Rook
Rook Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Beginner Game Rules
For 4 Individual Players
The Beginner Game was designed to introduce new players to the concept of trick taking without the complexities of bidding for trump or using the nest.
Object: To be the first player to reach 40 points at the end of a hand.
Choose a dealer: Players draw cards for first deal. Highest card deals.
Dealing: The basic deck consists of 56 cards, numbered 1 through 14 in each of four different colors (green, red, black and yellow). Remove the 1s, 2s, 3s and 4s and add the Rook Bird card, for a total of 41 cards.
Shuffle and cut the deck, then deal out all of the cards one at a time, including a five-card nest. Players must keep their hands secret from all other players.
For each hand, the player to the left of the previous dealer deals.
Counters
For the Beginner game, the counter cards are marked with stars. Each star is worth one point. See the chart below.
- Each 5 . . . . 1 point
- Each 10 . . . 2 points
- Each 14 . . . . . . . . . . 2 points
- Rook Bird card . . 4 points
Determining Trump
It's easy: just turn over the top card of the nest, and that color will be trump. If the top card of the nest is the Rook Bird card, place it on the bottom of the nest and turn over a new top card. The nest is not used in the Beginner Game; just leave the top card faceup to remind players of the trump color.
Playing
After trump color has been announced, the player to the left of the dealer "leads" any card of any color faceup to the center of the table. Play passes to the left, each player in turn playing one card faceup. After each player has played, the highest card of the color led takes all of the cards played. This is called "taking a trick."
Note: Unless you play the Rook Bird card, you must "follow suit" if possible. If you have a card of the color led, you must play that color. If you can't follow suit, you may throw away a worthless card, play the Rook Bird card or play a trump. The highest card of the color led takes the trick, unless this trick is trumped, in which case the highest trump takes the trick. The Rook Bird takes any trick on which it is played — it trumps trump!
The player who takes the trick makes the next lead. When you take a trick, place it facedown on the table. With the exception of the one just played, tricks may not be reviewed until the hand is completed.
The Rook Bird Card
This powerful card is the highest trump card, no matter what color is named as trump. (Think of it as the 20 of trump.) Because the Rook Bird card is trump, the following rules apply:
- If the Rook Bird card is led, all other players must play a trump, if they have one.
- If trump color is led and you have no other trump card, you must play the Rook Bird.
Special Rook Bird rule: You may play the Rook Bird card at any time, regardless of the color led and regardless of the other cards in your hand. It is the only card that has this privilege.
Scoring
At the end of a hand, each player adds up the number of stars he or she captured and enters it on the score sheet. With each new hand, keep a running total of points.
How to Win
Keep playing until one player reaches 40 at the end of a hand to win the game. If more than one player reaches 40 points in the same hand, the higher total wins. In case of a tie, just play again!
Beginner Gameplay Example
This sample game takes you trick-by-trick through one hand of a Beginner Game. The lead card in each trick is shown with a blue arrow. Whenever players have a choice of cards to play, the strategies behind their decisions are explained. As in any game, card-playing strategy may differ from player to player, and observers may disagree over what may be the "best" play (if in fact there is one).
Dealing: Christen deals out the cards, including the 5-card nest.
Determining Trump: The top card of the nest is turned faceup. It's the Black 8, so Black is trump for this hand.
The four players, seated around the table, are Christen (the dealer), John, Lindsay and Rob (in clockwise turn order after Christen).
Trick 1
John: Since Christen dealt, John plays the first card. He has only one trump, the 5 (worth one star), and will probably lose it if he leads with it; so he decides to lead with a safe card — his Yellow 8.
Lindsay: Lindsay must follow suit. Neither of her Yellow cards are counters, so she can play either of them. She decides to play her Yellow 6.
Rob: Rob has several Yellow cards to choose from. He decides to play his Yellow 14 (worth two stars), hoping to take the trick.
Christen: Christen must follow suit. She plays her Yellow 12.
Rob takes the trick, worth two points.
Trick 2
Rob: Since Rob took the previous trick, he now leads. He has only one trump, the 10 (worth two stars), and will probably lose it if he leads with it. Instead, he decides to "dump" his only Red card, the 7. If Red is led later, he may have the option of trumping in with his Black 10.
Christen: Christen plays her higher Red card, the 13, hoping to capture the Red 10 if it is played.
John: To protect his Red 5, John plays his Red 8.
Lindsay: To protect her Red 10, Lindsay plays her Red 6.
Christen takes the trick, capturing no points.
Trick 3
Christen: Christen decides to "dump" her only Red card, the 9. This may clear the way for her to trump in later, if Red is led.
John: Not wanting to lose his Red 5, John plays his Red 11.
