Origin | Haliburton, Ontario [1] |
---|---|
Named variants | |
Designer | Ken Fisher [7] |
Publisher |
|
Release date | 1986 [10] |
Type | Trick-taking [11] |
Players | 3-6 players [12] |
Age range | 10+ [12] |
Cards | 60 [10] |
Play | Clockwise |
Playing time | 45 minutes [13] [14] |
Related games | |
Oh hell [15] | |
Website | wizardcards.com [16] |
Wizard is a trick-taking card game for three to six players designed by Ken Fisher of Toronto, Ontario in 1984. [7] The game was first printed commercially in June 1986. [1] [9] The game is based on oh hell. [15]
A Wizard deck consists of 60 cards: a regular set of 52 playing cards (replaced with custom symbols and colours in some editions), [13] 4 Wizards and 4 Jesters. [10] The Jesters have the lowest value, then the two up to thirteen, then Aces and lastly Wizards as highest in value. [12]
The objective of the game is to bid correctly on the number of tricks that a player will take in the subsequent round of play. [17] Points are awarded for a correct bid and subtracted for an incorrect bid. [12] The player with most points after all rounds have been played is the winner. The game is played in a number of rounds from 10 to 20, depending on the number of players, [10] and each round consists of three stages: Dealing, Bidding, and Playing. [13]
In the first round every player gets one card. In the subsequent rounds the number of cards is increased by one until all cards are distributed. [18] That means that three players play 20 rounds, four players 15 rounds, five players 12 rounds and six players 10 rounds. [17] The top card of the remaining cards is turned over to determine the trump suit. If there are no cards left or a jester is turned, there is no trump suit, and only the wizards are trump. If a wizard is turned, the dealer picks a trump suit. [19]
After looking at their cards, starting with the player to the dealer's left, each player states how many tricks he believes he will take, from zero to the number of cards dealt. [12] This is recorded on a score pad. [20]
The player to the left of the dealer plays a card, and then the others follow clockwise. [12] If a card other than a wizard or jester is played, the players have to follow suit, but it is possible to play a jester or wizard although the player has the desired suit. The Wizard beats all other cards but the first one in a trick beats all others. [13] The jester is beaten by all others, but if all cards in a trick are jesters the first one beats the others. [17] If a jester is played as the first card the first suit card decides which suit has to be followed. [16] If a wizard is played as the first card every player is free to play what they want regardless of the others. [19] If the first card is a Jester and the second a Wizard, then the Wizard rule takes precedence and players are not required to follow suit. [21]
At the end of each round, each player is given a score based on their performance. For predicting the number of tricks taken correctly, a player receives 20 points plus 10 points for each trick taken. [13] For predicting the number of tricks taken incorrectly, a player loses 10 points for each trick over or under. [12]
The German version of Wizard is published by Amigo-Spiele. [22] Granted a license for manufacture and distribution in Germany in 1996, [1] the cards were redesigned and illustrated with a fantasy-themed character on each card. [23] [24] Each character has a title such as der Krieger (the warrior) or die Priesterin (the priestess) printed at the top of the card. There are 2 male and 2 female versions of each character. The German decks contain four non-standard suits with values from 1 to 13, [14] four Z cards labelled either der Zauberer (the sorcerer) or die Zauberin (the sorceress), and four N cards labelled der Narr or die Närrin (the fool). [13] The German deck is distributed in the United States as "Fantasy Wizard", with an English box and rules. [25] The cards are identical to the German ones, including the German abbreviations for Zauberer/Zauberin and Narr/Närrin. [26]
The Medieval deck of cards has a themed character on each card. [24] The characters are: (2) Hermit, (3) Peasant, (4) Farmer, (5) Archer, (6) Blacksmith, (7) Merchant, (8) Bard, (9) Scholar, (10) Bishop, Knight, Queen, King, (Ace) Dragon. [23] The cards are also color-coded: Hearts (Red), Spades (Black), Clubs (Green), Diamonds (Purple), Jesters (Brown), Wizards (Blue). [3]
