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Card Hunt is a very easy and fun card game created by Reiner Knizia. It looks simple at first, but the more you play, the more you realize how smart you need to be. In this game, players try to win tricks by using the smallest or lowest cards possible. But unlike most trick games, here the trick doesn’t stop after everyone plays one card. It keeps going until only one person is left in the round.
This means every trick can become bigger and more exciting, as each player keeps trying to beat the highest card. The real trick is deciding how many cards you want to use or how big a card you’re willing to give up just to win the round.
What You Need to Play
- A normal 52-card deck (French style)
- 2 to 4 players (for more than 4 players, use a second deck)
Before playing, divide the deck by suits. Each player gets one full suit (13 cards from 2 to Ace). If you’re only playing with 2 or 3 people, just set the extra suits aside they won’t be used in that game.
Each round, the person sitting to the left of the dealer becomes the new dealer. Play as many rounds as there are players.
How to Play
The player who starts chooses one card from their hand and puts it on the table. This can be any card they like. After that:
- The next player must either play a higher card or pass.
- If they pass, they cannot play in that round anymore.
- Players keep going around until everyone passes except one player.
The last person who played the highest card wins that trick and takes all the cards. These cards are kept face down with the winner.
The player sitting next to the winner starts the next trick.
This continues until one player has no cards left. If that player plays their final card in a trick, that trick continues as usual until there’s only one person left.
Scoring Rules
After the round is over:
- Each card a player wins is worth 1 point.
- Cards that are not played and are still in hand at the end go into the “fox pile”. These don’t give any points.
So if you hold onto good cards for too long, they’re wasted!
Who Wins the Game?
After playing one round for each player, count the points. The person with the most points wins the game.
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