Lindsay: Unfortunately for Lindsay, she has only one Red card — the 10, worth two stars. She is forced to play it.
Rob: Since he has no Red cards left, Rob can trump in with his Black 10!
Rob takes the trick, for four points.
Trick 4
Rob: Rob decides to play his Green 13, hoping to capture one or more Green counters.
Christen: Christen plays her lowest Green card, the 6.
John: John is lucky enough to have the Green 14, so he plays it to top Rob's 13.
Lindsay: Lindsay plays her only Green card, the 11.
John takes the trick, worth two points.
Trick 5
John: Although there are several possible leads for John, he finally decides to "dump" his only Red card, the 5.
Lindsay: Having four trump cards left, Lindsay decides to trump in with her lowest Black card, the 6.
Rob: Rob can't follow suit, so he decides to "dump" his only Green card, the 9.
Christen: This is a no-brainer for Christen, who tops Lindsay's 6 of Trump with her Black 7.
Christen takes the trick, worth one point.
Trick 6
Christen: Christen "goes fishing" with her Black 12, hoping to capture counters (including trump cards) while she can.
John: John must play his only trump, the Black 5.
Lindsay: Lindsay takes a chance and tops Christen's Black 12 with her Black 14. The only card that could trump the 14 is the Rook Bird card, and Lindsay is hoping that Rob does not have it. (Christen or John may have it, or it could be in the nest.)
Rob: Since trump was led and Rob has no Black cards, he must play his Rook, which "trumps trump" to win the trick.
Rob takes the trick, capturing seven points!
Trick 7
Rob: Rob has only Yellow cards left. He leads with his Yellow 13.
Christen: Christen can't follow suit and is saving her only trump. She plays her Green 12.
John: John follows suit with his Yellow 9.
Lindsay: Lindsay must follow suit with her Yellow 7.
Rob takes the trick, capturing no points.
Trick 8
Rob: Rob will probably lose his Yellow 5 no matter when it's played; but he may have a chance to keep it if he leads with it. He plays his Yellow 5.
Christen: Not wanting to lose her Green counter, Christen trumps in with her Black 9.
John: John must follow suit with his Yellow 10.
Lindsay: She trumps in with her Black 11, which tops Christen's Black 9. Lindsay takes the trick, capturing three points.
Trick 9
Lindsay leads with her last card, the Black 13. All other players in turn play their last cards.
Lindsay takes the trick, capturing three points.
Final Tally
All players look at the cards in front of them, and count one point for each star.
- Christen scored one point.
- John scored two points.
- Lindsay scored six points.
- Rob scored 13 points. He wins the hand.
Intermediate Game Rules
For 4 Individual Players
In this game, players use the stars for scoring. They also use a simplified bidding process to determine trump, with the highest bidder winning the nest.
Object: To be the first player to reach 50 points at the end of a hand.
Dealing: Choose a dealer, then deal the cards and the nest as in the Beginner Game.
Determining Trump
Bidding: Players bid for the privilege of choosing the trump color. There is a great advantage in being the player who chooses trump color, since a trump card can capture any card of any other color.
Each player makes one bid to win the privilege of calling trump. The player to the left of the dealer bids first. To bid, say how many stars you think you can win if you get to call trump. The next player clockwise may either pass or bid at least one higher than the previous bid. The dealer bids last. The player who bid highest calls trump color, and wins the nest.
The nest: The highest bidder adds the five cards in the nest to his/her hand, then sets any five cards aside to create a new nest.
You may store counters (cards with stars) in the new nest or discard one or two colors completely so you can trump these colors when they are led. The player who takes the last trick captures the nest as well; so you may want to put "eggs" in the nest, such as unprotected 10s and 5s, if you think you'll take the last trick.
After adding the nest to his/her hand and discarding five cards, the high bidder announces trump color.
Playing
The rules for card play are the same as for the Beginner Game.
The Last Trick
The player who takes the last trick also captures the nest.
Scoring
At the end of each hand, players add up the number of stars they captured. The player who called trump must score points equal to or greater than his/her bid. If this player did not score enough points, then he/she scores zero points for the hand. After each hand, keep a running total of points on the score sheet.
How to Win
Keep playing until one player reaches 50 points at the end of a hand. If more than one player reaches 50 points in the same hand, the higher total wins.
Using Your Score Sheet
At the beginning of each game, tear off a score sheet and write in the name of each player. For each hand, record the high bidder, high bid, trump color and score as described below.
