I have been searching for an old thread, possibly a comment on this column. (Who would have guessed there would be so many threads about tarot?)
What I’m looking for specifically is the rules to the card game played with tarot cards. I have a memory like a wet kleenex, but I think the game had a french name. Maybe something like Jeu de Tarot? I found some french sites searching by “Jeu de Tarot” but they all seem to refer to standard playing cards.
Here’s some rules. I actually have played tarot (aka tarocchi, iirc) a few times, and it’s a pretty good card game.
I played poker with tarot cards once.
I got a full house and 3 people died.
Shamelessly stolen from someplace 
In my research I discovered this joke. It’s Steven Wright. [supernitpick]I also think it’s supposed to be 2 people.[/supernitpick]
The deck makes for a killer game of War.
It is also used in some RPG’s for various things.
The deck also lends itself to a kick-ass game of Cripple Mr. Onion.
A site on a number of tarot games.
The connecting theme is that they’re generally ‘point-trick’ games, with the Major Arcana as trumps - minus the Fool in some older variants.
And the Lesser Arcana correspond pretty much with the standard deck of 52 cards–
[ul]
[li]cups = hearts[/li][li]swords=spades[/li][li]staves=clubs[/li][li]pentacles=diamonds[/li][/ul]
So you could play any standard game with the Lesser Arcana.
Holye Card Games V has French version of Tarot on it. I actually prefer the Slovenian and Austrian (Tapp Tarock) variants of the game to the French. They use a 54-card deck while the French use a 78 card deck. In both, though, the Major Arcana consists of 21 trumps plus a Fool (aka Skues/Skis)
Not all Tarot decks have the Major Arcana labeled “The Magician,” “Death,” “The Wheel of Fortune” and such standard magical fare (in fact, I’ve never actually played with such a deck, although there is no reason not to.) The decks I’ve always played with just have Roman numerals and intricate illustrations of spring scenes and things like that.
Slovenian Tarock and Tapp Tarock are excellent games for three players. There are LOTS and LOTS of regional variants and house rules, and if you’re a serious card player, these are very fun and skillful games to learn. They are tricky, though, so if you don’t have experience with point-trick taking games like Sheepshead, Skat, or—to a lesser extent—Pinochle, you’ll find it pretty confusing at first.