Durak
Attack, defend, throw in: just don't be the last one holding cards.
About the game
The great Russian card game, in its throw-in version against one to three computer players. Attack with a card, beat what is thrown at you with a higher card of the suit or a trump, and pile on cards of the same ranks to break a defence. There are no winners in Durak, only one loser: the durak, the last player still holding cards.
Rules
A deck of 36 cards, 6 up to Ace (Ace high). Everybody gets six cards. The next card is turned face up: its suit is trump for the whole game, and it lies across under the talon as the last card to be drawn. The player with the lowest trump attacks first; the next player clockwise defends.
The attacker lays one card on the table. The defender must beat it: with a higher card of the same suit, or with any trump if it is not a trump itself (a trump only with a higher trump). A defender who cannot or will not beat it takes.
When everything on the table is beaten, the attackers may throw in more cards, one at a time, of any rank already on the table: the one who led first, then every other player except the defender. Each card thrown in has to be beaten in turn. A bout holds at most six attack cards, and never more than the defender had in hand when it began.
When every attacker says Done, the bout is beaten off: the cards leave the game and the defender attacks next. If the defender takes, the attackers may still add cards of the ranks on the table; then the defender picks everything up and loses the turn: the player after them attacks.
After every bout, everybody draws back up to six cards from the talon, the attacker first and the defender last; the trump under the talon is the very last card. Once the talon is gone, a player without cards is out and safe. The last player holding cards is the durak, the fool. Get out of cards and you have won.
How to play
- Attacking: tap a card to lay it on the table.
- Defending: tap a card that beats it (higher in its suit, or a trump), or Take.
- All beaten? Throw in cards of a rank on the table, or Done.
- Get rid of all your cards. The last one holding cards is the durak.
- Languages
- EN · DE
- Works on
- Phone, tablet, computer
- Players
- 2–4