Friends! is a 6-player card game with complex strategies. In each game the dealer calls two friend cards with the sequence numbers that they appears in the game. The players who play the friend cards with the matching sequence will be the friends of the dealer.
Each game is played with 6 players and 4 French deck of cards, and each player receives 35 cards at the game start. There is 6 remaining cards in the base.
In a game, players pre-bid for trump suites using bid cards. After the trump suite is decided, the dealer claims the 6 base cards and swaps 6 cards from hand back to the base. Then players bid again for trump suite and at the same time claims the base cards and swap 6 cards from hand with the base.
After the bidding process is complete, the dealer calls two friend cards with their appearing sequences. Then the players start to play cards in counter-clock order starting with the dealer for the first round. The winner of each round starts play for the next round. Cards of 5, 10, and K are point cards and the winner of each round takes all the points played in the round. After all cards are played and the two friends are identified, all points of opponent players are added up to get total opponent points. If the friend card appears in the base, whoever last swapped to the base is the friend. The points from the base is multipled by certain factors, which is at least 2 times, and are calculated under the winner of the last round.
To determine game results:
Total opponent points < 160: Dealer side won. For each another 80 points less, the dealer side advances one more level.
Total opponent points >= 160: Opponent side won. For each another 80 points, the opponent side advances one more level.
If the opponent side wins, the next opponent player counter-clockwise from the dealer is the next dealer, with the next game to be played under whatever level he is at.
The start player can play any valid pattern (e.g. A, AA, AAA, AAKK, or AAAKKKQQQ), or any combination of patterns as long as no other players reject any pattern of the combos. For example, the start player plays AKK, but another player has a AA pair of the same suite, then the KK pair is rejected and the start player is fined for 20 pt.
All pursuant players must first follow with cards that best match the played cards of the start player. If the number of identical cards that the player has is more than the number of identical cards played by the start player, these cards are considered exempt and do not have to follow the best match rule (e.g. the start player plays AA, then the following player do not need to break KKK from hand to best match AA, however he must play KK that is the only pair he has).
Suite Marks and Bidding Rules
The suites are of different marks, with diamond the lowest, club the next, then heart, then spade, and then black joker and red joker. However to bid with jokers, you must have at least 3 of the same joker cards.
Game States
OpenBid/PreBid/SwapBid
Players bid in round-table fashion using bid cards. Bid cards are all jokers plus the level cards of the current dealer.
OpenBid state applies only to the first game, in which all players bid for the dealer seat. The first bidder can bid with one card or any number of cards, and any next bidder must bid with more number of cards than the last bidder, regardless of suite marks.
PreBid state applies to all games except the first, before the dealer claims the base cards, in which all players bid for trump suite. The first bidder can bid with one card or any number of cards, and any next bidder must bid with at least 2, and the same or more number of cards then the last bidder. If bid cards must be of higher marks if the number of cards are the same as the last bidder.
Bid state applies to all games including the first, after the dealer claims and buries the base cards, in which all players bid for trump suite AND swap 6 cards with the base.
Any any time in the three bidding states, players must use at least three joker cards to bid.
The suites are of different marks, with diamond the lowest, club the next, then heart, then spade, and then black joker and red joker. However to bid with jokers, you must have at least 3 of the same joker cards.
Swapping
Either dealer or the current bidder swaps 6 cards from hand and place them into the base.
Calling
Dealer calls 2 friend cards, with their appearing sequences. The dealer can call any card except trump cards.
Playing
All players dispense cards with the dealer starting in the first round.
Player States:
D: Dealer
F: Friend
O: Opponent
S: Swapped
L: Last swapped (who owns the base cards)
Card Value
In each suite, the card denomination decides its value, with Ace being the highest, King the second, then Q, J, 10, and rest of the digits with 2 the lowest. K, 10, 5 are point cards, as K and 10 both represent 10 points and 5 for 5 points.
Trump suite
The suite of the last bidder is the trump suite. Jokers and all cards with the same rank as the current level are always considered trump suite cards (hardcore trump cards), which are the only trump suite cards if the trump suite is Joker. The other cards of the same suite as the trump suite are softcore trump cards. The level card of the same suite as the trump suite is of higher value as the level cards of other suites, but all of them are of lower values than the Jokers. All level cards are of the same value if the trump suite is Joker. Red Joker is of the highest value, and black Joker is the second highest. The level cards of suites other than the trump suites are continuous with the highest value softcore trump cards.
Card Patterns
Valid patterns include single card, any number of identical cards of the same rank and color (e.g. 4 cards of Ace Club), or tractors, which are comprised of the same number of cards of continuous ranks (e.g. 2 cards each of Ace and King Heart). However special rules apply to the current level cards, the ranks just over and below the rank of the current level are considered continuous (e.g. if the current level is 4, 5 Club and 3 Club are considered to be continuous).
Power Combo
4 or more cards of the same rank and suite are power combo that can beat other combo with the same number of total cards (e.g. 3333 beats AAKK or AKKK of the same suite). Such power combo of trump suite can also beats other combo of other non-trump suites.
Tractors
A tractor is the combo of the same number of cards of continuous ranks. E.g. when the current level is 4 Heart, all following are valid tractors: {Red Joker x 2, Black Joker x 2}, {Black Joker x 3, 4 Heart x 3}, {4 Heart x 2, 4 Diamond x 2}, {4 Spade x 4, A Heart x 4}, {Q Heart x 2, J Heart x 2, 10 Heart x 2}, and {5 Heart x 2, 3 Heart x 2}.
Play Strategy
During each play, the player must assess the current game condition, and side with the strongest players or potential strong players if possible. The goal is to advance to higher levels ahead of everybody else. For dealer player, the goal is to call the players with cards that can help the dealer the most.
Features:
- 6 player 4 deck poker strategy game
- Fun and exciting with endless card combinations