French Tarot Version 1

Number of players: 4 to 6
Type of game: Cards (trick-taking)
Period: 1659

17th Century French Tarot is one of the earliest Tarot card games whose rules survive. It is a straightforward trick-taking game: players follow suit, trumps beat suit cards, and at the end of the hand everyone scores for the tricks they took and the valuable cards inside them. The highest score takes the wagers. It is a good first Tarot game for anyone who has played a modern trick-taking game such as Whist or Hearts.

History of French Tarot

• Source: The rules come from La Maison Académique des Jeux, a French book of games published in 1659, as described by the card game historian Michael Dummett.

• The Cards: Tarot cards were made for playing games long before they were used for fortune telling. The trumps (the Major Arcana) were added to the ordinary four suits to make a special suit that beats all the others.

• A Simple Game: Later Tarot games, such as Tarok, added bidding, partnerships and complex scoring. This early French game has none of these, which makes it easy to learn.

• Further Reading: Michael Dummett’s The Game of Tarot is the standard history of Tarot card games.

• Rules Source: These rules are adapted from the booklet published by MacGregor Historic Games (historicgames.com). See also French Tarot Version 2, which plays the same way but scores differently.

Rules of French Tarot

Setup

• Deck: A full 78 card Tarot deck, with four suits of 14 cards (King, Queen, Knight, Page, and 10 down to 1), 21 trumps and the Fool.

• Trumps: In this game “trump” means only the 21 numbered trump cards of the Major Arcana, not a suit.

• Dealer: Choose the first dealer at random, for example by cutting the deck.

• Wagers: Each player puts an agreed stake into the pot.

• Deal: Deal 12 cards to each player, going counter-clockwise around the table. The rest of the deck is set aside and not used.

Objective

• Take tricks, and especially the valuable cards in them, to finish the hand with the highest score.

Card Ranking

• Suits: King is highest, then Queen, Knight, Page, and 10 down to 1. Aces are low.

• Trumps: Any trump beats any suit card. Higher numbered trumps beat lower ones, so the World (XXI) is highest and the Magician (I) is lowest.

• The Fool: Has no rank and can never win a trick (see below).

Gameplay

1. The Eldest Hand, the player on the dealer’s right who was dealt to first, leads any card to start the first trick.

2. Each other player in turn must follow suit if they can.

3. If you cannot follow suit, you must play a trump if you have one.

4. If you have neither the suit led nor a trump, you may play any card, but it cannot win the trick.

5. If a trump is led, you must play a trump if you have one.

6. The trick is won by the highest trump played, or if no trump was played, by the highest card of the suit led.

7. The winner of a trick leads the next one.

The Fool (The Excuse)

• The Fool may be played at any time, whatever has been led, instead of following suit or trumping.

• It never wins the trick, even if no other trump is played.

• The player who played the Fool keeps it and scores it. In exchange they give the trick’s winner any other card from a trick they have already won.

• If they have not yet won a trick, they keep the Fool and must hand over a substitute card as soon as they win one.

• If they win no tricks at all during the hand, they must give the Fool to the player who won that trick.

• If the Fool is led, the next player may play any card, and that second card sets the suit for the trick.

Scoring

When all the tricks have been played, each player scores:

• 1 point for each trick they took, plus

• points for these cards in the tricks they won:

No other cards score.

Victory Conditions

• The player with the highest score at the end of the hand wins all the wagers.

Optional and House Rules

1. Fewer Cards

• The original rules do not fix the number of players or cards dealt, and may have used the whole deck. With fewer players, deal more cards each, as long as everyone gets the same number.

2. Reverse Ranking

• Some later Tarot games rank the number cards of Cups and Coins in reverse, so the 1 is the highest of the numbers and the 10 the lowest. This early game does not, but you can add it for a later flavour.

3. Tied Scores

• If two players tie for the highest score, split the wagers, or give the win to the tied player who was dealt to first.

Summary Table

• Game
• Period

• Cards