The card game Japanese fool is one of the varieties of the famous fool game in Russia. Despite the fact that they have almost the same name, they are largely different from each other. In fact, the Japanese fool is a completely different game, with its own rules.
Game Start - Draw
The first thing that starts the game of the Japanese fool is the choice of the host. The draw takes place in two stages. First, the holder of the lowest peak card is identified. This suit has a special place in the game, but more on that later. If none of the players have cards of this suit, then the holder of the weakest trump card is identified. Having decided on the host, they begin the game.
Japanese fool - game rules
Below is a list of all the rules used in the game. By the way, if you compare the rules of the Japanese fool and the Russian flip or translate, then the Japanese are fundamentally not similar to any of the Russian variants. So:
- All go on the same card, you can not throw up or transfer the card to another player.
- Players walk in a circle clockwise.
- Everyone must beat the card of the previous player. That is, if the first player put the nine clubs, the second player beat her with the jack of clubs, then the third player must beat the jack of clubs, either with a card of clubs of higher value (queen, king, ace), or hit him with a trump card. After the last player discards the card, the discarded cards are sent to hang up, that is, they are eliminated from the game.
- If a player cannot beat the card, he must pick up the lowest, weakest card. The other player must hit the top card, even if he himself put it before, or pick up the bottom card and transfer the turn to another player. If he has beaten the top card, the next player must cover it or pick up the bottom. And so on until the end of the circle (last player).
- Everyone plays for himself.
- You cannot throw cards.
- Trump beats any card except the suit of spades. A trump card can be a fixed suit, for example, diamonds or freely selectable. Possible version of the game without a trump card. Trump is announced before the cards are dealt.
- They play a standard deck of 36 cards.
- The number of cards depends on the number of players. The deck is divided immediately into all.
- After the end of the game, the leader to the left of the fool becomes the leader, that is, the move goes from the fool and further clockwise.
- The number of players is from 2 to 6 people.
Japanese fool is much more complicated than other options. The game itself is more streamlined and requires not only accuracy, but also calculation. The complexity of the game gives the privileged position of the cards of the peak suit. The most difficult version of the game is a game without a trump card, when cards can be beaten only with cards of the same suit. Playing without trump cards equalizes the position of the peak suit with the rest.
Cards of the suit of spades - special position
In the Japanese fool, suits of spades cannot be beaten with cards of other suits, they cannot be trumped, but they cannot be beaten off. A card of the peak can be beaten by a card of the same suit, but of a higher order. For example, a nine of spades can be beaten by a ten of spades, jack of spades, queen of spades, king or ace of spades. If a player does not have rush cards or they are of low order, then he will be forced to collect them, if he has only cards of this suit, regardless of the value of the card, he will be forced to accept any card, since he cannot be beaten off. This is what makes the game more difficult. We have to take into account the special situation of the peak suit.
How is a winner and a loser determined?
The winner in the Japanese fool is the one who is left without cards. There can be many winners, but the loser is always one - a fool with cards. The peculiarity of this type of fool game is that it rarely ends in a draw. Most often, the loser has the cards of the peak suit. It’s not easy to win, but there are some tricks to help you win.
Tips and tricks for winning
How to play the Japanese fool so you yourself are not in the fools? For this, certain schemes and techniques have been developed that have more experienced and savvy players in their arsenal.
- You must always start the game with cards of the lowest order. At the beginning of the game in the Japanese fool, you need to discard the worst card. Remember, the game goes in a circle, and you can put only one card on the table. Either the player will beat off, or he will have to draw a bad card.
- In the game you need to remember the cards that have been eliminated in order to know which cards other players have. Saying that you need to remember cards is easier than doing it. If you can’t remember all the cards, at least concentrate on the cards of the peak suit, as they have special meaning in the game.
- If you have six, seven, eight or nine spades in your hands, then you need to get rid of them in the first place, but the ace or king of spades should be held back.
- Do not stay at the end of the game only with cards of the peak suit. You can walk only once per circle and with only one card. If a player holding only cards of the peak suit is under attack, he will take any card. This will expose his vulnerability in the game and the player who walks on him then simply overwhelms him with a joke.
These are simple tricks for playing a successful Japanese fool. In general, this game does not give such opportunities to be tricky, like a flip or transfer fool. In it, it will not work to fill up some with cards and let others fight off in order to quickly get rid of the cards themselves. It will not be possible to transfer "inconvenient" cards to other players.
Comparison with a Throwing Fool
Flip is different from the Japanese fool more freedom. Although the loser in both versions of the game is the player who has cards in his hands at the end of the game, the ways he has these cards turned out to be significantly different. The number of moves in a flip fool is limited to only six cards beaten off the table (in some cases, the rule limits this number to five). Cards can be thrown by all players except the beating player. If he could not beat the last card, he takes all the cards from the table, if he could, they go off. From 2 to 6 players can take part in the game, a standard deck of 36 cards is used for the game. The more players, the more interesting the game, as it becomes easier to cheat and stay without cards.
Comparison with translation
The transferable differs from the card game of the Japanese fool in that the beating card can be transferred to the next player, and at the same time add your own next. When transferring a card, of particular importance is not the suit, but the dignity of the card. For example, a diamond figure eight can be transferred to the next player if you put an eight of any other suit nearby. If the transfer is carried out using a trump card, it is necessary to clarify that the player is translating, not beating. In some versions of the translated fool, cards can not only be translated, but also thrown up. Otherwise, the rules of the game are the same as in the flip. You can even win a fool or a transfer fool without having trump cards for the whole game, especially if 3 or more players are playing.
How complicated is playing a Japanese fool
By the level of intellectual tension it can be compared with chess. Of all the game options, the Japanese fool is the most difficult. To win, the player has to carefully weigh each move and make sure not to draw cards, since he can only go with one card for the whole circle. Moreover, if he is the last player in the circle, he has to beat the highest card. If he doesn’t, he will have to pick up the weakest card. Getting out of the situation becomes more difficult. He has accumulated trash on his hands, which is not so easy to get rid of. At the same time, he has to think about how to get rid of the peak suit, especially if he got low-order peak cards.
You can play the Japanese fool both in the company of friends, and with a computer. This is a popular game, so there are several dozen computer applications that can be downloaded from the Internet. They are distributed free of charge (old versions with poor graphics) or for a nominal fee. Above is a screenshot of the program "Japanese Fool v 1.3". This is a completely free computer version of the card game. Three of them play it: one player is a living participant, the other two are a computer.