OBJECTIVE OF RASSI: The objective of Rassi is to not win the last trick of each round and to be the last player to be eliminated.
NUMBER OF PLAYERS: 2-9 Players
MATERIALS: A standard 52 card deck, and a flat surface.
TYPE OF GAME: Trick-Taking Card Game
AUDIENCE: 8+
OVERVIEW OF RASSI
Rassi is a trick-taking game for 2 to 9 players. It is related to the game Kurkku.
SETUP
To set up a player will be the dealer for the round. They will shuffle the deck and deal each player 6 cards facedown. The remaining cards are placed in a facedown pile near all players.
After hands have been dealt the dealer will ask the table, “is it free?”. This signifies to any player that if they do not have any face cards (kings, Queens, and Jacks) may throw in their hand and get a free hand redealt to them. The dealer will then ask “doubles?” This allows all other players to exchange their hands for a new 6 card hand. However, if a player who accepts doubles gets the highest card of the last trick, their penalty score they receive from the card is doubled. Then the dealer asks “redouble?” Any player may again exchange their hand for a new 6 card hand this time it will quadruple the penalty score if this player receives the highest-ranked card in the final trick.
Card Ranking
The cards are ranked with Ace being the highest and 2 being the lowest rank of card. The full ranking is Ace, King, Queen, Jack, 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2. The suit of the cards doesn’t matter in this game.
In this game, aces are the highest-ranked card, except for the last trick in which they are the lowest-ranked card.
GAMEPLAY
Rassi is played over a series of rounds and in these rounds, you will play 6 tricks. To start the game the player to the dealer’s left will play the first card of the trick. From then on, the winner of the trick will start the next one.
When playing a trick in Rassi the player who starts the trick may play any card they would like. The remaining players must then play a card that is the same or higher rank. If they cannot play an equal or higher-ranked card then they must play their lowest ranking card. The player with the highest-ranked card or the highest-ranked card played last.
The cards played by players will remain in front of them. Anyone can look through other players’ cards when deciding what cards to play for their turn.
SCORING
When the last trick of the round is won, the player who won the trick is penalized. They receive a score equal to the rank of the card the trick was won with. Aces and Jokers are worth 1 point, king 13, queen 12, jack 11, and the remaining cards are worth face value.
Once a player reaches or exceeds 50 points they are eliminated from the game.
END OF GAME
The game ends once all but a single player has been eliminated. The remaining player wins.
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