OBJECTIVE OF COMMERCE: The objective of Commerce is to collect the most tokens.
NUMBER OF PLAYERS: 3 to 10 Players
MATERIALS: 1 Standard 52 Card Deck and Tokens
TYPE OF GAME: Collection Card Game
AUDIENCE: Adults
OVERVIEW OF COMMERCE
Commerce began in France around the 19th century. Many newer games such as Thirty-One and Stop the Bus have been derived from Commerce. Commerce is all about winning rounds and collecting tokens. The winner will be determined by the number of tokens you have, so make sure to collect!
SETUP
Firstly, players are given three tokens to place in front of them. Then, players must determine seating arrangements and assign the first dealer. The most common way to do this is to draw for the high card. The player who draws the highest card becomes the dealer for the first round, and they are able to choose their seat first. The player who draws the lowest card will choose their seat last.
The dealer will then shuffle the cards, allowing the player on their right to cut. Each player will receive three cards, one at a time, with the deal going clockwise around the group. All the players’ cards should be face down. After everyone has their cards, the dealer will reveal three cards, face up, in the middle, creating the widow.
The game is ready to begin!
GAMEPLAY
All players then examine their hand. The player to the left of the dealer will begin the game and gameplay will continue clockwise around the group. During a turn, a player may choose to trade up to three of their cards with the widow cards. Players do not have to make a trade, and they may instead pass.
If a player does trade all of their cards in one turn, they are not allowed to trade any more for the rest of their hand. The goal is to create the highest combination of cards in their hand. After everyone has had the chance to trade, the round comes to an end.
The number of rounds of trading should be equal to the number of active players. At the end of each round, the dealer will add another card to the widow. The hand comes to an end after the designated number of rounds, which should be equal to the number of players. Hands are then revealed, and all players determine who has the highest hand and wins!
The player with the highest ranking hand collects one token from the player who has the lowest ranked hand. If a player has no tokens to give, then they drop from the game. the game may keep going until only one player remains, or until a set number of rounds have been played.
Hand Combinations
Tricon- Three cards of the same rank. The higher the rank, the higher the hand.
Sequence- Three cards in numerical order that are of the same suit. The Sequence with the higher-ranking cards is the higher hand.
Flush- Three cards of the same suit. The higher the rank, the higher the hand.
Pair- Two cards of the same rank. The higher the pair, the higher the hand.
Point- Three random cards that are tallied together. The more points there are, the higher the hand.
END OF GAME
The game comes to an end after 15 rounds have been played or there is only one player remaining. All players will then tally their tokens. The player with the most tokens wins the game!
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