Vidrasso
Vidrasso Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Object
Seventeen tricks are played each hand; each card is worth points; the object is to capture the most points.
The Cards
A pack of 36 cards is used consisting of 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 in four suits. In the example, below, the suits are Winter, Spring, Summer, and Fall (but any 4 suits will do).
The rank of the cards is bottom-up: (high) 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 (low).
The point value of each card is its printed rank. So, a 9 is worth 9 points and a 3 is worth 3 points, etc. There are thus 180 points in the pack.
The Deal
The first dealer is selected at random. The turn to deal then alternates between players throughout the game. The dealer shuffles and the non-dealer may either cut or "bump" - that is, knock the cards to indicate that they should be dealt as they are, without cutting.
Eighteen cards are dealt to each player. Deal 5 face-down, 5 face-up on top of the face-down cards, and 8 in the hand to each person.
The resulting table looks something like the image shown (right).
Choosing Trump
The player with the lower score chooses either the trump suit or the trump rank; the other player chooses the remaining trump type.
If the score is tied, the non-dealer chooses first.
IMPORTANT: For the purpose of following suit, cards of the trump rank belong to their printed suits.
The Play
Before play begins, each player must put a card from their hand into their opponent's capture pile. Each player should have 7 cards in hand.
The play begins with the non-dealer leading to the first trick.
Players may play a card from their hand or from the face-up cards on the table in front of them. When a card from the table is played, the card below it (if there is one) is only turned over after the trick is complete.
If the other player can follow suit then they may EITHER follow suit OR play a trump (a card in the trump suit OR a card with the trump rank) - you are allowed to trump even if you can follow suit; a player who cannot follow suit may play any card. A trick is won by the highest trump in it (cards of trump rank beat cards of trump suit); or if there were no trumps, by the highest card of the suit led.
If one card of the trump rank is played, it wins the trick. If two cards of the trump rank are played, the second one played wins the trick.
The winner of each trick leads to the next one.
Scoring
At the end of the hand, record the card points captured by each player. After the first hand, add these new card points to each player's previous total.
Play to an agreed upon number of hands (4 or 6 is recommended). Alternatively, play to an agreed upon game ending score (300 or 500 is recommended). The player with the highest total score wins.
Recommendation
If you have poker chips, consider setting aside a bank worth 700 points (or 1100 if you are playing first to 500). Position the bank between the players but off to the side.
When you lose a trick, sum the value of that trick and give that value in chips from the bank to the trick winner (while they are deciding what to lead to the next trick).
This way you don't need to sum up all of the cards you captured at the end of the hand. And you get to play with poker chips!
Credits
Designer: Sean Ross
Playtesters: Adley, Mark S. Ball, Robert B., Emmy Caldwell, Fukutarou, Hunter R. Hennigar, Daniel Kenel, Dan Kobayashi, Carol LaGrow, Daniel Newman, Taylor Reiner, Michael Shirk, Peter Winckles.
Licensed under Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike (CC BY-NC-SA).
This is one of a series of Strawman Variations by the same designer: Tuque, Moosehead, Strohmann Jass, Vidrasso, Mr Canoehead, Ducktail, Widderkopf, Strawberry Whist, Strawberry Jam, Old MacDonald, Calabogie, Hotdog (with Mark S. Ball).