Troggu
Troggu is a Swiss card game from the Tarock family. Synonyms for this game name are: Trogga , Tappu or Tappä . It is played in the German-speaking Upper Valais in the Visp area , in St. Niklaus and in Grächen . Along with troccas, it is the second actively played tarot in Switzerland, but it is highly endangered as it is only practiced by older people in a small area. It is currently unclear whether a younger generation will continue to cultivate this game tradition and ensure the Troggu's survival.
According to card game expert John McLeod, Troggu was probably invented in the late eighteenth century. The reasons for this assumption lie in the rules of the game, more precisely in the way the "fool" is used. In older tarot variants it is played as an "excuse", i. That is, it has no stabbing power, but always belongs to the team that received it when it was dealt. In its more modern use, it is the highest trump card and thus also trumps the trump card with the highest number XXI ("the world" or, through popular Germanization of "le monde", also "the moon"). In the Troggu, however, both variants come into play; so it can be assumed that it comes from the transition phase from one style of play to the other.
cards
Troggu is played with the cards that are known in specialist shops as 1JJ-Tarot or Swiss Tarot and were designed in the workshop of the card maker Johann Georg Rauch around 1831–1838. This deck of cards was developed from the Tarot de Besançon . These in turn emerged from the Tarot de Marseille . The trump cards Jupiter and Juno appear in the 1YY Tarot and the Tarot de Besançon . The cards are still available in stores, as they are also used in esotericism for card reading.
The card set consists of 78 cards with 21 trump cards and four suits of 14 cards each and a fool (called the bully ). The colors are divided into coins ( Roosä , in German: "Rosen"), sticks ( Schtächnä , in German: "Stecken", or Gradi , in German: "Straight"), swords ( Schwärti ) and goblets ( Goppa ). There are number cards from 1 to 10 and figure cards king ( Kinig ), queen ( Frowwi ), knight ( Ritti ) and jack ( Büob ). The trump cards are numbered in Roman numerals from 1 to 21.
Cards 1, 2, 3 and 4 are removed from the swords and staffs, 10, 9, 8 and 7 from the coins and goblets. This leaves 62 cards in the troggu.
There are the following trump cards:
| number | Original names | German name | Valais name |
|---|---|---|---|
| I. | Le bateleur | The magician | Bagatt |
| II | Junon | Junon | |
| III | L'imperatrice | The ruler | |
| IIII | L'empereur | The ruler | |
| V | Jupiter | Jupiter | |
| VI | L'amoureux | The loving ones | |
| VII | Le chariot | The car | |
| VIII | La justice | justice | |
| VIIII | L'ermite | The hermit | |
| X | La roue de fortune | The wheel of fortune | |
| XI | La force | The power | |
| XII | Le pendu | The hanged man | |
| XIII | (no name) | The death | |
| XIIII | Temperance | The moderation | |
| XV | Le diable | The devil | |
| XVI | La maison dieu | The tower | |
| XVII | L'étoile | The star | |
| XVIII | Mood | The moon | |
| XVIIII | Le soleil | The sun | |
| XX | Le jugement | The court | |
| XXI | Le monde | The world | Cheerful |
| (without number) | Le mat | The fool | mostly the Bättler , but also the Mat or the Gschgüser or the Chaspisch fool |
These trump card pictures have no meaning for the game and could be exchanged. The numbers indicate an order. So a trump with a higher number trumps a lower one.
Value of the cards
| map | Points |
|---|---|
| Trump XXI, Trump I, fool, kings | 5 points |
| Queens | 4 points |
| Knight | 3 points |
| Boys | 2 points |
| all remaining cards | 1 point |
There are a total of 114 points in the game.
Rules of the game
Troggu has very different and simpler rules of the game than the older Troccas . In contrast to this, only 62 of the 78 cards are used. The rules allow three to eight players, in contrast to most other tarot games, which are designed for a fixed number of players (e.g. troccas for four people).
Give
First there is a draw to determine which player is the first dealer. The dealer on the right always takes on this role in the next round. The cards are shuffled by the dealer and cut by the player on the left. A certain number of cards are then placed in a face-down pile (called a "tap" ) in the middle of the table. Then the dealer distributes the remaining cards to the players in a counter-clockwise direction, starting with the player on the right. How many cards are dealt in total per player and in which sub-amounts depends on the number of players.
| player | Tap | per player |
|---|---|---|
| 3 | 8 cards | 6 + 6 + 6 |
| 4th | 10 cards | 4 + 4 + 5 |
| 5 | 7 cards | 4 + 4 + 3 |
| 6th | 8 cards | 4 + 5 |
| 7th | 6 cards | 4 + 4 |
| 8th | 6 cards | 4 + 3 |
Offer
When bidding, it is first determined which game type is being played. There are now three options. Either a normal game , a solo game or a Misere game is played. The process of determining which variant is being played is as follows:
It is the player to the right of the dealer who must decide which game to choose. He now has the three options of challenging a normal game, playing a solo or passing.
- When he calls for a normal game, he says “I'll take it” or “I'll go”. In this case, it turns to the left to see if a player still wants to play a solo. This has priority over normal play. If no one wants to play a solo, the normal game is played.