The Wizard Camelot edition replaces the 4 deuces with Holy Grail, Excalibur, Merlin and Morgan le Fay cards. [5]
The Wizard Omnibus edition enables 3 levels of play: Classic, Camelot and Magic. [6]
Regular tournaments are held online. World Championships began in 2010. [1] [23] Each nation is invited to send a maximum of two representatives to the annual event. [8]
Year | Location | Champion | Champion's nationality |
---|---|---|---|
2010 | Frankfurt, Germany [27] | Josef Sigl [28] | Germany |
2011 | Budapest, Hungary [29] | Beate Punz [30] | Austria |
2012 | Vienna, Austria [31] | Thomas Kessler [32] | Switzerland |
2013 | Amsterdam, the Netherlands [33] | Christian Adolph [34] | Germany |
2014 | Athens, Greece [35] | Gergely Suba [36] | Hungary |
2015 | Prague, Czech Republic [37] | Hans Mostbock [38] | Austria |
2016 | Budapest, Hungary [39] | Robert Laschkolnig [40] | Switzerland |
2017 | Riga, Latvia [41] | Ignaz Punz [42] | Austria |
2018 | Warsaw, Poland [43] | Vasilis Papadakis [44] | Greece |
2019 | Antwerp, Belgium [45] | Spyros Keramas [46] | Greece |
2020 | Cancelled due to COVID-19 pandemic [47] | N/A | N/A |
2021 | Cancelled due to COVID-19 pandemic [47] | N/A | N/A |
2022 | Vienna, Austria [48] | Sebastian Holzer [49] | Austria |
2023 | Prague, Czech Republic [50] | Alexander Kube [51] | Germany |
Since there are no options for which card to play when a player is only holding one card, there is a statistically correct bid for any given card. This only truly applies if a player has the lead, and thus no information from other bids. Since a correct bid of 1 yields 30 points, and a correct bid of 0 only yields 20, a bid of 1 over time yields more points as long as the player has at least a 42.86% chance of winning the trick.
The known cards are only a player's own card and the turn up, so with 58 unknowns, the odds that a hand will win in a three player game are calculated by the odds that both of the other hands lose to that player. That is, (x/58)*((x-1)/57), x=# of cards the player can beat. The calculation is similar for more players. Solving for x to yield 0.4286 or greater gives the minimum number of cards a player needs to be ahead of to justify a bid of 1.
With the lead:
A trick-taking game is a card- or tile-based game in which play of a hand centers on a series of finite rounds or units of play, called tricks, which are each evaluated to determine a winner or taker of that trick. The object of such games then may be closely tied to the number of tricks taken, as in plain-trick games such as contract bridge, whist, and spades, or to the value of the cards contained in taken tricks, as in point-trick games such as pinochle, the tarot family, briscola, and most evasion games like hearts.
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 Misère contract similar to Russian Preference, producing a cutthroat 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.
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.
Forty-fives is a trick-taking card game that originated in Ireland. The game is popular in many communities throughout Atlantic Canada as well as the Gaspé Coast in Québec. Forty-fives is also played in parts of Massachusetts and southern New Hampshire in New England, United States, as well as in the South Island of New Zealand.
Pitch is an American trick-taking game equivalent to the British blind all fours which, in turn, is derived from the classic 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.
The Great Dalmuti is a shedding-type card game published by Wizards of the Coast in February 1995.
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.
Schafkopf, also called Bavarian Schafkopf, is a popular German trick-taking card game of the ace–ten family for four players that evolved, towards the end of the 19th century, from German Schafkopf. It is still very popular in Bavaria, where it is their national card game played by around two million people, but it also played elsewhere in Germany and in Austria. It is an official cultural asset and important part of the Old Bavarian and Franconian way of life. Schafkopf is a mentally demanding pastime that is considered "the supreme discipline of Bavarian card games" and "the mother of all trump games."
