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Tarot games are
card games A card game is any game using playing cards as the primary device with which the game is played, be they traditional or game-specific. Countless card games exist, including families of related games (such as poker). A small number of card ...
played with
tarot The tarot (, first known as '' trionfi'' and later as ''tarocchi'' or ''tarocks'') is a pack of playing cards, used from at least the mid-15th century in various parts of Europe to play card games such as Tarocchini. From their Italian roots, ...
decks, that is, decks with numbered permanent
trumps A trump is a playing card which is elevated above its usual rank in trick-taking games. Typically, an entire suit is nominated as a ''trump suit''; these cards then outrank all cards of plain (non-trump) suits. In other contexts, the terms ''tru ...
parallel to the suit cards. The games and decks which English-speakers call by the French name Tarot are called Tarocchi in the original Italian, Tarock in German and various similar words in other languages. The basic rules first appeared in the manuscript of Martiano da Tortona, written before 1425. The games are known in many variations, mostly cultural and regional. Tarot games originated in Italy, and spread to most parts of Europe, notable exceptions being the British Isles, the Iberian peninsula, and the Balkans.
David Parlett David Parlett (born 18 May 1939 in London) is a games scholar, historian, and translator from South London, who has studied both card games and board games. He is the president of the British Skat Association. His published works include many pop ...
, ''Oxford Dictionary of Card Games'', pg. 300 Oxford University Press (1996)
They are played with decks having four ordinary suits, and one additional, longer suit of tarots, which are always
trump Trump most commonly refers to: * Donald Trump (born 1946), 45th president of the United States (2017–2021) * Trump (card games), any playing card given an ad-hoc high rank Trump may also refer to: Businesses and organizations * Donald J. T ...
s. They are characterised by the rule that a player who cannot follow to a trick with a card of the suit led ''must'' play a trump to the trick if possible. Tarot games have introduced the concept of trumps to card games. More recent tarot games borrowed features from other games like bidding from
Ombre Ombre (, pronounced "omber") or l'Hombre is a fast-moving seventeenth-century trick-taking card game for three players and "the most successful card game ever invented." Its history began in Spain around the end of the 16th century as a four-pe ...
and winning the last trick with the lowest trump from
Trappola Trappola is an early 16th-century Venetian trick-taking card game which spread to most parts of Central Europe and survived, in various forms and under various names like Trapulka, Bulka and Hundertspiel until perhaps the middle of the 20th centu ...
. Tarot decks did not precede decks having four suits of the same length, and they were invented not for occult purposes but purely for gaming. In 1781, Court de Gébelin published an essay associating the cards with ancient wisdom, the earliest record of this idea, subsequently debunked by Dummett.
Dummett, Michael Sir Michael Anthony Eardley Dummett (27 June 1925 – 27 December 2011) was an English academic described as "among the most significant British philosophers of the last century and a leading campaigner for racial tolerance and equality." He w ...
. ''Twelve Tarot Games''. London: Duckworth (1980), p. 2. .
As a result of the unsupported theories of de Gébelin and other occultists, tarot cards have since been used for
cartomancy Cartomancy is fortune-telling or divination using a deck of cards. Forms of cartomancy appeared soon after playing cards were first introduced into Europe in the 14th century. Huson, Paul (2004). ''Mystical Origins of the Tarot: From Ancien ...
and
divination Divination (from Latin ''divinare'', 'to foresee, to foretell, to predict, to prophesy') is the attempt to gain insight into a question or situation by way of an occultic, standardized process or ritual. Used in various forms throughout histor ...
as well as gaming, although nowadays fortune-tellers tend to use specially-developed tarot decks rather than those used for games. Tarot games are increasingly popular in Europe, especially in
France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...
where French Tarot is the second most popular card game after
Belote Belote () is a 32-card, trick-taking, Ace-Ten game played primarily in France and certain European countries, namely Armenia, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Greece, Luxembourg, Moldova, North Macedonia (mainly Bitola), Bosnia and Herzegovina and als ...
. In
Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...
, Tarock games, especially
Königrufen Königrufen or Königsrufen (German: "Call the King") is a four-player, trick-taking card game of the Tarot card games, tarot family, played in Austria and Southern Tyrol, with variants for two, three and six players. As with other regional tarot ...
, have become widespread and there are several major national and international tournaments each year. Italy, the home of Tarot, remains a stronghold, and games of the Tarot family are also played in Hungary, Slovenia, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Switzerland, Denmark, south Germany and south Poland. Tarot games, however, have yet to be common in the
British Isles The British Isles are a group of islands in the North Atlantic Ocean off the north-western coast of continental Europe, consisting of the islands of Great Britain, Ireland, the Isle of Man, the Inner and Outer Hebrides, the Northern Isles, ...
or the
Iberian Peninsula The Iberian Peninsula (), ** * Aragonese and Occitan: ''Peninsula Iberica'' ** ** * french: Péninsule Ibérique * mwl, Península Eibérica * eu, Iberiar penintsula also known as Iberia, is a peninsula in southwestern Europe, defi ...
. The cards of the special suit in these games are variously called tarocks, tarocs, taroks, tarocchi or tarots.


Classification

Dummett classified Tarot games into three distinct types: * Type I – in which there are other trumps with a scoring value greater than one point in addition to the Fool, the XXI and the I. These are only found in Italy. * Type II – in which there are 3 high-value trumps, but the Fool is used as an 'excuse'. * Type III – in which there are also 3 high-value trumps, but the Fool is the top trump.


