LORUM

OBJECT OF LORUM: The object of Lorum is to win the most chips or money by the end of the game.

NUMBER OF PLAYERS: 4 players. 

MATERIALS: A German-suited deck of 32 cards, chips or money, and a flat surface.

TYPE OF GAME: Compendium Card Game

AUDIENCE: Adult

OVERVIEW OF LORUM

Lorum is a compendium card game for 4 players. The goal of the game is to win chips or money by completing the goals of each round.

In Lorum, the game consists of each player dealing for 7 rounds so there is a total of 28 rounds of play before the game ends. Each round a player deals uses a different contract to decide how chips are won. 

SETUP

The first dealer is chosen at random and passes to the right after a player completes their 7 rounds of dealing. Each round the dealer will shuffle the deck and have the player to their left cut the deck. Then each round the dealer will deal each player a hand of 8 cards.

Card Ranking

There are no trumps in Lorum, but the cards still have a ranking order. Ace is high, followed by King, Upper Jack, Lower Jack, 10, 9, 8, and 7 which is low.

GAMEPLAY

While there are 7 different contracts that are played through there are rules that are used for most of the contracts.

The round always starts with the player to the right of the dealer. They may lead any card to the trick. The following players must follow suit if able, but if they cannot, may play any card they wish. The winner of the trick is the player who plays the highest card of the suit lead. The winner of a trick leads the next trick.

Contracts

There are 7 contracts that are played in this revolving order. Each dealer starts with contract 1 and once they finish contract 7 the next dealer starts back at contract 1.

One is called Hearts. The goal is to not take any tricks containing heart cards. Each heart that is won, makes the player pay 1 chip. If all players take at least 1 heart the chips go to the pot. If three players take hearts the remaining player wins all 8 chips. If two players win hearts, the other two players each get 4 chips. If a single player wins all the hearts, each other player pays the 8 chips each.

Two is called Obers. The goal is to avoid winning Upper jacks. The Upper Jack of acorns means you pay 1 chip, of leaves means you pay 2 chips, of balls means you pay 3 chips, and hearts means you pay 4. If all players win Upper Jacks the chips go to the pot; if 3 won Upper Jacks the remaining player wins all chips. If 2 players won the Upper Jacks the other two players split the chips, and if a single player won all upper jacks each other player pays them 10 chips each.

Three is called No Tricks. The goal is to avoid winning any tricks or to win them all. Each trick won makes the player pay 1 chip. Payouts are done as in contract one.

Four is called Quads. Players are not playing a trick-taking game and instead will be playing cards from their hand in ranking order. The first person to play will start the ranking order, and the player who has the next highest card of that suit will play it. Four cards in ranking order completes a trick and a new trick is started by the last person to play in the previous trick. Tricks may be completed with less than 4 consecutive cards if the next card of the order does not reside in any player’s hand. The ranking order is the same as above except once an Ace is played the next card in rank is 7.

Once a player has emptied their hand the round is over. The player who emptied their hand is paid 1 chip per card remaining in hand by each other player.

Five is called Fast Train. Players are not playing a trick-taking game and instead will be playing cards from their hand in ranking order. The first person to play will start the ranking order, and the next player will play a card one rank higher of any suit. If they cannot they pass their turn.  The ranking order is the same as above except once an Ace is played the next card in rank is 7.

Once a player has emptied their hand the round is over. The player who emptied their hand is paid 1 chip per card remaining in hand by each other player.

Six is called Hairy Monkey. The goal is to avoid winning the king of hearts. The player to win the king of hearts pays 10 chips to the pot.

Seven is called Lorum. The goal is different from the other rounds. Players are not playing a trick-taking game and instead play a round similar to Fan Tan. Players will be trying to play out cards from their hands in order. The first person to play will start the ranking order for all four suits. For example, if player A plays a 10 of clubs as the first card of the round the ranking cards must be played in for this round is 10, Jack, Queen, King, Ace, 7, 8, and 9.

Once the first player sets the ranking players will then either need to start another suit or play the next card in ranking order of one of the other suits. All cards are played into their respective piles and must follow the order set. If a player cannot play a card they pay a chip into the pot and will pass their turn. Once a player has emptied their hand the round is finished. Each losing player pays a chip into the pot for each card remaining in their hand. The winner wins the whole pot.

END OF GAME

The game ends after the 28th round. The player with the most chips wins the game.

Amber Crook
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