Jack Royal

Invented by Howard Fosdick © BestFreeNewGames.com

Overview: In this game, the two players score through both trick-taking and melds. Competitors face choices between the two scoring strategies as they scramble to optimise their hands. This is a single-deck variant of our new game, Zique.

Players: Two players with a French deck. This is a set of cards from Aces down to 7's, for a total of 32 cards. Make this deck by removing all cards below 7's (as well as any Jokers), from a standard 52-card pack.

Cards Rank: High to Low: A, 10, K, Q, J, 9, 8, 7. The 10 is the second-highest card, right below the Ace.

Objective: Win a deal by scoring the most points. Win Game scoring at least 250 points across deals.

Deal: Deal alternates between players. Deal each player 6 cards face down to start. The remaining cards become the draw pile. Dealer turns up one card and places it next to the draw pile. The suit of this card is the trump suit for the hand.

Play: Non-dealer leads any card to the first trick.

The procedure of play is:

Each player plays one card to a trick. Any card may be lead, and the follower may play any card.
The trick is won by the highest trump played, if any. Otherwise it is won by the highest card of the suit lead.
The trick winner places both cards face down in his winnings pile.
The trick winner may optionally declare one scoring meld.
The trick winner draws one card from the draw pile, followed by his opponent. Thus each player has 6 cards in hand until near the end of the hand.
The trick winner leads any card to the next trick.

Melds: After winning a trick, the trick winner may optionally declare one meld -- before he draws a card from the draw pile.

Melds score as follows:

Meld:	Called:	Points:
4 Aces		100 points
4 Kings		80 points
4 Queens		60 points
4 Jacks		40 points
King and Queen -- Trump Suit	Royal Marriage	40 points
King and Queen -- in any non-Trump Suit	Common Marriage	20 points
Trump Jack and Trump Queen	Jack Royal	40 points
Trump Jack and any non-Trump Queen	Jack Common	20 points

When a player melds cards, he places them face up on the table before him. The dealer immediately records this score.

As play and trick-taking continue, the exposed cards remain face up in front of that player. They are treated just the same as the hidden portion of the player's hand. The player may play them to tricks, or not, as he desires.

Multiple Melds for a Card: A single card may score in more than one meld.

Example: You score a marriage with a King and Queen of Hearts. After winning another trick, you could potentially declare either of these cards in a four-of-a-kind meld. Or, you could potentially declare the Queen in a Jack Royal or Jack Common.

The Jack Royal: The trump-suit Jack is called the Jack Royal. It may be paired with up to each of the four Queens during a hand. You must win a separate trick prior to each declaration, as you may only declare one meld after winning any trick.

Closing: After the last two cards are taken up from the draw pile, the hand is said to be "Closed".

Both players now take up any exposed cards (from melds) they have upon the table, and place them back into their hidden hands.

Now the rules of trick-taking change:

The trick winner leads any card.
His opponent must follow suit if able, and must win that trick within that suit if able.
If the opponent cannot follow suit, he must play a trump if he can. If he can not play a trump, he may play any card.
If the leader to a trick leads a trump, his opponent must play a trump if he can. It must be a higher trump if he has one. If he has no trump, he may play any card.
The trick is won by the highest trump played, or if no trump is played, by the highest card of the suit lead.

Players continue to score melds after the Close if able.

Scoring for Brisques: After the hand ends, each player counts all Aces and 10s in his pile of trick winnings. These are called Brisques. Each scores 10 points.

Whoever wins the last trick of the hand also wins 10 points.

Scoring summary:

Action:	Called:	Points:
4 Aces		100 points
4 Kings		80 points
4 Queens		60 points
4 Jacks		40 points
King and Queen of Trump Suit	Royal Marriage	40 points
King and Queen of any non-Trump Suit	Common Marriage	20 points
Trump Jack and Queen of Trump Suit	Jack Royal	40 points
Trump Jack and any non-Trump Queen	Jack Common	20 points
Each Ace or 10 won in tricks	Brisques	10 points
Winning the last trick in the hand	Finale	10 points

Advanced Rule -- The Dix: The 7 of trumps is called "the dix". It scores 10 points for one person one time in a hand.

Should the dealer's turn up be the dix at the start of play, he immediately scores 10 points for dix.

If the dealer did not score 10 points for turing up the dix, a player who has it in hand merely need show it to his opponent at any time to score 10 points for it.

A player who acquires the dix during play may exchange it for the turn-up trump at any time.

Playing Tips: You'll often find you have a choice whether to pursue meld points or trick-taking points. Navigating this trade-off is key to winning. It's not unusual that one player scores most of his or her points through melds, while the opponent takes most the Brisques. So if you can neutralise your opponents advantage in one area, you can win through your advantage in the other.

Four-of-a-kind scores with Aces or Kings overwhelm most other scoring possibilities. However, this ties up four cards out of a six-card hand. Consider whether four-of-a-kind is worthwhile with lower cards like Queens and Jacks.

The trump suit Jack -- the Jack Royal -- is central to a high score. If you acquire it early, optimise your score by combining it with every Queen possible... and then score those Queens again in marriages. You won't acquire the Jack Royal every hand, or you may pick it up too late to score heavily. So maximise its value when you do enjoy its presence.

Jack Royal Compared to Similar Games:

Jack Royal is a member of the Bezique/Pinocle family of card games. In these games, two players trick-play their way through one or more French decks, trying to win by balancing meld points with points they win in tricks.

Jack Royal is related to single-deck two-handers including Sixty-Six, Cinq-Cents, Mariage, and Brisque. It is perhaps most closely akin to an obscure game played in southwestern France called Marjolet.

Jack Royal's features for enhanced play include:

Players may score for melds after the Close. (This makes for a more exciting Close than in most Bezique games, which are rather anti-climactic because melding isn't allowed after the Close.)
4-of-a-kinds are scored for Aces, Kings, Queens, and Jacks. (In games like Marjolet, they are scored for Aces, 10s, Kings, and Queens. Replacing 10s with Jacks makes the non-trump Jacks consequential and introduces another challenging trade-off.)
Only Aces and 10s taken in trick score points. Unlike several other single-deck Beziques, Kings and Queens do not. (This simplifies scoring while increasing strategic focus.)
Players must make declarations before drawing from the deck, not after. This eliminates the luck element of immediate declarations after fortunate draws.
That players can only declare once per turn also renders scoring melds more challenging.
To simplify scoring, brisques are only tallied after the hand ends. Unlike Sixty-Six and similar games, players are not bothered with tallying totals while playing.
Simplified Dix rules and clear rules about how melds may be scored after winning a trick. (These rules are sometimes confusing in various Bezique-family games.)
Game is 250 points. (This means winning Game typically requires playing three to five hands, a number we consider ideal.)
Scoring is simplified for point-tricks other than Brisques. (Some one-deck beziques score extra points for the tenth trick, the last trick, or winning some portion of tricks after the close.)
Jack Royal eliminates arcane rules that add little to playability or competitive tension.)