Type I – the Tarocchi/Tarocchini group

''Tarocchi'' (Italian, singular ''Tarocco''), and similar names in other languages, is a specific form of
playing card A playing card is a piece of specially prepared card stock, heavy paper, thin cardboard, plastic-coated paper, cotton-paper blend, or thin plastic that is marked with distinguishing motifs. Often the front (face) and back of each card has a fi ...
deck used for different
trick-taking game A trick-taking game is a card or tile-based game in which play of a ''hand'' centers on a series of finite rounds or units of play, called ''tricks'', which are each evaluated to determine a winner or ''taker'' of that trick. The object of such g ...
s. An earlier name of the game '' Trionfi'' is first recorded in the diary of Giusto Giusti in September 1440 (in other early documents also ludus triumphorum or similar). The name ''Tarochi'' was first used in Ferrara June 1505, the name ''Taraux'' appeared in Avignon in December of the same year. The names Tarocco, Tarocchi and Tarot developed in later times beside different writing forms. The poet
Francesco Berni Francesco Berni Francesco Berni (1497/98 – 26 May 1535) was an Italian poet. He is credited for beginning what is now known as " Bernesque poetry", a serio-comedic type of poetry with elements of satire. Biography Life Berni was born 1497 o ...
still mocked on this word in his ''Capitolo del Gioco della Primiera'' written in 1526. The name Trionfi developed later as a general term for trick-taking games (
Triomphe Triomphe (French for triumph), once known as French Ruff, is a card game dating from the late 15th century. It most likely originated in France or Spain (as triunfo) and later spread to the rest of Europe. When the game arrived in Italy, it shared ...
in French, Trumpfen in German and Trump in English) and persisted as the name for the trumps in Tarot packs even when they had been renamed ''Tarocchi''. Other different games claimed the name without any use of Tarocchi cards. The first basic rules for the game of ''Tarocco'' appear in the manuscript of Martiano da Tortona, the next are known from the year 1637. Excluding Piedmontese tarocchi, which is more closely related to French tarot, Italian tarocchi are all of Type I, i.e. they have trumps other than the I and XXI that are worth more than one card point. Winning the final trick (''ultimo'') awards a set number of points. Sicilian tarocchi is played in only four towns with 63 cards from the
Tarocco Siciliano The Tarocco Siciliano is a tarot deck found in Sicily and is used to play Sicilian tarocchi. It is one of the three traditional Latin-suited tarot decks still used for games in Italy, the others being the more prevalent Tarocco Piemontese and the ...
deck.
Tarocchini Tarocchini (plural for ''tarocchino'') are point trick-taking tarot card games popular in Bologna, capital city of the Emilia-Romagna region of Italy and has been confined mostly to this area. They are the diminutive form of ''tarocchi'' (plural f ...
is confined to
Bologna Bologna (, , ; egl, label= Emilian, Bulåggna ; lat, Bononia) is the capital and largest city of the Emilia-Romagna region in Northern Italy. It is the seventh most populous city in Italy with about 400,000 inhabitants and 150 different nat ...
and uses the 62 card
Tarocco Bolognese The Tarocco Bolognese is a tarot deck found in Bologna and is used to play tarocchini. It is a 62 card Italian playing cards, Italian suited deck which influenced the development of the Tarocco Siciliano and the obsolete Minchiate deck. The earli ...
deck. These games have four
face cards In a deck of playing cards, the term face card (US) or court card (British and US), and sometimes Royalty, is generally used to describe a card that depicts a person as opposed to the pip cards. They are also known as picture cards, or until the e ...
in each suit but dropped some of their
pip cards Pips are small but easily countable items, such as the dots on dominoes and dice, or the symbols on a playing card that denote its suit and value. Dice On dice, pips are small dots on each face of a common six-sided die. These pips are typica ...
early in their history. Both decks include 21 trumps and The Fool, a suitless card that excuses the player from following suit.


