My favorite trick taking game is currently Doppelkopf, followed by (Mittlere) Jass and Tichu.
What card games do you enjoy? (3-7 people)
I like spades and bridge except for the partnership aspect, therefore I might enjoy 4 person tarot, except I’ve never played it. It seems intriguing except for the lack of shuffling thing.
Skat (3-players at a time, but 4-player versions with a player sitting out exist) is by far my favorite. If you like doppelkopf, you’ll like skat, it’s in the same family of games (along with Sheepshead or Schafkopf).
I learned to play skat out of a book with two other Americans years ago because we loved to play cards and wanted to learn a more advanced trick-taking game (like bridge), but could never get a core group of four players together. So, while perusing the Oxford Dictionary of Card Games, I found the perfect game for three: skat. If it’s not the best three-hander I’ve played, I don’t know what is.
You’ll see the obvious similarities with doppelkopf.
Doppelkopf is another game I’ve wanted to play. I love trick taking games with changing partnerships (typically being revealed in game play). Skat doesn’t really quite have the same dynamic, as while the partnerships do change, it’s almost always a bidder vs. two defenders game, so you only partner for the defense. (There is an optional ramsch round where the goal is not to make any points, so in that case, it’s more every person for themselves.)
I suspect, though, since you’re familiar with doppelkopf, you probably know skat. If you don’t, look into it. There is a pretty decent version of it for the iPhone (and maybe other mobile devices) simply called Skat, and it’s by Peter Heinlein. The AI isn’t perfect, but it will give you a reasonably strong game. Every once in awhile it’ll do something stupid as your defending partner, but it’s much, much improved from years ago. It will teach you the mechanics of the game and the bidding quickly enough.
If you want an oddball three-hander, try the Hungarian game ulti. Lots of fun contracts. Unfortunately, it’s almost impossible to find anyone outside of Hungary who knows it.
For quick, less intense trick-taking games, 10-point-pitch is another favorite. Euchre I used to enjoy, but I’ve gotten bored of it. There’s also a fun Eastern European game called “1000” in English. The Polish version, Tysiąc, is what all the adults would play for money at family parties. It’s a fun, skillful game, but I personally feel it gets a little bit too automatic too quickly.
For two player trick takers, piquet is hard to beat. That may be the greatest two-player card game. The two player version of pinochle is fun, cribbage and gin (both not trick takers) are wonderful, too, but in terms of skill and varied gameplay, I find piquet the most enjoyable two-player card game.
My favourites, in no particular order:
Kaiser
Blackout/Oh Hell!
Smear
Guillotine
I usually end up playing Hearts more than any other, because that’s what my friends and family know how to play, even though I kinda dislike it (too much luck, in the end).
I picked up and played Chronicle a few times. Similar to Hearts, except each card has a special ability when played. Makes for some interesting games, and we definitely haven’t played enough games to really get a feel for definite strategies yet.
Euchre and Spades. BTW, ludovic, you can play spades three-handed and play as individuals.
Nines (only good game I know for three people)
500 Bid
Then you should also check out the three-player games I mentioned: Skat, 1000, and Ulti. Also, Preference and Hombre. The only problem with these is that most of them do have a bit of a learning curve and will take at least 10 hands or so to get a feel for the game and relative hand strengths. I’d say skat is the most complex of those. The first time we played it, we played it for something like 4 hours and we all were in the negative by the end of the game. A few more days of dedicated play, and we were getting the hang of it, evaluating the strength of our hands, bidding appropriately, reading cards and figuring out other player’s most likely hands, etc. It really is a fun and deep game. But it helps if you play with people who already know how to play. We didn’t, so the learning curve was steep. I’m surprised that we didn’t mess up any of the rules.
Five hundred is also not bad as a 3-hander, although I prefer partnership variations.