Sample Score Sheet (Intermediate Game)
Columns: High Bidder (name of player who won the bid — not used in Beginner Game), Bid (winning bid — not used in Beginner Game), Trump (color of trump), and one Score column per player name.
| High Bidder | Bid | Trump | Kathleen | Chris | Oscar | Tony |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tony | 6 | Green | 2 | 10 | 0 | 6 |
| Kathleen | 8 | Black | 14 | 10 | 4 | 10 |
| Tony | 8 | Red | 14 | 18 | 8 | 18 |
| Oscar | 10 | Green | 16 | 22 | 12 | 26 |
| Oscar | 6 | Black | 20 | 24 | 12 | 40 |
| Chris | 10 | Yellow | 20 | 28 | 26 | 44 |
| Kathleen | 14 | Black | 34 | 28 | 26 | 52 |
Each row's Score columns show the running total of points for each player after that hand.
Classic Game Rules
Partnership Game for 4 Players
The classic game adds a layer of strategy (and mystery) by pitting two 2-player teams against each other. Can you count on your partner for extra trumps, tricks and points? Or will the opposing team out-bid and out-play you?
Object: To be the first partnership to reach 300 points by capturing "counters" in tricks.
Choose partners: If you wish, draw for partners. High cards play against low cards. Partners sit opposite each other.
Dealing: Choose a dealer, then deal the cards and the nest as in the Beginner and Intermediate Games.
Counters
For the Classic Game, each star becomes worth five points (see the chart below). This is a little trickier than counting stars, but this is how the game has been played for 100 years!
- Each 5 . . . . 5 points
- Each 10 . . . 10 points
- Each 14 . . . . . . . . . . 10 points
- Rook Bird card . . 20 points
Determining Trump
Bidding: Players bid for the privilege of choosing the trump color. There is a great advantage in this, since a trump card can capture any card of any other color.
Your opening bid must be at least 70 points. Bids must be divisible by 5, such as 70, 75, or 80. You are bidding the number of points (from counters) that you think you and your partner will be able to capture with the cards in your hands, provided you are able to name the trump color. If you capture all counters, you would score 120 points.
To calculate what you could bid, add up the value of the counters in your hand and look at the number of high cards you have. Also look at the distribution of colors: if you have no cards of one color, you can trump in (with the color you named) when that color is led and win the trick.
Bidding starts with the player on the dealer's left and passes clockwise. You may, but don't need to, bid on your turn. (Unlike the Intermediate Game, which has only one round of bidding, there may be several rounds before high bid is decided.) Either bid at least 5 points higher than the last bidder or say, "I pass." Having passed, you may not bid again for that hand. Bidding continues in turn until no player will bid higher.
Bidding Example: Four people (A, B, C and D) are playing. B has six high green cards (including counters) and some each of the other colors. A, on the dealer's left, examines his hand and bids 70. B bids 80. C, having a poor hand, passes. D bids 85. Player A then has a chance to bid again, and bids 90. B, having a strong hand, bids 95. C, having already passed, may not bid again. Next, D passes. Now A passes. B takes the bid at 95, then collects the nest.
The nest: The highest bidder adds the nest to his/her hand, then lays down five cards as in the Intermediate Game.
Playing
The rules for card play are the same as for the Beginner and Intermediate Games. The player who takes the last trick also captures the nest.
Scoring
When all cards in the hand have been played, each partnership adds up the points it captured. The partners' scores are added together.
The partnership that called trump must score points equal to or more than their bid. If their combined total for the hand is not enough, they are set back the full amount of the bid, and they get no credit for the counters they captured. If they capture more than their bid, full credit is given for all points captured. After each hand, keep a running total of points on the score sheet.
Scoring example: The partnership that took the bid at 95 (see Bidding Example) captured only 75 points in counters. The full 95 points are deducted from their score (or they're given -95, if it's the first hand): they do not score the 75 points they captured. Their opponents, who captured the remaining counters, score 45 points.
Penalties: A penalty of 40 points is deducted from the score of the partnership of any player who discards the incorrect number of cards to the nest, or makes any "table talk" suggestions to affect the partner's play. If a player "reneges" by playing a card of a different color when he or she could have followed suit, the error may be corrected if discovered before the next trick is taken. If the error is not discovered until later, the hand is ended, and the side that made the error is set back the full amount of the bid, regardless of who made the bid for that hand. The opponents score all the counters they captured before the error was discovered.
How to Win
Play until one partnership reaches 300 points at the end of a hand. If both sides exceed 300 points in the same hand, the higher total wins. In case of a tie, play another hand to determine the winner.
Classic Rules for 5 or 6 Individual Players
Object: The first player to reach 150 points wins the game.
Dealing: Use the basic deck of 56 cards: do not use the Rook Bird card.
The nest: For five players, deal a 6-card nest. For 6 players, deal a two-card nest.
Bidding: The minimum bid is 30 points.