Overview

LUZ is a trick-taking card game in which you must bet on the number of tricks you'll take during play, in spite of not knowing the exact values of your cards. Only your opponents will be able to see the fronts of your cards, and vice versa.

In 3/4/5 players game, a deck contains 8/10/12 values in each of the 5 colors.

Gameplay

The game is played over 4 deals. At the end of the 10th round (10 tricks), you will win or lose points depending on the bet you made.

A deal is made up of 4 phases:

1. Distribute

Each player takes 10 cards, which always remain 10 cards in the deck (will not be used in the deal).

The cards are sorted first by color, then by card value. The "+" card tells which side is the higher value.

2. Reveal

Start with the first player, each player places their bet beads. Each Bet Bread (yellow) indicate 1 trick. And you can take up to 1 Safety bead(blue) to indicate that you may take 1 additional trick.

Tip from the rule: A safety bead can also be used to take a trick that an opponent thought they would win. Feel free to use them aggressively.

3. Play Tricks

During this phase, you'll play through 10 tricks.

The player who start the trick can play the card of their choice. That card's color then become the required color for the trick.

If you have at least 1 card of the required color, you must play one.

If you don't have a card of the required color, you may play the card of your choice.

Once all players have played their card, the one who played the strongest card takes the trick. The player who won the trick starts the next trick.

Strongest: The trump suit (sun) card of the highest value wins the trick. If no cards from the trump suit, the highest value card of the required suit wins.

Once all player have no color cards left in their hands, the deal ends.

4. Scoring =

If you did not take a Safety bead, you win your bet only if you took the exact number of tricks as your bet.

If you have a Safety bead, you win your bet if you took either the exact number of trick or that number plus 1 addtional trick.

In the 1st/2nd/3rd/4th deal, you gain 10/20/30/40 points if you win your bet without the Safety bead. Take a half of the points if you bet with the Safety bead.

If you didn't win your bet, you lose 5 points for each trick different from the number you bet, whether you took a Safety bead or not.

The player with the highest score at the end of the 4th deal wins the game. In case of a tie, the one who scored the most points during the final deal wins. If the tie persists, the one closest to the First Player in th turn order wins.

Three-Player Games

During the fourth deal only, the player who currently has the most points bets first. They also start the first trick during the Play Trick phase.

In the case of a tie, the player closest to the First Player in th turn order plays first.