Foppen
Foppen Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Contents
- 88 cards (82 cards in four colors and 6 "1s")
- 2 overview cards
- 2 Foppen discs
Game Preparation
Depending on the number of players, place the matching overview card in the middle of the table (the overview for 4 players is on the back of the rulebook). The overview card shows you the cards needed for the game (in the four colors, plus the "1s") and the Foppen discs needed.
Sort out the required cards from the deck and place one or both Foppen discs in the middle of the table.
Shuffle the cards and deal them out evenly to all players, so that each player has 12 cards in hand. With 8 players, each player gets only 11 cards.
Have a pen and paper ready for scoring.
The player to the left of the dealer becomes the starting player in the first round!
Course of Play
In a round you play several tricks, until one or more players have no more cards in hand.
The starting player begins the trick and plays any card from their hand (called: leading a color). In turn, the other players each play a card as well. If they have a card in the color that was led, they must play it (called: following suit). If they do not (or no longer) have the led color in hand, they must play any other card (called: discarding).
Whoever played the highest value in the led color wins the trick. Each number exists only once in each color, so the winner of the trick is always clearly determined.
The player with the worst card is foppen (fooled)! They take the Foppen disc and must sit out the following trick. With 7-8 players, the two players with the worst cards each take one of the Foppen discs and both sit out!
This is how you determine the worst card:
- If everyone was able to follow suit, so that only cards of one color lie in the trick, the worst card is the one with the lowest value.
- If one or more cards are discarded, the discarded card with the lowest value is the worst card. If several cards with the same lowest value are discarded, the one played last of these is the worst. This can happen when players discard different colors.
The winner sets the won trick aside face down and begins the next trick by playing any card from their hand. Watch out: the fooled players may not play a card in this trick, but are back in for the trick that follows.
Throughout the whole round you must always hold your hand of cards so that the others can tell how many cards you have!
Watch Out, There Are "1s"!
The "1s" are jokers and always take on the color that was led. With a "1" you always follow suit!
You may play a "1" even if you still have the led color in hand. However, you do not have to play the "1" if you do not (or no longer) have the led color in hand.
A "1" is always the lowest card in the led color. So you play it best when the others have to discard a color.
If you, as the starting player, play a "1", the next card played determines the color to be followed. If this is also a "1", the color is determined by the next card played after that. In the rare case that everyone plays a "1", the starting player wins the trick and the last person is fooled.
Examples
Angelika, Hedwig, Nikki, and Tanja are playing a round of Foppen. Tanja is fooled and received the Foppen disc in the last trick.
(A) Angelika plays the first card, Hedwig and Nikki follow suit in blue, Tanja sits out. Hedwig is fooled with the worst card. Nikki wins the trick with the highest card.
(B) Nikki plays the first card. Tanja is the only one who cannot follow suit and is fooled. Nikki wins this trick as well.
(C) Nikki again plays the first card. Hedwig is fooled, because compared to Angelika she played the worse discarded card. Nikki wins the third trick in a row.
(D) Tanja's "1" counts as a yellow "1". She is fooled anyway, because Angelika was able to follow suit with the higher card and wins the trick.
(E) Angelika plays the first card. Hedwig follows suit with the green "1", while Nikki has to discard. Nikki is fooled and must sit out the next trick.
End of Round
The round ends after one or more players have no more cards in hand. In the last trick, the Foppen discs are awarded once more.
Scoring
If you still have cards in hand, you are credited with the sum of the card values as minus points for the colored cards. Each "1" counts as 5 minus points.
If you have no more cards in hand, you get 10 plus points — unless you are fooled and have a Foppen disc at the end of the round. In that case, and only then, you get 0 points.
At the end of the round, Angelika is credited with 17 minus points, Nikki with 13 minus points. Tanja and Hedwig have both played all their cards, but Hedwig is fooled thanks to the worst card and took the Foppen disc. So Tanja gets 10 plus points and Hedwig gets 0 points.
The Next Round
The previous starting player becomes the dealer and shuffles the cards. The starting player becomes whoever has the most minus points; in case of a tie, whoever sits closer to the previous starting player in clockwise direction.
End of the Game
The game ends when:
- at least one of you has received 80 minus points or more,
- or you have collectively gathered 10 plus points at least six times in total. Simply keep a tally for this on your score sheet.
The player with the most plus points, or the fewest minus points (closest to zero), wins Foppen!
Credits
Author: Friedemann Friese Graphics & Layout: Harald Lieske Realization: Henning Kröpke
2F-Spiele Fedelhören 64 D-28203 Bremen
Copyright 2018, 2F-Spiele, Bremen/Germany www.2f-spiele.de