Age: 13+
Time: 10-60 min
Players: 2-7
Published: 2018

ARGUTE™ is an exciting trick-taking card game. If you like to play cribbage, euchre, hearts, or spades, then this is the new game for you! ARGUTE™ works equally well for 2, 3, and 4 or up to 7 players although the dynamics change depending on the number of players. And it’s each one for themselves; no teams. Perfect for inter-generational social events: at the cabin, after Thanksgiving, on the train, you name it.

GOAL The winner is the first to score 6 points or more without being tied with another player. Win points by correctly bidding on the number of tricks you will take.

The ARGUTE™ card deck is divided into play cards and bid cards. None of the cards have suits. The 42 play cards include 7 cards each of the following denominations: 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5. The 28 bid cards include 7 sets of cards each of 0, 1, 2, 3.

SET-UP To start each player is given a set of 4 bid cards consisting of a 0, 1, 2 & 3, and will hold onto these cards for the duration. The scorekeeper is chosen and the first dealer will be the oldest person playing the game.

BID PHASE The dealer shuffles the play cards and deals 6 cards face down to each player. Each player looks at their “play” cards and determines how many tricks they will be able to win from zero to three. They then pick the appropriate bid card and place it

FACE DOWN in front of them. Each player only knows their own bid. Once everyone has bid, play begins and no one is allowed to look at any bid cards until the completion of the hand.

GAME PLAY Each 6 card hand is divided into 3 tricks. The first trick consists of 3 cards from every player’s hand. The second trick consists of 2 cards from every player’s hand. The last trick is 1 card from each player.

Each player only plays one card per turn. The player to the dealer’s left leads the first trick. The winner of each trick is the player with the highest total of the cards (ie. Count) played for each separate trick and will lead off the next trick. If two or more players counts are tied, the player who reached the count first wins the trick. (For example, if 4 people are playing and they all play a zero for the last trick (1 card), the player who played the first zero wins the trick.)

At the end of the hand after the three tricks have been won players reveal their bid cards to the table. If a player has correctly bid the number of tricks, she scores that many points. If a player has incorrectly bid the number of tricks he would take, either higher or lower, that player loses one point regardless of his bid. If a player bids zero and gets zero tricks, she neither loses nor gains any points, her score stays the same for that hand.

The deal moves to the left. If two or more players are tied with six or more points at the end of a hand, all players play another hand until only one player leads with six or more.

Game includes: 42 “play” cards, 28 “bid” cards, and 3 “rules” cards, wood scoreboard and pegs.

- description by Seattle GameCo, publisher

WA LOCAL: Designed & distributed by Seattle GameCo