Type II – the Tarot group

The French adopted tarot games after their occupation of
Milan Milan ( , , Lombard: ; it, Milano ) is a city in northern Italy, capital of Lombardy, and the second-most populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of about 1.4 million, while its metropolitan city h ...
in the late 15th century. French Tarot, known locally as ''Jeu de Tarot'', is one which uses the full 78-card Tarot deck. Originally played with the Italian-suited
Tarot de Marseille The Tarot of Marseilles is a standard pattern of Italian-suited tarot pack with 78 cards that was very popular in France in the 17th and 18th centuries for playing tarot card games and is still produced today. It was probably created in Milan befo ...
, the game is now played with the
French-suited French-suited playing cards or French-suited cards are cards that use the French suits of (clovers or clubs ), (tiles or diamonds ), (hearts ), and (pikes or spades ). Each suit contains three or four face/court cards. I ...
Tarot Nouveau The Bourgeois Tarot deck is a mid-19th century pattern of tarot cards of German origin that is still used for playing card games today in western Europe and Canada. It is not designed for divinatory purposes.Frankfurt Frankfurt, officially Frankfurt am Main (; Hessian: , "Frank ford on the Main"), is the most populous city in the German state of Hesse. Its 791,000 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the fifth-most populous city in Germany. Located on its na ...
origin, has trumps which depict scenes of traditional social activities; this differs from the
Renaissance The Renaissance ( , ) , from , with the same meanings. is a period in European history marking the transition from the Middle Ages to modernity and covering the 15th and 16th centuries, characterized by an effort to revive and surpass ideas ...
allegorical motifs found in Italian-suited Tarot decks such as the Tarot de Marseille,
Tarocco Piemontese The Tarocco Piemontese (''Tarot of Piedmont'') is a type of tarot deck of Italian origin. It is the most common tarot playing set in northern Italy, much more common than the Tarocco Bolognese. The most popular Piedmontese tarot games are Scarto ...
and the Tarocco Bolognese. ''Jeu de Tarot'' is now the most popular card game in France after
Belote Belote () is a 32-card, trick-taking, Ace-Ten game played primarily in France and certain European countries, namely Armenia, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Greece, Luxembourg, Moldova, North Macedonia (mainly Bitola), Bosnia and Herzegovina and als ...
and many tournaments are held by the Fédération Française de Tarot. A Tarot Nouveau deck consists of 56 cards of four suits and 22 emblematic cards called ''atouts'' (trumps). Each suit consists of fourteen cards: ten
pip cards Pips are small but easily countable items, such as the dots on dominoes and dice, or the symbols on a playing card that denote its suit and value. Dice On dice, pips are small dots on each face of a common six-sided die. These pips are typica ...
, and four
face cards In a deck of playing cards, the term face card (US) or court card (British and US), and sometimes Royalty, is generally used to describe a card that depicts a person as opposed to the pip cards. They are also known as picture cards, or until the e ...
: the ''Roi'' (King), ''Dame'' (Queen), ''Cavalier'' (Knight), and ''Valet'' (Jack). Of the ''atouts'', 21 are numbered from 1 to 21, and a non-numbered card called "''Fou''" ("Fool", also called "''Mat''" or "''L'Excuse''" in play) which "excuses" the player from following suit. Of the ''atouts'', only the Fool and trumps 1 and 21 are considered to be "counting" cards because they are worth more than 1 point. Winning the last trick awards bonuses only if it is won with the lowest trump. Tarot games from
Piedmont it, Piemontese , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = , demographics1_footnotes = , demographics1_title1 = , demographics1_info1 = , demographics1_title2 ...
, the Italian region bordering France, are more similar to French tarot than other Italian games. These games use the 78-card
Tarocco Piemontese The Tarocco Piemontese (''Tarot of Piedmont'') is a type of tarot deck of Italian origin. It is the most common tarot playing set in northern Italy, much more common than the Tarocco Bolognese. The most popular Piedmontese tarot games are Scarto ...
deck which was derived from the Tarot de Marseille. The most common Piedmontese tarot games are
Scarto Scarto is a three player trick-taking tarot card game from Piedmont, Italy. It is a simple tarot game which can serve as an introduction to more complex tarot games. The name comes from the discarded cards that were exchanged with the stock, whic ...
, Mitigati, Chiamare il Re, and Partita which can be found in Pinerolo and Turin.
Troccas Troccas is a member of the Tarot family of card games. It is a four player game played in the Romansh speaking part of the canton Grisons of Switzerland. It is not known exactly how this game entered Switzerland but it is generally thought to ...
, a Swiss tarot game, is also related and is played with the 78-card
Swiss 1JJ Tarot The Swiss 1JJ Tarot deck is a 78-card deck used for the tarot card games Troccas and Troggu and also for divination. History The deck is derived from the Tarot de Besançon, which itself comes from the Tarot of Marseilles. It is an Italian sui ...
, another derivative of the Tarot de Marseille. Danish
Grosstarok Grosstarock (german: Großtarock) is an old three-handed card game of the Tarock family played with a full 78-card Tarot pack. It was probably introduced into the southern German states around 1720 but spread rapidly into Austria and northwards a ...
, which focuses on winning the final trick, also uses the Tarot Nouveau.


