Are you a card enthusiast looking for a new challenge? Are you an experienced player searching for something different to play with your friends? If so, trick avoidance card games are the perfect fit! This game style puts the traditional rules of classic card games on their head by reducing luck and increasing strategy.
With our exhilarating options, each round will keep all players engaged with clever strategizing or daring plays. Whether you’re a veteran in the art of cards or just starting, there’s always room to learn from this unparalleled gaming style. Discover our top picks for the best trick avoidance card games that will provide countless hours of challenging fun!
Some Exhilarating Trick Avoidance Card Games to Try
Trick avoidance card games give a slight twist to the trick-taking game mechanic, where players need to have the lowest “tricks” or points to win. If you’re ready for this type of adventure, get ready for the games below:
Grasobern
The first game on our list is Grasobern, which hails from Old Bavaria and is now called Altbayern. It comes in many unique names, such as Grünobern, Grasoberln, and Grasoberl, and it’s a challenging card game that uses a special card deck called the Bavarian-pattern playing cards, which only has 32 cards.
Grasobern is known for its relaxing gameplay compared to other trick avoidance card games. However, receiving trick cards will result in a penalty. The ultimate goal is to avoid the first trick, last trick, and tricks containing the Grasober, the Ober of Leaves. In the modern version, players will avoid taking the Queen of Spades.
The game is best played by four players, each receiving eight cards. The player to the dealer’s left is called the forehand, who begins the bidding where players can pass or bid. If everyone passes, a normal game is played. The forehand plays the first trick, and everyone must follow suit. If a player can’t, they must play a card from the Grasober suit. If not, other cards can be played.
Hearts
If you love trick avoidance and evasion card games, you’re already familiar with this one. The goal is to score the fewest points possible. If a person scores 100 points, the game ends, and the player with the lowest score wins.
Simple game features:
- Four players play the game with 13 cards each
- Players must avoid cards from the Heart suit
- The player to the dealer’s left begins the first trick, and everyone must follow suit
- Otherwise, they may discard any other card
- Each Heart captured in tricks results in a penalty
The player with the lowest score after an agreed number of deals becomes the winner. Alternatively, an agreed score may also be decided before the game begins. Once a player reaches the agreed score, the game ends, and the player with the lowest score wins.
Badam Satti
Badam Satti is an Indian card game known as Seven or Badam Saat. It’s also best played by four players using a standard deck of 52 cards. Anyone with 7 from the Heart suit plays first, and the remaining 7 cards will be played as the first cards from their respective suits.
All 7 cards are played sequentially to form a layout that will go up and down in suit, such as most Solitaire card games. Players who can’t play a card must pass, and the game is won if a player manages to play all their cards or has the lowest card value.
Badam Satti is played in five rounds, but you and your friends can agree on the number of rounds beforehand. The scoring is also very simple; all you need to do is count the values of the cards. For instance, face cards are equal to 10, while the remaining cards are counted as face values.
Black Maria
Black Maria is a British card game that has stressful game mechanics. It’s also more challenging than the others on this list. Unlike its ancestor, players will now have to avoid cards from the Heart suit, as well as the King, Queen, and Ace of Spades cards. These are equivalent to penalty points, with cards from the Heart suit giving one penalty point. Meanwhile, the Ace of Spades gives seven points, the King of Spades gives ten points, and the Queen of Spades gives 13 points.
Black Maria gameplay basics:
- The player to the dealer’s left begins the game, and subsequent players must follow suit
- The highest card played by the leading suit wins
- Avoid winning tricks that contain unwanted cards
- The game ends once a player reaches 100 penalty points
It’s best to play all high-valued cards from your hands during the game to avoid winning tricks. However, if you win all the tricks, you can “shoot or hit the moon.” It means 46 points are subtracted from your score.
Black Lady
A well-beloved trick evasion game is Black Lady. It’s much like Black Maria but without the Ace and King of Spades. Therefore, all you have to worry about are cards from the Heart suit and the Queen of Spades, which gives players 13 penalty points. Any Black Lady game aims to avoid capturing cards from the Heart suit or the Queen of Spades during the trick-taking or play phase.
The gameplay is the same as Black Maria, where all players must follow suit played by the player on the dealer’s left. After that, the player with the highest card wins. Therefore, you’ll want to play all those high cards as much as possible, especially if no Heart cards have been played yet to avoid winning tricks with unwanted cards.
The game ends when someone reaches 100 or after an agreed number of deals, and the player with the lowest penalty score wins. Shooting the Moon, where a player captures all the penalty cards, is also possible. Once you shoot the moon, you get a score of zero, while each opponent gets 26 points.
Which of the Trick Avoidance Games Do You Like?
If you’re into particular games that provide a different-than-normal gameplay experience, trick avoidance games are a perfect match for players like you. Each game offers unique features and strategies, creating endless fun with friends and family. So, give one or more of these games a try! The best part is you can invite your friends and family for some wholesome fun!
