The Book of Card Games: The Complete Rules to the Classics, Family Favorite and Forgotten Games (34 page)

TIME:
Half an hour

PARTNERSHIP:
No

COMPLEXITY:
Easy

Yukon is extremely similar to Klondike. The difference is that a group of cards may be moved from stack to stack regardless of whether those cards are in sequence. Like Klondike, the objective of Yukon is to fill up the suit stacks, each stack with one suit from ace to king. There are two areas of the playing field. The initial setup is the same as standard solitaire. The area across the top of the playing field is where you deal out seven building stacks. The first stack on the left has one card facing up. The second stack has one card face down, and the top card is face up. The third stack has two cards face down and the top card is face up, and so on, until the seventh stack, which has six cards face down and the top card is face up. The remaining twenty-four cards are then placed face up (four on each stack except for the stack farthest to the left). Also leave an area for the suit stacks, which will be four stacks of cards in sequence from ace to king, two built on either side of the Yukon setup.

Within the building stacks, a card may only be moved onto another card if it is of the opposite color and if the card it is being placed on is of the next higher value. The game differs from Klondike in that you can move multiple cards onto another card as long as the top card follows this rule. The cards do not have to be in a sequence to be moved. This makes the game easier to complete than Klondike because you are able to move many more cards around the playing field. A king has the highest value and may not be placed on any other number. If you clear the top card (facing up) from a stack, you may turn over the next card facing down to make it the new top card. If you clear all the cards of a building stack, you may move any card or ordered sequence into that free space. An ace may be moved to an empty suit stack and added to by placing the next value of the same suit on that card, building it up to a king. If you can no longer move any cards, you may turn over the first card in your pile of face-down cards and try to put it into play. If it cannot be played, or if you run out of plays within the playing field, you turn over the next card. The game ends when all fifty-two cards are in the suit stacks or when no further cards may be moved.

NUMBER OF PLAYERS:
Three to six

EQUIPMENT:
One standard deck of fifty-two cards plus two jokers

TIME:
One hour

PARTNERSHIP:
No

COMPLEXITY:
Medium

Zheng Fen is a popular Chinese climbing and trick-taking game played with three to six players. The objective is to be the first player to score 500 points by taking tricks. Fives are worth five points, tens and kings are worth ten points, and the remaining cards are worth zero points. The jokers have values of high and low. The cards rank from high to low as high joker, low joker, two, ace, king, queen, jack, ten, nine, eight, seven, six, five, four, and three. Suits are irrelevant.

A random dealer is selected who deals out the entire deck, counterclockwise, to the players. Play begins with the dealer and continues counterclockwise. The player who holds the 3♥ leads the first trick. If you are that player, you have the option of playing one or more cards in a combination as follows:

• Any single card
  
• Pair of cards (pair)
  
• Three of a kind (triple)
  
• Four of a kind (quartet)
  
• Sequence of pairs—three or more pairs in an unbroken sequence, like 3 3 4 4 5 5
  
• Sequence of triples
  
• Sequence of quartets
  
• Full house—can consist of three of a kind and a pair, three of a kind and two cards in sequence of the same suit, three of a kind and a three and any other card, or three of a kind and two counting cards (five, ten, or king)
  
• Suit sequence—five or more cards in an unbroken sequence in one suit
  
• Special combinations—these combinations rank in order from low to high as follows: five, ten, and king in mixed suits; five, ten, and king in one suit; or four twos.
  

In any but the last three combinations, either of the jokers may be used to replace a natural card.

The next player must either pass or play a card or set of cards containing the same number of cards and matching the same pattern that the first player led. The cards he lays down must also beat the previous play. Any higher single card beats the previous single card. A group of cards is beaten by a higher-value group of the same number of cards. A full house is beaten by a higher-value three-of-a-kind. A sequence of cards is beaten by a higher-value sequence. You may also play a special combination, and that will beat the highest combination of cards played to that point. It is not necessary to beat the previous play just because you can. You can always pass and re-enter the round if you want.

Play continues around the table (multiple times if necessary) until a player lays down one or more cards and everyone else passes. All the cards played are then turned face down and placed to the side for the player who laid down cards last. That player starts again by laying down any single card, group of cards, or sequence of cards as described above. If a player whose turn it is to play has no more cards in his hand, the turn passes to the next counterclockwise player. Play continues until only one player holds cards in his hand. That player gives any points scored in his hand to the player who first went out. Each player counts the points in her hand (fives, tens, and kings) and adds that number to any previous score. The first player to go out of cards becomes the dealer of the next hand. He also leads the first trick of the next hand. The first player to go above 500 points (or 1,000 points, if you prefer a longer game) wins.