Type III – the Tarock group

Tarock games, Dummett's Type III, differ from other forms in the function of the Fool which is now simply the highest trump.Tarot Games
/ref> Games of this category include
Cego Cego is a Tarot game for three or four players played with eponymous German Tarot playing cards. The game was probably derived from the three-player Badenese tarot game of Dreierles after soldiers returned from the Iberian Peninsula during the Na ...
,
Zwanzigerrufen Zwanzigerrufen or Zwanz'gerrufen is the leading trick-taking card game of the Tarock family in many regions of eastern Austria. Its rules are simpler than the game of Königrufen which is more widely played in the whole of Austria. As is common in ...
and
Königrufen Königrufen or Königsrufen (German: "Call the King") is a four-player, trick-taking card game of the Tarot card games, tarot family, played in Austria and Southern Tyrol, with variants for two, three and six players. As with other regional tarot ...
. These games use the 54 card French suited
Cego Cego is a Tarot game for three or four players played with eponymous German Tarot playing cards. The game was probably derived from the three-player Badenese tarot game of Dreierles after soldiers returned from the Iberian Peninsula during the Na ...
or '' Industrie und Glück'' decks that strip certain pip cards. The games are widely played in the
Upper Rhine valley The Upper Rhine Plain, Rhine Rift Valley or Upper Rhine Graben (German: ''Oberrheinische Tiefebene'', ''Oberrheinisches Tiefland'' or ''Oberrheingraben'', French: ''Vallée du Rhin'') is a major rift, about and on average , between Basel in the so ...
and its surrounding hills such as the
Black forest The Black Forest (german: Schwarzwald ) is a large forested mountain range in the state of Baden-Württemberg in southwest Germany, bounded by the Rhine Valley to the west and south and close to the borders with France and Switzerland. It is t ...
or the
Vosges The Vosges ( , ; german: Vogesen ; Franconian and gsw, Vogese) are a range of low mountains in Eastern France, near its border with Germany. Together with the Palatine Forest to the north on the German side of the border, they form a single ...
, and the countries within the boundaries of the former
Austro-Hungarian Monarchy Austria-Hungary, often referred to as the Austro-Hungarian Empire,, the Dual Monarchy, or Austria, was a constitutional monarchy and great power in Central Europe between 1867 and 1918. It was formed with the Austro-Hungarian Compromise of 1 ...
, for which even the name 'Tarockania' (''Tarockanien'') has been coined: the
Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...
n variation of the game (and the variations thereof) is thus still widely popular among all classes and generations in
Slovenia Slovenia ( ; sl, Slovenija ), officially the Republic of Slovenia (Slovene: , abbr.: ''RS''), is a country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the west, Austria to the north, Hungary to the northeast, Croatia to the southeast, an ...
and
Croatia , image_flag = Flag of Croatia.svg , image_coat = Coat of arms of Croatia.svg , anthem = "Lijepa naša domovino"("Our Beautiful Homeland") , image_map = , map_caption = , capit ...
, while in
Hungary Hungary ( hu, Magyarország ) is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning of the Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia a ...
different rules are applied. The Swiss game of
Troggu Troggu is a member of the tarot family of card games. Synonyms for the game's name are: Trogga, Tappu and Tappä. It is played in the area of Visp, Switzerland, in Upper Wallis, especially in St. Niklaus and Grächen. After Troccas, it is the ...
is believed to be an intermediary form linking the older tarot games to the Central European ones.


Sub-types

The individual tarock game variants differ too widely from one another to give a general description of play. However, they can be grouped by sub-type: *
Tapp Tarock Tapp Tarock (german: Tapp-Tarock), also called Viennese Tappen (german: Wiener Tappen), Tappen or Tapper, is a three-player tarot card game which traditionally uses the 54-card Industrie und Glück deck. Before the ''Anschluss'' (1938), it was the ...
: the 3-player game that is the ancestor of modern 54-card Austrian and Hungarian Tarock games *
Cego Cego is a Tarot game for three or four players played with eponymous German Tarot playing cards. The game was probably derived from the three-player Badenese tarot game of Dreierles after soldiers returned from the Iberian Peninsula during the Na ...
: A south German game with a large ''talon'' that can be used as a replacement hand * Partner calling games: ** Calling a king:
Königrufen Königrufen or Königsrufen (German: "Call the King") is a four-player, trick-taking card game of the Tarot card games, tarot family, played in Austria and Southern Tyrol, with variants for two, three and six players. As with other regional tarot ...
and Slovenian tarok ** Calling trump 19:
Neunzehnerrufen Neunzehnerrufen (German: "Call the Nineteen") is an Austrian card game of the Tarock (tarot) family for four players. Under the name Taroky or Czech Taroky it is the national Tarock variant of the Czech Republic and Slovakia, but - with certain var ...
and Czech taroky ** Calling trump 20:
Zwanzigerrufen Zwanzigerrufen or Zwanz'gerrufen is the leading trick-taking card game of the Tarock family in many regions of eastern Austria. Its rules are simpler than the game of Königrufen which is more widely played in the whole of Austria. As is common in ...
and Hungarian tarokk * Royal tarokk: The ''talon'', card points, and partner calling are abandoned in favour of bonuses One family of games emerged as result of the attempt to play
Grosstarock Grosstarock (german: Großtarock) is an old three-handed card game of the Tarock family played with a full 78-card Tarot pack. It was probably introduced into the southern German states around 1720 but spread rapidly into Austria and northwards a ...
with a normal 36-card German-suited pack. Instead of the dedicated trump suit, Hearts is chosen as the
trump suit A trump is a playing card which is elevated above its usual rank in trick-taking games. Typically, an entire suit is nominated as a ''trump suit''; these cards then outrank all cards of plain (non-trump) suits. In other contexts, the terms ''tru ...
or at least as a preference suit. This family includes
German Tarok German Tarok, sometimes known as Sansprendre or simply Tarok, is a historical Ace-Ten card game for three players that emerged in the 18th century and is the progenitor of a family of games still played today in Europe and North America. It became ...
,
Württemberg Tarock Württemberg ( ; ) is a historical German territory roughly corresponding to the cultural and linguistic region of Swabia. The main town of the region is Stuttgart. Together with Baden and Hohenzollern, two other historical territories, Wür ...
or
Tapp The Alan Parsons Project was a British rock band active between 1975 and 1990, whose core membership consisted of producer, audio engineer, musician and composer Alan Parsons and singer, songwriter and pianist Eric Woolfson. They were accompani ...
,
Bavarian Tarock Bavarian Tarock (german: Bayerisches Tarock) or, often, just Tarock, is a card game that was once popular in Bavaria and also played in parts of Austria as well as Berlin. The name is a clue to its origin in the historical German game of ross-ar ...
,
Bauerntarock Bauerntarock ("farmers' tarot") also called Brixentaler Bauerntarock or Brixental Tarock, is a point-trick card game played in the Brixental, Austria. It may have originated in the 19th century either as an adaptation of 54-card Tapp Tarock onto ...
,
Frog A frog is any member of a diverse and largely Carnivore, carnivorous group of short-bodied, tailless amphibians composing the order (biology), order Anura (ανοὐρά, literally ''without tail'' in Ancient Greek). The oldest fossil "proto-f ...
and
Dobbm Dobbm or Tappen is a card game played in the Stubai valley in Austria and is one of a family of games derived from the Tarot game of Grosstarock by adapting its rules to a regular, shortened pack of 36 cards. The ranking and point value of the ca ...
. They are
Ace-Ten games An Ace-Ten game is a type of card game, highly popular in Europe, in which the Aces and Tens are of particularly high value. Description Many of Europe's most popular card games feature the Ace-Ten scoring system, where the cards count as Ace = ...
that incorporate features of Tapp Tarock, but are not true tarock games.