- If he requests a solo, this is played.
- He can also say: “I pass”. Then it is the turn of the player on the left to choose from these three options again. If all players pass, then a misery is played.
With seven or eight players, there is not immediate misery. If everyone passes , the man's owner (fool) is forced to play a normal game. If nobody owns the fool (because he is in the tap), the owner of the bagatt (trump I, magician) must start a normal game. If nobody owns the Bättler or the Bagatt, then a misery is played out.
Normal game
In normal play, the dealer (called a "Tappist" ) plays against the rest of the players who form a team. His name is Tappist because he can improve his hand with the cards of the Tap. With seven or eight players, the Tappist may also call a partner for help. These two form a team that plays against the team of the rest of the players.
The Tappist chooses a partner by calling out any trump except XXI or the Fool. Usually XX is called, unless the dealer has it in his own hand. The player who has the called trump is now the partner of the Tappist, but is not allowed to reveal himself to the other player. The Tappist may also call a trump from his hand if he wants to play alone. Who the Tappist's partner is only becomes apparent to everyone when the trump card called is played. If the called card is in the hand of the Tappist or in the Tapp, the Tappist plays without a partner.
The tapist takes all the cards in the tap without showing them to the other players and puts an identical number of cards back face down on the table. The cards that he discarded can also include those that he picked up. It is not allowed to discard 5-point cards; the only exception is when four kings are placed together. One-point trumps can also be discarded. The point value of the discarded cards belongs to the Tappist.
solo
In solo, the player (called the "soloist" ) plays against the rest of the players who make up a team. In contrast to normal play, the soloist cannot improve his cards with the tap. The point value of the tap belongs to the soloist and is counted at the end of the game round. Likewise, the soloist cannot call a partner.
Misery
If everyone passes, a misery (or "misery") is played. The misery resembles the rules of the Rosenjass or the heart game . The tap is not needed. The player to the right of the dealer deals the first card and everyone plays for himself. The idea is not to score any points. The player who has scored the most points has to pay everyone else the basic amount.
Course of the normal game and solos
The tapist or soloist deals the first card. The game is now played counterclockwise and each player deals a card. The players have to show their colors if they can; otherwise they have to play a trump. A trick is won by the highest trump or, if none has been played, by the highest suit card of the suit led. The winner of the trick deals the next card.
The fool counts as the highest trump card. However, if it is still the only trump in a player's hand, it need not be admitted. Instead of the fool, another card can be played. After the player has decided at that moment not to play the fool, the fool loses his stabbing power. It must now be kept until the last trick. Only then does the player place the fool and add it to the cards he has won. In exchange for this, he must give a low card from his own winning pile to the winners of the last trick. If the fool's owner is the one who leads to the last trick, the fool is placed and the player's card to the right of him now shows the color.
Counting out
At the end of the round, each side adds up the card value of its own tricks. The tapist or soloist adds the value of the tap to their own points. The side that has now scored more than half the points (58 or more) wins. If the points on both sides are exactly 57, neither side wins and no money is paid.
Pay
The basic amount in St. Niklaus and Grächen is usually five cents , in Visp ten cents.
Normal game: If the losing side has between 31 and 56 points, it pays the winning side the basic amount. If the losing side has 30 points or less, it pays double the base amount. If the winner (s) have taken all the tricks, the opposing side must pay three times the base amount.
Solo game: The payment is graduated in the same way as in the normal game, only with double the price.
It looks a little different with seven or eight players. Usually the team wins with more than half the points.
If the losing team has scored more than 30 points, the following applies: Here, each player from the Tappist's opposing team must pay the basic amount if they have lost. But if they have won, each of them receives the basic amount. The partner of the Tappist receives or pays twice the basic amount, the Tappist the rest (three times the basic amount for seven players, or four times the basic amount for eight players). If the losing team has 30 points or less, or has not taken any tricks, these amounts are doubled or tripled as usual.
Variations of the regions
Visp
- Does not allow a three-player version.
St. Niklaus
- There is no eight-player version.
- Discarding four kings is not allowed, but if you have all seven 5-point cards you can discard them together.
- When there is misery, the one who does the least gets paid the basic amount of all.
- The pay scale is shifted by one point: if the losers score 31 points or less, they pay double the basic amount.
Grächen
- It is also not allowed to discard four kings, but if you have all seven 5-point cards you may discard them together.
- The tap is only created after the card deal round. In the five-player version, the dealer can decide how to spend: spend five, create tap, spend six, or spend six, create tap, spend five. In the four-player version, the following is output: spend seven, form tap, spend the remaining seven.
- The gradation of payment is different: if the losers score 20 points or less, they pay double the basic amount.
software
There is software for this game, which was implemented by Thanos Cardgames and has been freely available since 2003.
Individual evidence
- ^ John McLeod Online Documentation on Troggu
- ^ 1JJ Swiss Tarot Cards , accessed on January 13, 2011.
- ↑ Development lines of tarot decks ( Memento of the original of April 13, 2009 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ Thanos Card Games
