OBJECTIVE OF WHIST 22: Be the player with the highest score when the game ends
NUMBER OF PLAYERS: 3 or 4 players
NUMBER OF CARDS: 22 cards
RANK OF CARDS: 1 – 2, Fool is high or low
TYPE OF GAME: Trick taking
AUDIENCE: Adults
INTRODUCTION OF WHIST 22
Whist 22 is a precision bidding and trick taking game that uses the trump suit from a deck of Tarot playing cards. In this game, players are dealt a hand of cards, and they are asked to bid exactly how many tricks they will take. Much like in the game, Oh Hell, players who miss their bid are penalized, and players who match their bid are not. This game can be played online at Board Game Arena.
THE CARDS & THE DEAL
Remove the 22 trump suited cards from a pack of Tarot playing cards. If you are new to this family of games, it is recommended that a French Tarot deck of cards is used for Tarot games. You will find that this version is most like the standard 52 card deck used for common card games.
Shuffle the cards and deal out as many as possible evenly to each player. In a four player game, each player will get 5 cards. In a three player game, each player will get 7. Hands will shrink each round until each player is dealt 1 card, and then hands will grow again back to the maximum number. This will continue until the end condition of the game is met.
THE BID
After the cards are dealt, place the remaining cards off to the side. These will not be used for the round. The player left of the dealer begins the bid. They bid on how many tricks they believe they will capture. Continuing left around the table, each player bids. The dealer, who bids last, cannot bid the number that would make the total number of bids equal to the total number of tricks.
As an example, in a four player game with each player holding 5 cards:
Tom bids 2
Suzy Bid 1
Billy bids 1
Aggie, the dealer, cannot bid 1. She has to go over or under so the bid total does not equal 5.
THE PLAY
The player seated left of the dealer leads the first trick with any card. Play continues around the table with each player also playing any card they wish. Whoever plays the highest ranking card wins the trick and leads the next one. Play continues until all of the tricks are captured.
THE FOOL
The Fool can be worth zero or 22. When playing the Fool to the trick, the player must declare its value immediately.
SCORING
Each player starts the game with 14 points. At the end of a round, players who meet their bid exactly do not lose any points. Their score stays the same. Players who do not meet their bid lose 1 point for each trick captured over or under their bid. For example, if Tom bids 3 and captures 4, he loses one point from his score. If Suzy bids 4 and captures 2, she loses two points from her score.
WINNING
The game ends when one or more players reach a score of zero. At that point, the player with the highest score wins.
- TRIPLE SNAKES - February 15, 2021