List

The following true tarock variants are known: ;Two-hand games, 54 cards *
Strohmandeln Strohmandeln, also called Strohmandel, Strohmanntarock, Strohmanntarok, Zweiertarock, Strawman Tarock or Straw Man Tarock, is an old, two-hand card game from the Austrian branch of the Tarock family. It takes its name from the three-packet talon ...
: oldest and simplest two-hander, Austria *
Kosakeln Kosakeln ("Cossack") is a relatively recent, two-hand card game of the Austrian branch of the Tarock (card games), Tarock family. It is a two-handed version of the three-player game of Illustrated Tarock, itself an elaborate and challenging vari ...
: more elaborate game, Austria ;Three-hand games, 42 or 54 cards *
Grosstarock (Viennese) Viennese Grosstarock is a modern, three-player Austrian card game of the Tarock family that emerged in Vienna during the 1950s and 1960s. The game died out in the 1970s, but was revived in 2004 and further developed. Description Viennese Grossta ...
A modern, Viennese game, not related to classical Grosstarock. (54 cards, 3 players) *
Husarln Husarln ("Hussar") is a mid-20th century, three-hand card game of the Austrian branch of the Tarot family. It is a 42-card variant of Illustrated Tarock and appears to be a close Austrian relative of the 42-card Hungarian tarock card games. The ...
: 42 cards, elaborate game, Austria *
Illustrated Tarock Illustrated Tarock (german: Illustriertes Tarock) or Illustrated Dreiertarock is an Austrian card game that has been described as the "queen" of all three-handed Tarock games played with the 54-card pack. It was thought by Mayr and Sedlaczek to ...
: 54 cards, elaboration of Tapp Tarock, Austria *
Point Tarock Point Tarock was a three-player tarot card game, played mainly in Austria, which used the 54-card ''Industrie und Glück'' deck. It is probably extinct. Furr describes it as being "identical to Tapp but for the addition of a special announcement, ...
: 54 cards, point bidding version of Tapp Tarock, Austria *
Tapp-Tarock Tapp Tarock (german: Tapp-Tarock), also called Viennese Tappen (german: Wiener Tappen), Tappen or Tapper, is a three-player tarot card game which traditionally uses the 54-card Industrie und Glück deck. Before the ''Anschluss'' (1938), it was th ...
: 42 or 54 cards, the original game, Austria *
Dreiertarock Dreiertarock is a 3-handed card game of the Austrian Tarock family. Although less popular than it once was, it is still played in Austria, especially in Carinthia, and in neighboring Slovenia. In 2013, it was one of five variants of Tarock game c ...
: 42 or 54 cards, modern descendant of Tapp Tarock, Austria *
Cego Cego is a Tarot game for three or four players played with eponymous German Tarot playing cards. The game was probably derived from the three-player Badenese tarot game of Dreierles after soldiers returned from the Iberian Peninsula during the Na ...
: three-player variant of Cego – see below *
Dreierles Dreierles is a three-handed, trick-taking Tarot card game that is popular in the German region of central Baden. It is very old and appears to be a south German cousin of Tapp Tarock, the oldest known 54-card Tarot game. Dreierles is played with ...
: south German descendant of Tapp Tarock played with Cego cards ;Three-hand games, 78 cards *
Grosstarock Grosstarock (german: Großtarock) is an old three-handed card game of the Tarock family played with a full 78-card Tarot pack. It was probably introduced into the southern German states around 1720 but spread rapidly into Austria and northwards a ...
, oldest German Tarock game *
Danish Tarok Danish may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to the country of Denmark People * A national or citizen of Denmark, also called a "Dane," see Demographics of Denmark * Culture of Denmark * Danish people or Danes, people with a Danish a ...
, only surviving variant of the above * French Tarot, most popular card game in France after
Belote Belote () is a 32-card, trick-taking, Ace-Ten game played primarily in France and certain European countries, namely Armenia, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Greece, Luxembourg, Moldova, North Macedonia (mainly Bitola), Bosnia and Herzegovina and als ...
;Four-hand games, 40, 42 or 54 cards *
Cego Cego is a Tarot game for three or four players played with eponymous German Tarot playing cards. The game was probably derived from the three-player Badenese tarot game of Dreierles after soldiers returned from the Iberian Peninsula during the Na ...
: south German game popular in the
Black Forest The Black Forest (german: Schwarzwald ) is a large forested mountain range in the state of Baden-Württemberg in southwest Germany, bounded by the Rhine Valley to the west and south and close to the borders with France and Switzerland. It is t ...
and Upper Rhine region *
Hungarian Tarock The Tarock card game family is represented in Hungary by a variant for four players that uses a 42-card deck, variously called Hungarian Tarock ( hu, Húszashívásos tarokk), Hungarian Tarokk or Paskievics (german: Paskiewitsch in Austrian source ...
: 40, 42 (mostly), 46 or (rarely) 54 cards, Hungary, Transylvania (growing community in Austria) *
Königrufen Königrufen or Königsrufen (German: "Call the King") is a four-player, trick-taking card game of the Tarot card games, tarot family, played in Austria and Southern Tyrol, with variants for two, three and six players. As with other regional tarot ...
: 54 cards, the leading four-player game in
Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...
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Slovenia Slovenia ( ; sl, Slovenija ), officially the Republic of Slovenia (Slovene: , abbr.: ''RS''), is a country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the west, Austria to the north, Hungary to the northeast, Croatia to the southeast, an ...
,
Rumania Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central, Eastern, and Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Moldova to the east, and t ...
,
Ukraine Ukraine ( uk, Україна, Ukraïna, ) is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the second-largest European country after Russia, which it borders to the east and northeast. Ukraine covers approximately . Prior to the ongoing Russian inv ...
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Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populous ...
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Neunzehnerrufen Neunzehnerrufen (German: "Call the Nineteen") is an Austrian card game of the Tarock (tarot) family for four players. Under the name Taroky or Czech Taroky it is the national Tarock variant of the Czech Republic and Slovakia, but - with certain var ...
: 54 cards. Austria, Czechia, Slovakia, Poland *
Zwanzigerrufen Zwanzigerrufen or Zwanz'gerrufen is the leading trick-taking card game of the Tarock family in many regions of eastern Austria. Its rules are simpler than the game of Königrufen which is more widely played in the whole of Austria. As is common in ...
: 40 cards, Austria ;Multi-player games *
Troggu Troggu is a member of the tarot family of card games. Synonyms for the game's name are: Trogga, Tappu and Tappä. It is played in the area of Visp, Switzerland, in Upper Wallis, especially in St. Niklaus and Grächen. After Troccas, it is the ...
: 62 cards, 3 to 8 players, Switzerland,
Canton of Wallis Valais ( , , ; frp, Valês; german: Wallis ), more formally the Canton of Valais,; german: Kanton Wallis; in other official Swiss languages outside Valais: it, (Canton) Vallese ; rm, (Chantun) Vallais. is one of the cantons of Switzerland, 26 ...
(Type II/III)


