Twos

Contributed by Áron Csathó (admirala@yahoo.com)

It is played with a deck of French cards: 52 cards, no jokers. Four players get 13 cards each.

The game goes for tricks, and as in most trick-taking games, you must follow suit (play a heart if a heart is led) but you need not beat the previously played cards.

There are four wild cards, the four twos. These can take any trick and can be played to any trick, regardless of suit, even if you have cards from that suit.
Example: 6 - Q - 5 - 2. The last person takes the trick, although he has cards in the heart suit.

If there is more than one two in a trick, the first two played is stronger.

However, twos are not unbeatable, as any 2 can be taken (caught) by the 3 of the same suit as the 2. The only other way that a two can be caught is if the player is forced to put it into a trick which already contains a 2.

Note that the threes are subject to the rules of following suit, and have no power exept to beat the two of the same suit, if it would otherwise be winning the trick.

Scoring

• Each ace, king, queen and jack in a player's tricks is worth 1 point,
• If a 2 catches a 2, the catcher gets 2 points, the victim loses 2 points,
• If a 2 is caught by a 3, the catcher gets 3 points, the victim loses 3 points,
• In the absurd case when a card catches two or three others, these points are cumulative.

Catching Rule

The catcher must win the trick to get the points.
Example: K - 2 - 2 - 3. Although the three would catch the 2, it is the 2 which takes the trick and gets 2 points from the third player. The last player is not considered to be a catcher.

Further examples:

• A - 3 - 5 - ?: the fourth player cannot win this trick by playing the two of hearts; the 2 would be considered beaten by the (already played) 3.
• A - 2 - 3 - 2: the 2 beats the 2 (2 played earlier) and the 3 beats the 2, so the 3 wins (and the last player should not have played the 2).