Objective of the Game
Ramsch is a variant of the popular card game Skat. The goal is to accumulate as few points as possible because the player with the most points at the end loses.
Game Materials
- A Skat deck with 32 cards (consisting of Ace, 10, King, Queen, Jack, 9, 8, 7 in the suits Clubs, Spades, Hearts, Diamonds).
- Three players.
Game Setup
- Shuffle all the cards well.
- Each player receives 10 cards; thus, two cards remain, which make up the Skat in the middle of the table.
- These remaining cards (the Skat) remain untouched.
Course of the Game
- The player to the left of the dealer plays a card into the center and thus opens the trick.
- In turn, players place a card of the same suit as the one played, if they have one (follow suit rule). If a player doesn't have the matching suit, they can discard any other card.
- The player who played the highest card of the suit played wins the trick and opens the next trick.
- After all cards have been played, each player counts the points gained from tricks they have won.
Scoring
- Ace: 11 points
- 10: 10 points
- King: 4 points
- Queen: 3 points
- Jack: 2 points
- Cards 9, 8, 7: 0 points
Tips and Strategies
- Null cards should be played as they do not score points. It's strategically advantageous to use them to get rid of high-point cards.
- Force a suit void: Try to play in a way that forces another player to run out of a suit, making them discard high-point cards.
- Stand card: A guaranteed winning card because no other cards of that suit remain in play; this can be used to force opponents to give up point-scoring cards.
- If the Skat is not revealed, points within it remain uncounted.
- Pushing game: If all players pass, the dealer must pick up the Skat and replace it with any two cards. These are lost and do not count.
End of the Game
The game ends after a set number of rounds or when a player exceeds a certain score (e.g., 100 points). The player with the fewest points wins.
Enjoy playing Ramsch!