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Cego is a Tarot card game for three or four players played mainly in and around the Black Forest region of Germany. It was probably derived from the three-player Badenese game of Dreierles when soldiers deployed from the Iberian Peninsula during the Napoleonic Wars and, based on a Spanish game they had encountered, introduced Cego's distinctive feature: a concealed hand, or blind. Cego has experienced a revival in recent years, being seen as part of the culture of the Black Forest and surrounding region. It has been called the national game of Baden and described as a "family classic".
Clag is a trick-taking card game using a standard pack of 52 French-suited playing cards. It is similar to oh hell, and can be played by three to seven players. Clag originated in the Royal Air Force and started as an acronym for Clouds Low Aircraft Grounded.
The following is a glossary of terms used in card games. Besides the terms listed here, there are thousands of common and uncommon slang terms. Terms in this glossary should not be game-specific, but apply to a wide range of card games played with non-proprietary packs. It should not include terms solely related to casino or banking games. For glossaries that relate primarily to one game or family of similar games, see Game-specific glossaries.
Bohemian Schneider is a card game for two people, which is played with a German-suited Skat pack of 32 cards. Because it is a simple trick-taking game, it is often played by older children and is recommended for age 8 upwards. It was probably developed in Bohemia and spread from there across the south German region and Austria. The game is sometimes called Bohemian Tailor, Schneider being German for "tailor".
Réunion, Reunion or Vereinigungsspiel is an historical German point-trick game for three players which, despite its French name, appears to have originated in the central Rhineland and lowland areas to the east. It is a 10-card game of the ace–ten family and uses a 32-card French-suited piquet pack or 32-card Skat pack. Players who cannot follow suit must trump. Otherwise the game can be described as a simplified version of Skat, but is also reminiscent of Euchre with its two permanent top trumps, the Right and Left Bowers.
Bavarian Tarock or, often, just Tarock, is a card game that was once popular in Bavaria and also played in parts of Austria as well as Berlin. The name is a clue to its origin in the historical German game of [Gross-]Tarock, a game using traditional Tarot cards. At some point in the mid- to late-18th century, attempts were made to emulate Taroc using a standard 36-card German-suited pack, resulting in the formerly popular, south German game of German Tarok. During the last century, the variant played with a pot (Haferl) and often known as Bavarian Tarock or Haferltarock, evolved into "quite a fine game" that, however, has less in common with its Tarock progenitor. German Tarok also generated the very similar game of Tapp, played in Württemberg, and both are related to Bauerntarock, Dobbm and the American games of frog and six-bid solo.
Tapp is a trick-taking, card game for 3 or 4 players using 36 French-suited cards that is played in the south German region of Swabia, especially in the former Kingdom of Württemberg. It is the French-suited offshoot of German Tarok; its German-suited form being called Württemberg Tarock in that region. Tapp is one of a family of similar games that include Bavarian Tarock, the Austrian games of Bauerntarock and Dobbm, and the American games of frog and six-bid solo. Although probably first played in the early nineteenth century, the game of Tapp is still a local pastime in its native Württemberg, albeit in a greatly elaborated form.
Dreierschnapsen, Talonschnapsen or Staperlschnapsen is a three-hand variant of the popular Austrian card game, Bauernschnapsen. The rules are very similar to those for Bauernschnapsen except that, instead of two teams of two players, one player bids to become the soloist against the other two who form a temporary alliance. Another difference is that the game makes use of a talon with which the soloist may exchange cards to improve his hand, hence its alternative name of Talonschnapsen. The game is usually played with William Tell cards.
1000 is an easy-to-learn card game for two or three players. Its simple rules make it suitable for players to quickly become familiar with the basic concepts of trick-taking and trump-based card games. The name is taken from the score at the end of the game.
Herzblatt or Herzblättchen is a German card game of the ace–ten family for two to five players. It bears a certain resemblance to the extinct 19th-century game of Piquesept, however without the special rules associated with the trump Seven.
If the lead of a Jester is immediately followed by a Wizard then the hand is played as if the Wizard was the lead card.