CANGKUL

OBJECTIVE OF CANGKUL: The objective of Cangkul is to be the first player to play out all their cards.

NUMBER OF PLAYERS: 3 to 5 Players

MATERIALS: A standard deck of 52-cards, and a flat surface.

TYPE OF GAME: Trick-taking Card Game

AUDIENCE: Adult

OVERVIEW OF CANGKUL

Cangkul is a 3 to 5 player trick-taking card game. It is similar to a game called Burro. In this game, players will compete to be the first player to play out their last card and empty their hand. They can do this by playing to and winning tricks. 

SETUP

A dealer is chosen randomly and can be passed around clockwise in the case of additional games. The dealer will shuffle the deck and deal each player a 7-card hand, one card at a time, clockwise around the table. The remaining cards are left facedown in the center of the table for a draw deck. 

Card Rankings 

The ranking in Cangkul is traditional with Ace being high followed by King, Queen, Jack, 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, and 2 being the lowest. In Cangkul there are no trump suits. 

GAMEPLAY

The game begins with the player left of the dealer and continues clockwise from them. This player will lead any card from their hand and players must follow suit. If a player cannot follow suit, they will take from the draw deck, adding cards to their hand, until a card of the suit led is pulled and then can be played. This continues until all players have played a card of that suit and the trick is won by the player who played the highest-ranked card. The cards are set aside, and the winner will lead the next trick with any card from their hand, with players following suit just as before. This continues until the game ends. 

If a player cannot follow suit and draws the last card of the draw pile without finding a card of that suit, their turn is skipped, and they will not play a card. This also applies if a player must draw and the draw pile is already empty. instead of setting the trick aside, the cards from the trick are given to the player who could not play a card. 

If multiple players are affected then the cards of the trick are drawn one at a time by the players, starting with the first player unable to play a card, until all cards are placed in a hand. 

For example, Player One leads the trick with a 5 of clubs. Player two plays a 3 of clubs. Players Three and Four are unable to play a card because the draw pile is empty, and they hold no clubs. The trick is won by Player One. Player Two draws no cards. Player Three draws the 5 of clubs and Player Four draws the 3 of clubs. Player One will lead the next trick. 

END OF GAME

The game ends when a player manages to play out their final card and now have an empty hand. This player is the winner. The game can also be played to find a loser, that player being the last player with cards remaining in their hand. 

Amber Crook
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