely, he is a Constitutional monarchy, ...

Ober Ober may refer to: * Ober (playing card), court card in the German and Swiss styles of playing cards * Ober, Indiana, an unincorporated community in Washington Township, Starke County * Oberek (also ''ober''), a lively Polish dance in triple metre ...

, Unter, Ten, Nine, Eight, Seven. Each player is dealt 8 cards (2-3-3). The player to the left of the dealer (

forehand The forehand is a shot used in most racket sports, such as tennis, table tennis and pickleball, where the palm of the hand precedes the back of the hand when swinging the racket. In tennis, except in the context of the phrase ''forehand volley ...

) leads to the first trick. Players must follow suit (''

Farbzwang A trick-taking game is a card- or tile-based game in which play of a ''hand'' centers on a series of finite rounds or units of play, called ''tricks'', which are each evaluated to determine a winner or ''taker'' of that trick. The object of suc ...

'') and the highest card wins the trick. there are no trumps. If suit cannot be followed, a player may discard a card of his choice. Six individual contracts are played: # No Tricks! (''Keinen Stich!''): each player attempts to avoid taking any tricks as in the game of

Ramsch Ramsch, formerly also called Mike in East Germany, is a card game based on the contract of the same name in the popular German card games, Skat and Schafkopf. However, thanks to its interesting mode of play it has since developed into an indepen ...

. Every trick taken scores one penalty point (minus point). If a player takes no tricks, each trick counts 2 points. If a player takes all 8 tricks however, it is a

slam Slam, SLAM or SLAMS may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Fictional elements * S.L.A.M. (Strategic Long-Range Artillery Machine), a fictional weapon in the ''G.I. Joe'' universe * SLAMS (Space-Land-Air Missile Shield), a fictional anti-ball ...

(''Durchmarsch'') which earns 8 plus points. # No Hearts! (''Keine Herzen!''): each player aims to take as few Heart cards as possible in his tricks. Each one taken scores a penalty point. If a player takes no Hearts at all, each Heart card counts 2 penalty points. If a player takes all the Heart cards however, he scores 8 plus points. # No Unters!' In No Unters! (''Keine Unter!'') each player aims to take as few Unters in his tricks as possible. For every Unter captured, 2 penalty points are scored. If a player has no Unters, then each Unter is worth four penalty points. If a player gets all 4 Unters however, he receives 8 plus points. # No King of Hearts! (''Achtung, Herz-König!'' i.e. "Beware the King of Hearts"): each player tries not to capture the King of Hearts. If the King of Hearts is player, the deal ends and the player who has captured him receives 8 penalty points. # Hundred!' (''Hundert!''): the aim is to play cards so as not to be the first to exceed a given number. For this purpose the cards count as follows: Ace 11, King 4, Ober 3, Unter 2, Ten 10, Nine 0, Eight 0, Seven 0. Everyone lays a card in the middle and counts its collective value aloud e.g. "Ten, 10!" "Ace 21!" etc. Whoever is the first to exceed 25 gets a penalty point, whoever is first to exceed 50 gets 2 penalty points and whoever is first to exceed 100 receives 5 penalty points. On exceeding 100 points, the deal ends.

# Rosbiratschka!: effectively the game of

Unteransetzen Unteransetzen, Unteranlegen, Unterauflegen or Unterlegen is an Austrian and Bavarian card game of the Sevens (card game), Domino family for 2-6 players that is played exclusively with German-suited playing cards. The name means refers to the build ...

which involves laying off cards to the table, building up sequences in each suit (see illustration). The aim is to avoid being the last player holding any cards. Forehand must lead with an Unter. If he does not have one, the next player must lead and so on until someone is able to play an Unter. As soon one is played, the next player must lay off next to it a card of the same suit that ranks one above or below it. If a player is unable to do this, he may play another Unter above or below the first and start a new row in a different suit. If a player cannot lay off a card, he says "pass!". When just one player is left with cards in his hand the others shout "Rosbiratschka!" and that player receives 8 penalty points.

Rules for three, five or six players

For three players, remove all Sevens and Eights from a 32-card pack and deal eight cards to each player; score 2 minus points for the Ace and King of Hearts in deal 2. For five players remove the Six of Bells and deal seven each. Score 2 minus points for the last trick in deal 1. For six players use a 36-card pack and deal six to each player; score 2 minus points for the first and last tricks in deal 1.

References

Literature

* *

External links

''Rosbiratschka''
rules at www.meetup.com. {{Trick-taking card games German deck card games German card games Three-player card games Four-player card games Compendium games