Wippen Rules - reubenpeeris/wippen GitHub Wiki

Wippen is a Dutch fishing game. It is quite similar to Casino, but some of the differences make it, in my opinion, more enjoyable.

The games is played with 2 to 4 players.

A standard 52 card deck is used. Each card is counted as its rank value (e.g. ace = 1, two = 2, ... king = 13). The aim is to capture cards from the table by using a card from the hand. Once a card is captures, it is out of play. The captured cards are collected by each player and at the end of the game are inspected in order to award points.

At the start of the game, the dealer deals 2 face-down cards at a time to each of the other players (in a clockwise direction), then places 2 face-up cards on the table, then 2 face-down cards to himself. This is repeated a second time, so that each player and the table receive 4 cards. In subsequent deals, the dealer replenishes the players' hands, but does not deal any cards to the table. When the deck has been exhausted, the game is over and the deal rotates clockwise. Each player deals one game per set. A match can be made of one or more sets.

Beginning with the player to the dealer's left, each player plays one card at a time, performing one of the following actions:

• Discard: a card is discarded face up to the table from the players hand
• Capture: one or more cards are taken from the table using a suitable value card from the players hand
• Build: one or more cards from the table are combined with a card from the players hand to build a new pile on the table that has a specified value

At the end of a game, when all cards from the deck have been exhausted, if any cards remain on the table, they are awarded to the last player to have captured cards from the table.

When capturing or building, the cards are used to form a mathematical expression. The rank of each card represents its mathematical value, including the Jack, Queen and King, i.e. ace = 1, two = 2... ten = 10, Jack = 11, Queen = 12 and King = 13. The valid mathematical operators which can be used are add (+), subtract (-), multiple (*) and divide (/) (implicitly parenthesis are allowed too where required).

A discard is performed by discarding a single card from the players hand to the table. E.g. 4S The 4S is discarded from the player's hand.

A capture is performed by making a mathematical expression from the table cards that is equal to a card from the hand.

• Equal cards
  • 3C=3S 3S is captured from the table using the 3C from the hand.
• Basic arithmetic
  • 10H=(3S*2D)+4C 3S, 2D and 5C are captured from the table using the 10H from the hand.
• Multi-pickup
  • 5S=3C+2D=5D 3C, 2D and 5D are captured from the table using the 5S from the hand.

A build is performed by making a mathematical expression from one or more cards on the table with one card from the hand that is equal in value to another card in the hand. Effectively a player that builds is promising that they have a card of that value, but they are not obliged to show it.

• Simple
  • 1C+7S 1C (from the table) and 7S (from the hand) are built into a pile of value 8.
• Multi-build
  • 1C+7S=8D 1C, 8D (from the table) and 7S (from the hand) are built into a pile of value 8.
• Overbuild
  • 3B1+7S 3B1 (a building of value 3 made by player 1) is combined with a 7S from the hand into a new building of value 10.
• Rebuild
  • (6B1-3C)*2S player 1 'rebuild' using his existing building (6B1), the 3C from the table and the 2S from his hand to create a new building with value 6 (i.e. the same value as his old building)

Note it is illegal for a player to build a building with a new value using an existing building that they have made. E.g. 5B1+4C would be an illegal move for player 1 to make

At the end of a round the cards captured by each player are used to award points. The following criteria are used:

• Most cards 2 points
• Most spades 2 points
• The Good Ten (10D) 2 points
• The Good Two (2S) 1 point
• Ace 1 point each (i.e. 4 points total)

Note If 2 players have the equal largest number of cards/spades, then each of those players will be awarded 1 of the 2 points. If 3 or more players have the equal largest number of cards/spades, no one is awarded points for having most cards/spades.

A sweep is declared if a player manages to capture all cards from the table. For every sweep one bonus point is awarded.