4 Seasons (2016)
4 Seasons (2016) Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Material
- 37 cards
- 4 colors with 9 cards each
- 1 butterfly
- 1 Score-Overview
- Rules (this paper)
Each card shows its Worth (e.g. Worth: 2), its Bid value (e.g. Bid: 3) and its Color / Season.
Description
You win this game by reaching 50 points or more.
You gain points by making tricks.
More important, you try to win bets which are secretly made by putting down 3 (or 2 with four players) cards.
The turn to deal, and play, always passes to the left (clockwise).
Preparation
- Choose the first dealer.
- Put the score-overview in good reach and sight of everybody.
Overview (Round)
4 Seasons is played in rounds. Each round consists of…
a. Dealing b. Secret bids c. Bonus-Bid (?) d. Playing tricks e. Scoring f. End OR dealer changes
a) Dealing
- The dealer shuffles all 37 cards and deals them. (3 players: 12 cards each, 4 players: 9 cards)
- Put the last remaining card face-up as the trump (in the middle of the table): This decides the trump-color.*
- If this card is the butterfly, there is no trump this round.
* Trump: A card with the same color (season) as the trump is higher than cards of another color (season). Remember to follow the lead!
b) Secret bids
- You bid secretly by making 3 discards (2 with four players) face down, leaving 9 cards (7) to play the tricks. With these face-down cards you represent how many of the tricks you aim to win this round: blue = 0, green = 1, yellow = 2, red = 3.
f.i.: If you secretly bid three red cards (Autumn), you are attempting to make 9 tricks. With three blue cards (Winter) you are attempting 0.
Beware not to mix these cards with the tricks you already made!
Example: Karin plans on taking 4 tricks. She puts down a red (Bid: 3) and a green (Bid: 1) card face-down in front of her.
c) Bonus-bid
Tip: For your first game, you might want to skip this.
- Every player has to chance to increase the points as well as the risk.
- Starting with the player to the left of the dealer, you can try to make a BONUS-bid. In this case, you have to reveal the top card of your face-down bidding cards.
- In clockwise order, all the other players may also reveal their top card.
- Only the player who revealed the highest card plays »the BONUS-bid«. He flips the score-overview to the BONUS-side and take it as a reminder. (If there is a tie, look at the season: Autumn is higher than summer, …)
- The BONUS-player reveals the rest of his bidding cards and therefore, how many tricks he attempts to make.
- If none of the player tried to win the BONUS, you play a standard-round: Everybody receives 6 points for winning their respective bet (or not).
- If he wins, he will get 12 points. If he loses, all the other players get additional 6 points (and 3 from their own bet eventually).
Example: Peter shuffles and deals. Enrico doesn't want to reveal. Karin does reveal a card. Then, Tamara reveals one of her bidding cards which is higher. As Peter doesn't want to reveal, Tamara gets to play the BONUS-bid. She flips the score-card and puts it in front of her. Also, she reveals ALL of her bidding cards, showing that she plans to take 4 tricks.
d) Tricks (and explanation of the butterfly)
- Dealer's left-hand neighbor leads the first trick. Every other player in clockwise order also plays one card.
- You must follow suit if you can. (That means, you have the same color, as the first player.) You may play any card if you haven't got any card of the suit led.
- The trick is taken by the highest card of the suit led, or by the highest trump if any are played.
- The winner of the trick takes all the cards of the trick (and puts them in a nice stack in front of him. The stacks indicate how many tricks the player has already made). You may not look at the cards anymore.
- The winner of each trick leads the next trick.
Butterfly: If you play the butterfly on other cards, it counts as a 10 of the leading suit. If the leading card wasn't a trump card, then the butterfly might still be trumped!
Do you lead with the butterfly? Name a color. The butterfly counts as the 0 of that color (zero). If the other players do not have this color anymore, you might still make the trick.
Reminder: You have to follow suit, if possible (even with trumps or the butterfly in hand)!
- If all the cards were played (7 tricks with 4 players, 9 tricks with 3 players), continue with the scoring.
Example: Yellow is trump (summer). Enrico has the lead and plays green. Karin doesn't have a green card and attempts to make the trick with the butterfly. Unluckily, Tamara does not have green either. She plays a trump-card. Peter still has green and gets rid of his smallest green card (as Tamara will make the trick). The butterfly counts like a green 10!
e) Scoring
Standard Score-overview
- Every player gets 1 point per trick taken.
- Then, everybody turns up his bid cards: For taking exactly the number of tricks you bid, you get 6 points additionally.
You do not lose points in any case.
| bet won | bet lost | |
|---|---|---|
| Standard | +6 points | +0 |
| +1 point / trick | +1 point / trick |
Example: The players gain 6 points for winning the bet and 1 point per trick: Tamara wanted 2 tricks but made 3. Therefore, she gets 3 points. Enrico secretly bid, that he wouldn't make any tricks, and did like he predicted: Therefore, he gets 6 points. Karin bid 4 and made 4 tricks: 10 points. Peter bid 2 and made 0 tricks: 0 points.
Score-overview, when somebody played a BONUS-bid
- Every player gets 1 point per trick taken, regardless of any bid.
- If you took exactly the number of tricks you bid, you must turn up your bid cards to prove it.
- If the BONUS-player has won his bid, he receives +12 points. All the other players only get +3 points, if they have the correct amount of tricks.
- If the BONUS-player has lost his bid, he gets no additional points. All the other player get +6 points. Additionally, they get +3 points, if they have won their own bet.
| bet won | bet lost | |
|---|---|---|
| BONUS player | +12 | +0 |
| the others | +3 (+6 if the BONUS-player loses his bet) | +0 (+6 if the BONUS-player loses his bet) |
| everyone | +1 point / trick | +1 point / trick |
Note the scores of each player on a sheet of paper. Sum the score up with previous rounds.
Example 1: Tamara played the BONUS-bid, but lost (she gains 3 for her tricks). Karin won her bet (4 for her tricks + 3 for her bet and +6 for stopping Tamara = 13). Peter has bid 1 but didn't make any (0+0+6 = 6). Enrico didn't want to get any tricks (0+3+6 = 9).
Example 2: Karin and Tamara wanted to make 4 tricks. Enrico and Peter didn't want to make any tricks. Karin has won the BONUS-bid (16), Tamara gets (3 for her tricks), Peter and Enrico gain 3 points each for winning their bets.
f) End / dealer changes
- If nobody has 50 points or more, the next player is the new dealer for the round.
End / Winner
After a round where any player reaches 50 points or more, the game ends. The player with the highest score wins.
If there is a tie, play another round.
Profi Variant
You have to achieve 77 points AND win your last bet.
If you have more than 77 points, but didn't guess right, the game goes on, until you have won your bet or another player wins the game.
Team Variant
Optionally, you can play in teams. The opposing players are partners.
There is no option to play a BONUS face-up-bid in this variant.
Before taking tricks, the two partners secretly show each other their bids.
Scoring: Each trick scores 1 point for the team. For every player who wins his bid, the team scores 3 points. If they take between them the total number they bid, they add a premium of +8 points. This means, that winning the right amount together is more important than the individual bid. (If both also win their bets, this is 14 + tricks).