Instructions Altenburger Farbenreizen

Objective of the Game

"Altenburger Farbenreizen" is a trick-taking game where the goal is to score the most points by cleverly bidding and winning tricks with your cards. This is accomplished by playing skillfully to capture point cards for your score.

Number of Players

The game can be played with 3 to 4 players.

Materials

A Skat deck of 32 cards is used. There are four suits: Clubs, Spades, Hearts, and Diamonds, each with eight cards ranked Ace, King, Queen, Jack, 10, 9, 8, and 7.

Setup

1. A dealer is selected, who shuffles the cards.
2. Each player receives 10 cards (3 players, with a stock of 2 cards left aside) or 8 cards (4 players).

Gameplay

The game consists of several rounds, each broken down into three phases: Bidding, Announcing, and Playing.

1. Bidding

• Players engage in bidding to gain the right to determine the game type. Bidding options include:
• Suit game: Playing with one of the four suits as trump.
• Grand: Playing with no trump suits but the four jacks are trump.
• Null game: Playing with no trump and aiming to take no tricks.
• Each player has the opportunity to raise the bid of the previous player.

2. Announcing

• The player who wins the bidding declares the type of game. This is done by naming the trump suit or type of game (Grand or Null).
• Then, the player declares the number of steps they expect to achieve, based on their cards.

3. Playing

• The bidding winner leads the first card.
• Other players follow in clockwise order.
• Players must, if possible, follow the suit led. If they cannot, they may trump or play any other card.
• The winner of a trick leads the next.

Scoring

• Ace is 11 points, 10 is 10 points, King is 4 points, Queen is 3 points, Jack is 2 points, and all other cards are 0 points.
• Game scores are calculated based on the announced steps and the tricks won.

End of the Game

• A round concludes after all cards are played and scores are tallied.
• The game ends when players agree on a set number of rounds or reach a target score.

Strategic Tips

• Bidding is crucial. Be bold but reasonable in your declarations.
• Keep track of played cards to remember which cards are still in play.
• Adjust your strategy based on the opponents' played cards and potential tricks.

Enjoy and good luck playing "Altenburger Farbenreizen"!