Common features


Deck of cards

A complete Tarot deck such as one for French Tarot contains the full 78-card complement and can be used to play any game in the family with the exception of
Minchiate Minchiate is an early 16th-century card game, originating in Florence, Italy. It is no longer widely played. ''Minchiate'' can also refer to the special deck of 97 playing cards used in the game. The deck is closely related to the tarot cards, b ...
, an extinct game that used 97 cards. Austrian-Hungarian Tarock and Italian Tarocco decks, however, are a smaller subset (of 63, 54, 40, or even 36 cards) suitable only for games of a particular region. Regional tarot decks commonly feature culture-specific suits; the German suits of Hearts, Bells, Acorns and Leaves are used through most of Germanic Europe, the Latin suits of Cups, Coins, Clubs, and Swords are common in Italy and Spain, and the French suits of Hearts, Diamonds, Clubs, and Spades are seen in France, Quebec, West Germany and most of the English-speaking world. This trend continues even to non-Tarot decks such as for the German game of Skat (played with a deck of similar-value cards as in the French
piquet Piquet (; ) is an early 16th-century plain-trick card game for two players that became France's national game. David Parlett calls it a "classic game of relatively great antiquity... still one of the most skill-rewarding card games for two" but ...
deck used for
Belote Belote () is a 32-card, trick-taking, Ace-Ten game played primarily in France and certain European countries, namely Armenia, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Greece, Luxembourg, Moldova, North Macedonia (mainly Bitola), Bosnia and Herzegovina and als ...
; players in most of western Germany use French suits while players in Bavaria and eastern Germany use German suits). The 78-card tarot deck contains: *14 cards each in four
suit A suit, lounge suit, or business suit is a set of clothes comprising a suit jacket and trousers of identical textiles worn with a collared dress shirt, necktie, and dress shoes. A skirt suit is similar, but with a matching skirt instead of tr ...
s (French or Latin depending on the region): "pip" cards numbered one (but called
Ace An ace is a playing card, die or domino with a single pip. In the standard French deck, an ace has a single suit symbol (a heart, diamond, spade, or club) located in the middle of the card, sometimes large and decorated, especially in the c ...
) through ten; plus four court cards, a Jack (or Knave or Valet), a Knight (or Cavalier), a Queen, and a King. *The 21 tarots function in the game as a permanent suit of
trump Trump most commonly refers to: * Donald Trump (born 1946), 45th president of the United States (2017–2021) * Trump (card games), any playing card given an ad-hoc high rank Trump may also refer to: Businesses and organizations * Donald J. T ...
s. *The Fool, also known as the Excuse, is an unnumbered card that excuses the player from following suit or playing a trump in some variations, and that acts as the strongest trump in others. The 54-card 'tarock' deck contains: *8 cards each in four
suit A suit, lounge suit, or business suit is a set of clothes comprising a suit jacket and trousers of identical textiles worn with a collared dress shirt, necktie, and dress shoes. A skirt suit is similar, but with a matching skirt instead of tr ...
s (usually French), the "pip" cards being stripped out leaving 1 to 4 in the red suits (Ace highest) and 10 to 7 in the black suits (Ten highest). The court cards remain the same. *22 tarocks as permanent
trump Trump most commonly refers to: * Donald Trump (born 1946), 45th president of the United States (2017–2021) * Trump (card games), any playing card given an ad-hoc high rank Trump may also refer to: Businesses and organizations * Donald J. T ...
s, including the
Sküs The trull is a trio of three special trump cards used in tarock games in Austria and other countries that have a much higher card value than the other trumps. The individual cards are known as trull cards (''Trullstücke''). The word ''trull'' i ...
(the Fool) as an unnumbered Tarock XXII, the
Mond Modified Newtonian dynamics (MOND) is a hypothesis that proposes a modification of Newton's law of universal gravitation to account for observed properties of galaxies. It is an alternative to the hypothesis of dark matter in terms of explaining ...
as Tarock XXI and the
Pagat The trull is a trio of three special trump cards used in tarock games in Austria and other countries that have a much higher card value than the other trumps. The individual cards are known as trull cards (''Trullstücke''). The word ''trull'' i ...
as Tarock I, which are collectively known as the
Trull Trull is a village, electoral ward and civil parish in Somerset, England, situated near Taunton. The parish which includes Dipford has a population of 2,288. History The name Trull is thought to derive from the word ''Trendle'' meaning circl ...
or "Honours" and have a special role. Due to the antiquity of tarot games, the cards are ordered in an archaic ranking. In the plain suits, Kings are always high. With the exception of modern French tarot and Sicilian tarocchi, the ranking in the Latin round suits (cups and coins) or the French red suits (diamonds and hearts) goes from King (high), Queen, Cavalier, Jack, 1, 2, 3 ... 10 (low).


