About the book

A hidden gem in trick-taking, now easy to learn and play

Elsteiner Games

For my dad, Werner. He introduced me to card games, played them with me and showed me how to teach them to others.

And for everyone who shared the vision, backed this book and made it real. Thank you.

Meet the Book

Welcome to the Tarok Exploration Book. Your easy gateway into the wonderful world of Tarok. Tarok is not one traditional card game but a whole family of them, and each game has its own rules and its own number of players.

Tarok has a deck of its own, with five suits instead of four. The “Meet the Deck” chapter shows you every card.

You do not need to have played a trick-taking game before. The “Core Concepts” chapter starts with the first card and explains everything from there.

Before each hand, the players bid for a contract, which is the goal for that hand. You bid for a contract that fits your cards, and the “Core Concepts” chapter explains how (The Core Concepts of Tarok). In these games, skill counts for more than the luck of the deal.

Now, it’s time to deal you in.

How to Use This Book

Tarok has a special deck, a bidding phase, four face cards in each suit and card values of its own. This book explains each of them in turn, and the cards of the Alpine Tarok deck help you learn and teach: the pips that count for Card Points are printed on the cards, small arrows show which way a suit ranks, and the animals on the Taroks rise with the rank of the card.

This book contains:

Meet Tarok & Meet the Deck. read where the games come from, then meet every card of the deck, so you can read a card’s rank and worth from the card itself

The Core Concepts of Tarok. learn once the ground rules that the games in this book share, and use them in every game

Six Games. find complete rules, variants, and a cheat sheet for each, so you can pick a game and play it

Calling the Twenty

A four-player game from Austria and the one to start with, since a new Alpine Tarok deck comes presorted for it.

Players4 Difficulty

Calling the King

A four-player game from Austria that has every kind of contract.

Players4 Difficulty

Slovenian Tarok

A game for three or four players from Slovenia, with many contracts and a heavy penalty for losing the Moon.

Players4 Difficulty

Hungarian Tarokk

A four-player game from Hungary with few contracts and big bonuses.

Players4 Difficulty

Strawman

A game for two players from Tyrol, Austria, in which your hand extends to three piles with their top cards face-up.

Players2 Difficulty

Dappen

A game for six to eight players from the Black Forest in Germany, in which one player plays against all the others.

Players6–8 Difficulty

Quick References & Glossary. look up a rule or a word quickly while you play

Once you know the cards and “Core Concepts”, every game chapter stands on its own, and you can go straight to the game that fits your group.

Along the way you will find sticky notes. There are four kinds, and each kind has its own animal and its own job:

This book is a starting point: it teaches six games from the family in full, each in a beginner-friendly version, so you can start playing right away.

It does not cover every Tarok game or every rule, and that is by design. You are meant to make Tarok your own: the “Expansions” at the end of each game chapter list rules that some groups add. More variants, puzzles and walkthroughs for every game are online at elsteinergames.com.

Your guided first game If this is your first game and you haven’t opened the packaging yet, don’t shuffle. Your Alpine Tarok deck comes pre-arranged for a guided first game. Open the guided first game to play your very first hand step by step.

Games at a Glance

The six games, in the order of the table below. Some are easy and some are demanding, some need two players and some eight. Start with Calling the Twenty, and once you know it, wander on: every game in this family teaches you something new.

Game Players Difficulty Its specialty Rules
Calling the Twenty (Zwanzigerrufen) 4 ●○○ ★ Start here: the starter game Calling the Twenty
Calling the King (Königrufen) 4 ●●● Every kind of contract in a single game Calling the King
Slovenian Tarok (slovenski tarok) 3–4 ●●● The most contracts, and a heavy penalty for losing the Moon. Slovenian Tarok
Hungarian Tarokk (Paskievics tarokk) 4 ●●● Few contracts, big bonuses. Hungarian Tarokk
Strawman (Strohmandeln) 2 ●○○ Your hand extends to three piles on the table, their top cards face-up for both players to see. Strawman
Dappen 6–8 ●●○ One player plays against all the others. Dappen

Contents