Tock (also known as Tuck in some English parts of Quebec and Atlantic Canada, and Pock in some parts of Alberta) is a board game, similar to Ludo, Aggravation or Sorry!, in which players race their four tokens (or marbles) around the game board from start to finish—the objective being to be the first to take all of one's tokens "home". Like Sorry!, it is played with playing cards rather than dice.
Tock is a Cross and Circle game in the style of Pachisi, an Indian game played since the first millennium BC. Tock's exact origins are unclear, but traditionally it is believed that it originated with the early settlers of Quebec, Canada.[ citation needed ]
From Quebec, the game Jeu du Toc (or Tock) moved to France where it is also known as Jeu des petits chevaux canadiens. Tock is also similar to the French game Jeu des petits chevaux , where moves are determined by throwing dice instead of playing cards.
From Vermont, the game TUK migrated down from Quebec is also known as TUC rules of play are similar to TOCK. Specialty cards vary from town to town, household to household. Square boards with a border of 80 holes numbered 1-20 ending at "home" with an additional 4 holes per player. Playing pieces are either golf tees or cribbage pegs depending on the size of the board.
At the beginning of each round players are dealt a number of cards which they play in turns to move their tokens around the board. If at any time a token lands exactly on the field occupied by another token then the moved token replaces the resting one (which is placed back into the corresponding player's starting area). If a player on his turn has no cards he can play with his tokens (or which he can't play against the other players, like a 5, 10 or Queen in some variations) then he must discard his entire remaining hand and wait for the next hand to be dealt.
A starter is a card that allows a player to move a new token to the starting field. Aces and Kings (and Jokers in some variations) are starters.
A token at the starting field is immune to capture or swapping by an opponent, and additionally it creates a blockade. No players can pass a token that is on its starting field, either forward or backwards (with a 4) with the exception of a Joker
In the simplest form of the game, the cards only provide a single specific number of fields to move forward. However, Tock has many (even more popular) variations where some cards have special functions, that make the game more challenging and interesting.
Any combination of card functions can be used in play. Just ensure every player is aware of all the options to be used in play prior to the game.
To make it "home", a player needs the exact count of fields, and they need to fill the house from the top down. Tokens are not allowed to jump over other tokens within the house.
The basic functions of cards are:
The following are also commonly used:
Typically played in Team format, with partners opposite each other on the board. A player must have all their tokens in their home space before playing on their partners tokens (with the exception of the Jack)
Cards are dealt 5 per player for the first hand, 4 for the remaining hands until the deck is complete.
All other cards are played at their face value and must be used completely by a single token.
If a player has a playable card they must play it (i.e. they can not burn a card instead of playing another even if the result is detrimental), with the exception of the Jack.
All other cards are played at their face value and must be used completely by a single token.
Dealer is chosen cutting a low card, first card dealt goes to the dealer and the dealer deals to the left. 5 cards first and when playing teams. Dealer plays first and the game goes to the left. After the first five cards are played, dealer deals four until the deck is exhausted leaving the dealer with 6 cards, 2 of which (dealer's choice) must be discarded. For two players, each will get two sets of 5 with a discard; and for three players, each will get two sets of five with no discard. Ace is used as a 1 or a starter. 4 moves four spaces backwards 7 moves seven spaces or any combination adding up to 7. These moves can be freely distributed among all of the player's tokens, but must be used in its entirety. Any token passed is sent back to its starting space (INCLUDING partner tokens in partner play). If moving one's last token home, any unplayed portion of the seven is played for one's partner. Jack moves 11 or swap any player but one's own. Queen moves 12 (Virginia derivation: if drawn while in one's own quadrant, token moves to the 20 space in one's quadrant and sends all tokens passed to their starting spaces.) King moves 13 or is a starter. Joker moves 25 or is a starter. All other cards are played at their face value and must be used completely used by a single token. Home must be filled from the top down (no jumping or passing), is protected from other players, and once in home, a four cannot be used to leave home. Once home is filled with all the player's tokens, that player's cards are then played for the partner's tokens.
Aside from a "Free for all" play style the game also supports a variety of team based modes. Common to all team based variations is that once a team member has managed to bring all of his tokens home he helps move his partners' tokens. If the first player to get all marbles home plays a seven, the remainder can be used to move the partners marbles. Also after every hand is dealt the team members exchange one card with each other.
Some versions of the game use pawns or "men" as tokens; other versions use marbles instead, which advance on a wooden board with circular indentations in it to hold the marbles. While the game is designed on the basis of a French deck of cards with jokers removed; there are some versions that do use the jokers (54-Cards Game), or that come with cards specially made for the game that depict the actions they allow.
Ludo is a strategy board game for two to four players, in which the players race their four tokens from start to finish according to the rolls of a single die. Like other cross and circle games, Ludo is derived from the Indian game Pachisi. The game and its variations are popular in many countries and under various names.
500 or Five Hundred is a trick-taking game developed in the United States from Euchre. Euchre was extended to a 10 card game with bidding and a Misere contract similar to Russian Preference, producing a good cut-throat three player game like Preference and a four player game played in partnerships like Whist which is the most popular modern form, although with special packs it can be played by up to six players. It arose in America before 1900 and was promoted by the US Playing Card Company, who copyrighted and marketed a deck with a set of rules in 1904. In 1906 the US Playing Card Company released the improved Avondale scoring table to remove bidding irregularities. 500 is a social card game and was highly popular in the United States until around 1920 when first auction bridge and then contract bridge drove it from favour. It continues to be popular in Ohio and Pennsylvania, where it has been taught through six generations community-wide, and in other countries: Australia, New Zealand, Canada and Shetland. Despite its American origin, 500 is the national card game of Australia.
