TRUT
TRUT Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Material
Le TRUT contains 32 cards, 14 «Long» tokens (orange), 12 «Small» (black) tokens, and a «Dealer» pawn.
The use of the Dealer pawn is optional, it is useful only to define who will start the round (the rounds happen so fast that sometimes in the heat of the action, players can lose the thread).
Tokens are used to count points. The Small ones are black with an orange line and the Long ones are orange with a black line. When a player scores points, he takes the corresponding pawns and places them in front of him.
Goal of the game
The goal is to be the first to get 7 Long tokens.
Preparation
When there are two players, the players face each other.
When there are four players, the players form two teams of two players. They place themselves in a way that everyone is facing their partner, with 1 opponent at each side.
The Small and Long ones are placed in two packages on one side of the Game Area.
Mix the cards and distribute 1 card, face up, to each player. The player with the strongest card becomes the Dealer and starts the game. In the event of a tie, one (or more) card (s) is distributed to tie-break the players. The player places the Dealer pawn in front of him.
Development
The Dealer makes his left neighbor player cut the cards. Then starting with the latter, he distributes 3 cards to each player (one by one), in a clockwise direction. Everyone gets to know his cards without showing them to others.
The Hand comprises only 3 cards, there are only 3 Lifts to make at each round. When the same team wins the first two Lifts, there is no need to play the last one because the value of the cards is not counted.
Each round, the Dealer puts a card in the center of the table, in the Game Area, then the player directly to his left does the same, and so on to the last player (note that a player is never required to outbid the value of the previous card).
The player who placed the card with the highest value, wins the Lift. He picks up the cards in the Game Area and keeps them, facing down in front of him. He becomes the Dealer for the next round. When the strongest card played by each team is of equivalent value (for example, 2 six), it is said that the Lift is a Patté (this means Nullified).
If the first Lift is Patté, the cards remain in the Game Area and the players play the second one starting with the player who first put on the two strongest cards of the same value.
If the second Lift is Patté, the cards remain in the Game Area and the players play the third round which becomes capital to win the round.
If the third Lift is still Patté (it is rare, but it happens), the round is Foul. It's nullified and we're starting a new round.
The first Lift is very important because it takes precedence in case of equality for the two following Lifts. If the first team wins the first Lift, the second team must win the second one. If it cannot or is Patté, the round is considered lost and the un-played cards return to the Stock.
Le TRUT
At any time during a round, as long as the last card has not been played, a player can choose to be the Truter by tapping with the fist on the table, or by saying «TRUT!».
The player who plays the Trute announces that he thinks he will win the round. The players of the opposing team must then, each in turn, decide on the aftermath of the events. They have two possibilities:
- Either they think that the player is bluffing or feel they have a better game than him, and they take up the challenge by saying «Play!» or «Come!». The round keeps its normal development.
- Either they feel they have an insufficient game and they give up saying «I'm going to bed!». The remaining cards are put to the stock without unveiling them.
In general, the fans of TRUT favor the tap on the table over the verbal announcement because the dramatic intensity rises by a gut feeling. Moreover, the best parts are those where the players do not exchange any words... Just heavy looks. A bit like Clint Eastwood, Lee Van Cleef and Eli Wallach in the last scene of The good The Uggly and The Bad. You know what I mean? Of course you see ...:-)
Calculating points
If neither of the two teams has won Truté, the team winning the round wins 1 Small token.
If one of the two teams has won Truté, and it won the round, it wins 1 Long token.
If one of the two teams has won Truté, and it has lost the round, the opposing team wins 1 Long.
A team must have a total of 7 Long to win the game. 3 Small tokens allow to form 1 Long. However, when a team wins a Long (by victory or by Totalizing), all the Smalls are discarded (including those of the opposing team if they have any).
The Fortial
The Fortial is a special case.
When a team has a total of 6 Long and 2 Small, then it still needs 1 Small to win the game. They say it is on Forcial. In this case, the opposing team must not watch its game after the distribution of cards, it must wait for the player in Fortial declares Trute or passes. If he does not Trute, his partner can watch his game and choose to Truter when his turn comes. If neither of the two Trute, 1 Small is granted to the opposing team without playing the round. If one of the two Trute, the opposing team is forced to play, because otherwise the defeat is automatic.
The round is normally played. If the team in Fortial has not Truté, a new round begins until the team exits the Fortial (if the 2 Small tokens are lost or if the game is won).
If both teams are in Fortial, the round is played normally and the team winning the race wins the game.
End of game
The game ends when one of the two teams totals 7 Long.
The Gâtinaise variant
Goal: The goal is to be the first to get 5 Long (instead of 7).
Le TRUT d'office (ex-officio): When a team has 2 Small, the opposing team must announce a TRUT even if it has a bad game. It is a TRUT d' Office (Ex-officio) or a Forced TRUT. The team that has 2 Small can then agree to play the TRUT or give up. In the latter case, the opposing team marks 1 Small.
La Chanson (the Song): In case where the 2 teams, have 2 Small each, that's called La Chanson! It allows to obtain additional cards. In this case, the Dealer asks the first player to his left «Do you sing?». He can answer no if he thinks he has a good enough game to win the round. If not, he says «I sing!». If all the other players agree to Sing with him, the Dealer asks the first player «How many cards?». The player can ask for 1, 2 or 3 cards, then the Dealer distributes one by one the number of cards requested from each of the players. It is possible to Sing several times if the first player is not satisfied and if the other players agree.
When the first player «no longer sings», each player retains only the 3 cards of his choice and discards the others at the Stock without revealing them.
The round is then played in TRUT d'office.
Goodies Cards
For the privileged who possess the cards goodies Wolf, Owl and Boar. These 3 cards add a bit of chaos in the well oiled mechanics of this ancient and venerable game. Let's say they spice up the action a little bit.
- The Wolf: Regarding the Wolf card, its use can't be simpler. This is the card of the game that has the highest value since it displays as a 9. So it wins the Lift for sure.
- The Owl: This card is one of the weakest in the game. However, the team that captures it wins 1 Small extra token at the end of the round.
- The Boar: The Boar takes the value of the highest card played during the game round. As a result, a Lift that contains the Boar is obligatorily Patté.