Game

Calling the King

Königrufen

The goal: win Victory Points, which the contract and the bonuses both score. In the Call, the Declarer and a secret Partner play against the other two players, the Defenders, and win when they capture at least 36 of the 70 Card Points.

Read full rules
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Players
4
Difficulty
Deck
Alpine Tarok
Cards per hand
12

  1. Deal

    The Dealer deals 12 cards to each of the four players and lays six cards face-down in the middle as the talon.

  2. Bid

    The Forehand, the player to the Dealer’s right, bids first, and then each player in turn names a contract or passes. The player who makes the highest bid is the Declarer and plays the contract, and if the other three players all pass, the Forehand must play and is the Declarer.

  3. Call

    In the Call, the Declarer calls a King, and if another player holds that King, that player is the secret Partner; the Declarer then takes three of the six talon cards and discards three cards face-down. A player who wants to announce a bonus must do it before the first trick.

  4. Play

    The players play the hand out trick by trick.

  5. Score

    In most contracts the players count their Card Points after the last trick, and each player of the winning side adds the contract’s value in Victory Points. The evening ends with the round in which someone reaches 30 Victory Points.

Contracts

Beginner contracts

Advanced contracts

Each one is explained in full on the rules page.