Basic rules of play

*Play is typically anti-clockwise; the player to the right of the dealer plays to the first trick. Players must follow suit if they have a card of the suit led, otherwise they must play a trump if possible. The winner of each trick leads to the next. *After the hand has been played, a score is taken based on the point values of the cards in the tricks each player has managed to capture.


Common card values

The aim in almost all
card games A card game is any game using playing cards as the primary device with which the game is played, be they traditional or game-specific. Countless card games exist, including families of related games (such as poker). A small number of card ...
of the Tarot family is to make as many points as possible from the cards taken in tricks, the cards having different point values. Those cards which have little or no point value are called various names – Skartins, Ladons or cartes basses depending on the region – but may be referred to as
low card The following is a glossary of terms used in card games. Besides the terms listed here, there are thousands of common and uncommon slang terms. Terms in this glossary should not be game-specific (e.g. specific to Bridge, Hearts, Poker or Rummy), ...
s. Cards which have a higher point value may be called counting cards or counters; they usually include the Fool (''Excuse'' or ''
Sküs The trull is a trio of three special trump cards used in tarock games in Austria and other countries that have a much higher card value than the other trumps. The individual cards are known as trull cards (''Trullstücke''). The word ''trull'' i ...
''), the I (''Pagat'' ''Petit'', ''Bagatto'' or ''Little Man'') and the XXI (''Mond'') plus all the
court card A court is any person or institution, often as a government institution, with the authority to adjudicate legal disputes between parties and carry out the administration of justice in civil, criminal, and administrative matters in accordance w ...
s. In such a case, the low cards are the remaining tarots (II to XX) and all the
pip card Pip, PIP, Pips, PIPS, and ''similar'', may refer to: Common meanings * Pip, colloquial name for the star(s) worn on military uniform as part of rank badge, as in the British Army officer rank insignia or with many Commonwealth police agencies * T ...
s. Not all games follow this precisely; in some games, other cards are included among the counters. However, the division of counters and low cards described is the most common and is often accompanied by the following 'standard' card values: * Oudlers or
Trull Trull is a village, electoral ward and civil parish in Somerset, England, situated near Taunton. The parish which includes Dipford has a population of 2,288. History The name Trull is thought to derive from the word ''Trendle'' meaning circl ...
cards – Trumps I, XXI and the Fool: 5 points * Kings: 5 points * Queens: 4 points * Cavaliers or Knights: 3 points * Knaves, Valets or Jacks: 2 points * Low cards: 1 point


Tarot scoring

The system by which players work out their scores in almost all Tarot games may appear "eccentric and puzzling", but the rationale to it is that, originally, the cards were each valued at one less point than that shown above (e.g. Kings were worth 4 points and low cards had no point value), but every trick taken scored one point. Dummett argues that the tedious work of counting tricks card points separately, led players to fuse the two processes into a single operation. There are several practical methods, but all are designed to achieve the same aim: a quick and relatively simple way of calculating the score. A very common system used in many 54-card Tarock games is counting in packets of three. Under the original scoring scheme, the pack would have been worth 52 points and there would have been 18 points for the 18 tricks making a total of 70 points in total; thus, in most cases, a declarer needs 36 points to win.
Mayr Mayr is a German surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Andrea Mayr (born 1979), Austrian female long-distance runner * Ernst Mayr (1904–2005), German American evolutionary biologist * Georg Mayr (1564–1623), Bavarian Jesuit pries ...
and Sedlaczek described 3 common systems:


Counting in threes with low cards

The first, easiest and oldest method is counting in threes with low cards. A player gathers the cards won in tricks and groups them into triplets each comprising one counting card and two low cards. Each triplet scores the value of the counter only e.g. a Queen and two low cards scores 4. In addition, a triplet of three low cards scores exactly 1 point. In some games, players may end up with one or two cards over. Two remaining low cards are rounded up to score 1 point; a single low card is rounded down to zero. This is the simplest method but it doesn't work if a player does not have enough low cards for every counter.


