I discovered this game on BGA, and I was intrigued by the idea of a tarot game that uses a more divination-style deck (i.e. cards aren’t double-headed, the trump cards have their own names). Now that I’ve played this, I think I prefer it to French tarot, mainly for the simpler scoring, and the lack of constant re-dealing until someone does anything but pass on the bidding phase.
Hi there. I agree that this is a fun one because of how straightforward it is. I don't play French Tarot very often... When I do, I mostly play 5p with calling a king for partner. That way, not so many hands get passed in. If you want to play with cards that look closer to divination decks, have a look at the Italian games. I put up a video about Tarocchino Bolognese recently :)
Hi there, I don't know very much about Primero, other than that I do play Scopa, which uses some of the ideas from Primero as the pimiera bonus point. I'll have to research it some more!
Is there a book with all the rules for these various tarot card games? I do much better at understanding the rules if I can read some sort of reference the first few times of playing.
Hi Nathan! Yes, there are a couple of books. The most comprehensive is probably "A History of Games Played With the Tarot Pack" by Michael Dummett and John McLeod (but it's hard to find). There is also a free eBook called "Tarocchi" by Philebus, that you might find via Google. BUT - the most convenient resource I would say is www.pagat.com - curated by John McLeod who I mentioned above. Good luck! If you email me I can also invite you to our Discord server, some of the guys there have made player aides etc that might help.
Im kinda confused on how many cards each player is supposed to have with each player count. I see the table for how many cards are dealt to each player each time, but how many do they start a hand with? As for the Fool played as an excuse, do you not have to give a 1-pt card to the opposing winning team like you do in French tarot?
Yes, basically. If you choose not to play the Fool earlier in the game (when it was your last remaining trump), then it becomes an excuse, but has to be held to the last trick.
Well done Aaron! I was wondering one detail, calling a partner in 7-8P. The text on the pagat website suggests you could call the Bagatt in theory: "The Tappist chooses a temporary partner by calling any trump except the XXI or the Bättler. ". Have you confirmed with someone actually playing the game in Switzerland (or John McLeod) that the Bagatt cannot be called?
I asked John and George about this on the Discord - as calling the Bagatt obviously would often make strategic sense. My source was the rules PDF (in German) from Renate Studer's group from Visperterminen. That ruleset says you can call "irgendeine Karte, ausgenommen 5-Punkte-Karten". So according to that it doesn't technically even have to be a trump, just can't be a Trull card or a King. This could be one of the details that varies village to village.
George's BGA implementation lets you choose any trump from the 20 down, fwiw. I'd probably file it under "things to agree on with the group before you start".
None of these games are real "games". They're just high card with increasingly arcane, pointless social conventions around them ("pays triple" if whatever is the case, etc.), probably with the intent of fleecing new-comers for money back in the day. I've yet to see a Tarot game that's actually well-designed, including bridge. And any game that doesn't work with 2 players automatically sucks.
This video is a great intro to a fantastic game! A very nice intro to Tarot/Tarock card games. Thanks for putting this together.
Thanks mate, glad you enjoyed it!
Thanks for the shout out! Really enjoy playing this one. :) This is a fun video to watch.
You're welcome - we should play this again soon!
Another great video
Thanks mate!
I discovered this game on BGA, and I was intrigued by the idea of a tarot game that uses a more divination-style deck (i.e. cards aren’t double-headed, the trump cards have their own names).
Now that I’ve played this, I think I prefer it to French tarot, mainly for the simpler scoring, and the lack of constant re-dealing until someone does anything but pass on the bidding phase.
Hi there. I agree that this is a fun one because of how straightforward it is. I don't play French Tarot very often... When I do, I mostly play 5p with calling a king for partner. That way, not so many hands get passed in.
If you want to play with cards that look closer to divination decks, have a look at the Italian games. I put up a video about Tarocchino Bolognese recently :)
So this is how you play this game. Another great video to learn. Thank you! 🤗🤗🤗
Glad you enjoyed it!
Can you show us how to play primero?
Hi there, I don't know very much about Primero, other than that I do play Scopa, which uses some of the ideas from Primero as the pimiera bonus point. I'll have to research it some more!
Another great vid! This really helped.. keep them coming man!
coolest thing ever
Thanks!
It's a shame this great game is much less popular than it used to be, but I am cautiously optimistic it is being revived.
Is there a book with all the rules for these various tarot card games? I do much better at understanding the rules if I can read some sort of reference the first few times of playing.
Hi Nathan! Yes, there are a couple of books. The most comprehensive is probably "A History of Games Played With the Tarot Pack" by Michael Dummett and John McLeod (but it's hard to find). There is also a free eBook called "Tarocchi" by Philebus, that you might find via Google. BUT - the most convenient resource I would say is www.pagat.com - curated by John McLeod who I mentioned above. Good luck! If you email me I can also invite you to our Discord server, some of the guys there have made player aides etc that might help.
Im kinda confused on how many cards each player is supposed to have with each player count. I see the table for how many cards are dealt to each player each time, but how many do they start a hand with?
As for the Fool played as an excuse, do you not have to give a 1-pt card to the opposing winning team like you do in French tarot?
What music did you use for the intro?
It's one of the royalty-free loops that come with iMovie. I can't remember the name off the top of my head though...
so if the fool is the last trump in ur hand , you use it as an excuse but if it’s not it’s the highest trump?
Yes, basically. If you choose not to play the Fool earlier in the game (when it was your last remaining trump), then it becomes an excuse, but has to be held to the last trick.
Great video. Do you have a discord server where people discuss and/or play tarot online?
Yes indeed - email me at LearnTarotCardGames AT gmail.com and I'll send you a link to the Discord!
Well done Aaron! I was wondering one detail, calling a partner in 7-8P. The text on the pagat website suggests you could call the Bagatt in theory: "The Tappist chooses a temporary partner by calling any trump except the XXI or the Bättler. ". Have you confirmed with someone actually playing the game in Switzerland (or John McLeod) that the Bagatt cannot be called?
I asked John and George about this on the Discord - as calling the Bagatt obviously would often make strategic sense. My source was the rules PDF (in German) from Renate Studer's group from Visperterminen. That ruleset says you can call "irgendeine Karte, ausgenommen 5-Punkte-Karten". So according to that it doesn't technically even have to be a trump, just can't be a Trull card or a King. This could be one of the details that varies village to village.
George's BGA implementation lets you choose any trump from the 20 down, fwiw. I'd probably file it under "things to agree on with the group before you start".
None of these games are real "games". They're just high card with increasingly arcane, pointless social conventions around them ("pays triple" if whatever is the case, etc.), probably with the intent of fleecing new-comers for money back in the day. I've yet to see a Tarot game that's actually well-designed, including bridge. And any game that doesn't work with 2 players automatically sucks.