thread of tarot (the game)

it is very good!! like a streamlined version of bridge or something (or a french card version of the texas 42 domino game)

there’s a tarot app that i have spent much time with on airplanes

donna do you play 4-player or 5-player? i think 5-player is the most fun

tbh i haven’t played in years but we mostly did 4-player iirc. we did 3 a couple times but i found it unsatisfying. my friends and i would start playing at like 9 or 10, and then a case of beer, a bottle of pastis and approx. eight million cigarettes later, whoops the sun’s coming up!

what app do you use tracer? i kinda want to buy a deck and try to teach ppl how to play. i also really like scopa although the game play is very different.

― donna rouge, Saturday, 6 December 2025 16:40 (yesterday) bookmarkflaglink

this is the one i use. it works offline. you gotta pay for it. but it works very well. varying levels of difficulty, play with 3, 4, or 5 players, can replay hands if you want.

https://www.eryodsoft.com/en/games/tarot

5 players is best imo because it introduces the element of surprise in terms of who the high bidder's partner is. the high bidder calls a particular king, and whoever has that king is their partner. they can be revealed early or late in the game, depending on what gets led.

i still struggle with remembering the various points thresholds for winning your bid. when i play with real cards and real people i'm pretty sure we just play "petit" or "garde" but the app also lets you bid without using "le chien" eg the pot of cards you supplement your hand with, which is harder, so requires fewer points to win, and i think even another type which i can't remember

anyway - TAROT! the only card game i'm aware of with five suits! and four face cards in each one!!

I never knew this

After each round, the cards are gathered, cut by the previous dealer, and dealt by the person to the right of the previous dealer. The cards are not commonly shuffled other than the "soft shuffling" that occurs as a natural result of playing the cards. By not shuffling, groups of desirable cards are kept together such that one person generally has a favorable enough hand to open the bidding. With shuffling between deals it is unlikely that any one player will be willing to bid on the hand dealt; this leads to multiple redeals before a hand is actually played.

that explains a lot