Counting in threes with a 2-point deduction

The second method, popular in Vienna, was developed later: counting in threes with a 2-point deduction. Cards are grouped in threes again, but the composition is irrelevant. Within each triplet the card values are added and then 2 points are deducted from the total. So, for example, a Queen, Cavalier and Ten are worth 4 + 3 + 1 – 2 = 6 points. Players try to ensure that any odd cards left over are low cards. Again, two low cards are worth 1 point and a single low card is worthless.


Counting in fractions

The third method is a new development and the most precise, but also the most complicated and least used: counting in fractions. Cards are given fractional values as follows: Trull cards and Kings – , Queens – , Cavaliers – , Jacks – and low cards – each. In this way individual cards can be counted. So a Queen, Cavalier and Ten are worth + + = 6 points, producing the same result as the second method. A variant of this method is used for
Tarot Nouveau The Bourgeois Tarot deck is a mid-19th century pattern of tarot cards of German origin that is still used for playing card games today in western Europe and Canada. It is not designed for divinatory purposes.Oudlers and Kings - , Queens - , Cavaliers - , Jacks - and low cards - each. The same method is used as above but counting only two cards. For example, a Queen (worth 3 1/2 points) and a low card (1/2 point) would be counted together to make 4.


Tarot images

For the purpose of the rules, the numbering of the trumps is all that matters. The symbolic tarot images have no effect in the game itself other than influencing the naming of a few of the cards (Fool, Mond, Pagat, Little Man). The design traditions of these decks subsequently evolved independently and they often bear only numbers and whimsical scenes arbitrarily chosen by the engraver. However, there are still traditional sequences of images in which the common lineage is visible; e.g. the moon that is commonly visible at the bottom left corner of the trump card 21 stems from confusion of the German word ''Mond'', meaning "moon", with Italian ''mondo'' and French ''monde'', meaning "world", the usual symbol associated with the trump card 21 on Italian suited tarots.


See also

* Hofämterspiel *
Mantegna Tarocchi The Mantegna Tarocchi, also known as the Tarocchi Cards, Tarocchi in the style of Mantegna, Baldini Cards, are two different sets each of fifty 15th-century Italian old master prints in engraving, by two different unknown artists. The sets are ...


Footnotes


References


Further reading

* Alscher, Hans-Joachim, ed. (2003). ''Tarock – mein einziges Vergnügen ... Geschichte eines europäischen Kartenspiels.'' Brandstätter, Vienna, . * Bamberger, Johannes (2011). ''Tarock: die schönsten Varianten'', Perlen-Reihe Vol. 640, 22nd edition,
Perlen-Reihe Perlen-Reihe (German, lit: "string of pearls") is a series of books founded in 1948 by Adalbert Pechan. It is best known for its self-help guides on a wide variety of topics, including car guides and game instructions. It can be seen as the prototyp ...
, Vienna. * Decker, Ronald,
Thierry Depaulis Thierry Depaulis (born 1949) is an independent historian of games and especially of playing cards, card games, and board games. He is President of the International Playing-Card Society, President of the association ''Le Vieux Papier'', a member of ...
and
Michael Dummett Sir Michael Anthony Eardley Dummett (27 June 1925 – 27 December 2011) was an English academic described as "among the most significant British philosophers of the last century and a leading campaigner for racial tolerance and equality." He wa ...
(2002)
996 Year 996 ( CMXCVI) was a leap year starting on Wednesday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. Events By place Japan * February - Chotoku Incident: Fujiwara no Korechika and Takaie shoot an arrow at Retired Em ...
''A Wicked Pack of Cards: The Origins of the Occult Tarot''. London: Duckworth. *
Dummett, Michael Sir Michael Anthony Eardley Dummett (27 June 1925 – 27 December 2011) was an English academic described as "among the most significant British philosophers of the last century and a leading campaigner for racial tolerance and equality." He w ...
(1980). ''Twelve Tarot Games''. Duckworth, London. *
Dummett, Michael Sir Michael Anthony Eardley Dummett (27 June 1925 – 27 December 2011) was an English academic described as "among the most significant British philosophers of the last century and a leading campaigner for racial tolerance and equality." He w ...
(1980). ''The Game of Tarot''. Duckworth, London. * * * Livingstone, Ian and James Wallis (2019). ''Board Games in 100 Moves''. * Mayr, Wolfgang and Sedlaczek (2015). ''Die Kultur Geschichte des Tarock Spiels: Geschichten über Tarock und Seine Berühmten Spieler''. Atelier, Vienna. * Mayr, Wolfgang and Sedlaczek (2016). ''Die Strategie des Tarockspiels. Königrufen, Zwanzigerrufen, Neunzehnerrufen, Dreiertarock, Strohmanntarock'', 5th expanded ed., Atelier, Vienna.


External links


Tarocchi History
at Trionfi.com
Card Games: Tarot Games
at
Pagat.com Pagat.com is a website containing rules to hundreds of card games from all over the world. Maintained by John McLeod, it contains information for traditional, commercial, and newly invented card games from all over the world. It has been described ...

What is Tarot? It's not what you think!
at Bloggernews.net

at Tarocchino.com (archived) {{DEFAULTSORT:Tarot, Tarock And Tarocchi Games 15th-century card games Italian card games