#schnapsen

Schnapsen is an Austrian two-player game where players score points both by melding and by taking tricks. It's a cousin of the classic American game Pinochle, having likewise descended from the German game Sixty-Six. Thus, like its parent game, it plays a lot like a pared-down version of Pinochle.

Schnapsen forces players to rely on their memory of cards they've won—a player can go out when they have scored 66 points over the course of a hand. However, a player has to keep a mental tally of what they've scored to know when they're able to go out. Schnapsen can be a very exciting game because a player is rarely completely out of the game—big come-from-behind wins are always possible!

Anyone heard of Schnapsen? It's this card game with many variants and names accross Europe. I think of it as a game of Scum/President with tricks, on crack.

It's pretty hard to get your head around, lots of old school rules to do with shuffling of cards, scoring in your head (no pens and paper allowed) and there are only 22 cards.

Same sex marriages between royalty, trump suits, acorns- it's all very controversial. I only learned it last night and there have already been a few dark moments between the Austrian and I- what with me being very competitive and wanting to be good at the game so I can WIN. I've downloaded a computer version so that I can practice secretly.