Euchre or eucre is a trick-taking card game commonly played in Australia, Canada, Great Britain, New Zealand and the Midwestern United States. It is played with a deck of 24, 28, or 32 standard playing cards. Normally there are four players, two on each team, although there are variations for two to nine players.
Cribbage, or crib, is a card game, traditionally for two players, that involves playing and grouping cards in combinations which gain points. It can be adapted for three or four players.
Spades is a trick-taking card game devised in the United States in the 1930s. It can be played as either a partnership or solo/"cutthroat" game. The object is to take the number of tricks that were bid before play of the hand began. Spades is a descendant of the Whist family of card games, which also includes Bridge, Hearts, and Oh Hell. Its major difference as compared to other Whist variants is that, instead of trump being decided by the highest bidder or at random, the Spade suit always trumps, hence the name.
Sorry! is a board game that is based on the ancient Indian cross and circle game Pachisi. Players move their three or four pieces around the board, attempting to get all of their pieces "home" before any other player. Originally manufactured by W.H. Storey & Co in England and now by Hasbro, Sorry! is marketed for two to four players, ages 6 and up. The game title comes from the many ways in which a player can negate the progress of another, while issuing an apologetic "Sorry!"
500 rum, also called pinochle rummy, Michigan rummy, Persian rummy, rummy 500 or 500 rummy, is a popular variant of rummy. The game of canasta and several other games are believed to have developed from this popular form of rummy. The distinctive feature of 500 rum is that each player scores the value of the sets or cards they meld. It may be played by 2 to 8 players, but it is best for 3 to 5.
Pedro is an American trick-taking card game of the All Fours family based on Auction Pitch. Its most popular variant is known as Cinch, Double Pedro or High Five which was developed in Denver, Colorado around 1885 and soon regarded as the most important American member of the All Fours family. Although it went out of fashion with the rise of Auction Bridge, it is still widely played on the western coast of the United States and in its southern states, being the dominant game in some locations in Louisiana. Forms of the game have been reported from Nicaragua, the Azores, Niobe NY, Italy and Finland. The game is primarily played by four players in fixed partnerships, but can also be played by 2–6 individual players.
Sequence is an abstract strategy tabletop party game. Sequence was invented by Douglas Reuter. He originally called the game Sequence Five. He spent years developing the concept, and, in June 1981, granted Jax Ltd. an exclusive license to manufacture, distribute and sell the board game Sequence and its subsequent variations. The game was first sold in a retail store in 1982. In 2017, Goliath Game Company bought Jax, and in early 2018 also bought all licensor rights and now owns 100% of the game Sequence. Doug Reuter is acknowledged as the inventor of Sequence on all newly produced copies of the game - both on the box and in the printed rules.
Bid whist is a partnership trick-taking variant of the classic card game whist. As indicated by the name, bid whist adds a bidding element to the game that is not present in classic whist. Bid whist, along with spades, remains popular particularly in U.S. military culture and a tradition in African-American culture.
Pitch is an American trick-taking card game derived from the English game of All Fours. Historically, Pitch started as "Blind All Fours", a very simple All Fours variant that is still played in England as a pub game. The modern game involving a bidding phase and setting back a party's score if the bid is not reached came up in the middle of the 19th century and is more precisely known as Auction Pitch or Setback.
Sheng ji is a family of point-based, trick-taking card games played in China and in Chinese immigrant communities. They have a dynamic trump, i.e., which cards are trump changes every round. As these games are played over a wide area with no standardization, rules vary widely from region to region.
Skip-Bo is a commercial version of the card game Spite and Malice, a derivative of Russian Bank, which in turn originates from Double Klondike. In 1967, Minnie Hazel "Skip" Bowman (1915–2001) of Brownfield, Texas, began producing a boxed edition of the game under the name SKIP-BO. In 1980 the game was purchased by International Games, which was subsequently bought by Mattel in 1992. A mobile version of the game for iOS was released by Magmic in September, 2013. There is a new version called "SKIP-BO Mod" that comes in a white and blue case.
Sixty-three is a card game popular in Charlotte County, New Brunswick, and on Cape Breton Island, Nova Scotia, and is named after the number of points which can be taken in a hand. This game is nearly identical to the Pitch variant Pedro. It also has features reminiscent of Euchre.
Biriba is the Greek partnership version of a rummy card game of Italian origin called Pinnacola. It is played by two to six players, with two decks and 4 Jokers comprising 108 cards. If 6 players play, one more deck and two jokers more are added. Biriba can also be played by three players with or without partnership rules.
Smear is a North-American trick-taking card game of the All Fours group, and a variant of Pitch (Setback). Several slightly different versions are played in Michigan, Minnesota, Northern and Central Iowa, Wisconsin and also in Ontario, Canada.
The rules here are based on those of the American Cribbage Congress and apply to two-, three- or four-player games, with details of variations being listed below.
Euchre is a 19th-century trick-taking card game and has many variations.
The card game of Euchre has many variants, including those for two, three, five or more players. The following is a selection of notable Euchre variants.
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