Partout
Partout Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Contents
- 42 playing cards (36 emblem cards with numbers 1-9 in four colors; 6 special cards)
- 2 table cards
- 1 game manual
Aim of the Game
The aim of the game is to score more points together with your partner than the opposing team.
The teams gain points for every trick they take and for correctly predicting the minimum number of tricks.
Game Preparation
At the beginning of the game, the partners are determined. The game is always played in teams of 2 (6 players = 3 teams; 4 players = 2 teams; exception: 3-player version). The team partners sit opposite to each other, so that a player of the other team is always sitting between them.
One player is responsible for writing down the declared tricks and points of the teams.
With 3 and 4 players, all 8s and 9s are removed from the set of cards.
Important Terms
Emblem cards: The emblem cards carry the numbers 1-9 in four different colors: red, green, blue, and black.
Special cards: The special cards are not assigned to any color and have a special effect.
Trump: The trump is the announced number (or color) that wins against every other number (or color). Within the trump, the rule applies: trump-number wins over trump-color.
Trick: Every player takes his or her turn in playing a card and placing it in the center of the table. These cards are the trick. A trick is always won by the highest card that was played within the trick.
Minimum trick number: The number of tricks that a team must reach in order to gain additional points. It is the sum of the tricks announced by both of the team partners.
Announcing the Trump
After every player has looked at his or her cards, the trump is announced. The first player after the dealer states the trump-number, the second player states the trump-color.
Predicting the Tricks
After the trump has been determined, each player evaluates how many tricks he or she might win. The predicted tricks are announced by one player after another. The player who stated the trump-number begins.
The tricks of both of the team partners summed up equal the minimum trick number of the team. This number must be achieved by the team in order to gain additional points. It does not matter which team player has won the tricks for his team in the end.
Playing the Cards
After the announcements are written down, the 7 tricks are played out. Every card may be played, meaning neither must the color of the first card be followed, nor must a trick be taken with a trump.
The first player following the dealer commences the first trick. A trick is always taken by the team of the player whose played-out card is the highest. The player who won the last trick always starts the next trick.
A playing round is finished when all the hand cards were played out. All tricks are counted, the points are awarded, and the next player becomes the dealer.
The Card Value
With the emblem cards, the value or rank of the cards after announcing the trump is as follows:
- The card with the trump-number and the trump-color.
- The remaining cards with the trump-number, whereas the card played first takes the trick.
- The remaining cards with the trump-color according to their number's value.
- The cards of the color initially played according to their number's value.
Example: Player 1 announces "3" as trump-number and player 2 announces "green" as trump-color. "Green 3" is the highest emblem card, all other "3"s are the next-highest emblem cards. They are followed by "green 9-4", then "green 2-1". The remaining emblem cards are no trumps. To them, it applies that their number determines their value. Numbers or cards of the color initially played cannot be overtaken by cards with a different color, except for the trump-color which is "green" in this example.
The Special Cards
The King and the Queen (K): The King and Queen win a trick against any emblem card. They cannot trump each other; the card initially played wins the trick.
The Harlequin (H): The Humorist has no value unless he is played in the same trick as a King or Queen, in which case he is the highest card and wins the trick. It makes no difference whether he is played before or after the King or Queen.
The Mathematician (M): The Mathematician changes the trump-number to a number of his choice. This applies to the trick being currently played and to the remaining tricks of the playing round. The Mathematician himself has no value. The current trump-number cannot be selected as the future trump-number.
The Alchemist (A): The Alchemist changes the trump-color to a color of her choice. This applies to the trick being currently played and to the remaining tricks of the playing round. The Alchemist herself has no value. The current trump-color cannot be selected as the future trump-color.
The Dungeon (V): The Dungeon can lock up any card previously played within the trick and cancels the value as well as the effect of the card. The Dungeon itself has no value. The targeted card acts as if it was not played at all, which means that a Dungeon locking up a King or Queen prevents a Harlequin from winning the trick. If the Dungeon targets the first emblem card of the trick, the color of the second emblem card acts as the color initially played in order to determine the highest emblem card within the tick.
Awarding the Points
Every team generally receives 1 point per trick taken. Also, it receives additional points for reaching the predicted minimum trick number according to the following chart:
Playing with 4 players / 2 teams:
| Tricks announced | Additional points |
|---|---|
| 1 | 2 |
| 2 | 4 |
| 3 | 8 |
| 4 | 16 |
| 5 | 30 |
| 6 | 50 |
| 7 | 100 |
Playing with 6 players / 3 teams:
| Tricks announced | Additional points |
|---|---|
| 1 | 4 |
| 2 | 8 |
| 3 | 16 |
| 4 | 30 |
| 5 | 50 |
| 6 | 100 |
| 7 | 200 |
Exception: If a team receives 0 tricks although it predicted to take 1 or more tricks, then it receives -1 point for every missing trick.
Example (3 teams): Team A predicts "3 tricks", team B "3 tricks" and team C "2 tricks". Then, team A takes 3 tricks, team B takes 1 trick and team C takes 3 tricks.
- Points team A: (3 tricks = 3) + (3 predicted tricks were achieved = 16) = 19 points
- Points team B: (1 trick = 1) + (3 predicted tricks were not achieved = 0) = 1 point
- Points team C: (3 tricks = 3) + (2 predicted tricks were achieved = 8) = 11 points
Hint: In order to receive the most possible points, assess the risk of the number of tricks you are going to predict and announce. In general, as soon as the predicted tricks are announced, you try to take as many tricks as possible, because you receive 1 point for every trick and your minimum trick number which you announced at the beginning for receiving your additional points can also be surpassed.
The End of the Game
The game ends after 6 playing rounds (8 playing rounds with 4 players) when every player was dealer once (twice with 4 players). The team with the most points in total wins!
The 3-Player Version
In the 3-player version, the players don't play in teams, but alone against each other. Every player receives 10 cards, and 4 cards are left out concealed.
The playing procedure of the single-player version is similar to the team version. However, the players predict their minimum trick number only for themselves. They gain additional points for reaching their minimum trick number according to the chart for "3 teams".
The unique feature of the 3-player version is that every player plays one of his or her cards 2 times across 2 sub-rounds, until 2 cards of every player form a trick in the center. This trick is always taken by the player with the highest of the 6 played-out cards. This means that, with 10 cards being handed out, 5 tricks are possible. All other rules are identical to those of the team modus. This means that a player can, e.g., play a number card as his or her first card and then, with the second card being the Mathematician, change the trump-number to the number of his or her first card of this trick.
The game is finished after 6 playing rounds, so when every player has dealt the cards twice. The player with the most points in total wins.