Doppelkopf English Rules

1. Overview

Doppelkopf is a popular four-player trick-taking card game in Germany.
Before each round, the players choose a game type, which determines the teams and the trump cards.
By taking tricks that contain more card points than the opposing team, you gain victory points.
In addition, you can earn extra victory points through bonuses and announcements.
Your goal is to collect as many victory points as possible over several rounds.

2. Components and Deck Composition

- Playing cards: 48 cards
(Four suits: Clubs, Spades, Hearts, Diamonds.
Ranks: 9, 10, B, D, K, A – two copies of each card)

- Summary cards: 4 cards

- Announcement deadline cards: 2 cards

- JP Rulebook: 2 copies

Note on ranks In this special deck, the ranks are written with letters:
- A = Ace
- K = King
- D = Dame
- B = Bube

What you will need It is convenient to have scoring chips, or a scoresheet and a pen. (Since negative scores can occur, using a scoresheet is recommended.)

3. Game Flow

3-1. Setup and Dealing

Before you start, decide how many rounds you will play.
(Originally 24 rounds are played, but since that takes a long time,
we recommend 4 or 8 rounds instead.)
Each player receives one summary card.
Choose the first dealer by any method you like. After each round,
the role of dealer passes to the next player clockwise
The dealer shuffles and deals out all the cards.
Deal in packets of four cards at a time.
Each player should end up with 12 cards in hand.

3-2. Bidding (Choosing the Game Type)

Doppelkopf can be played in several different game types.
The game type determines which cards are trump and how the teams are formed.

(1) Normal Game

In a Normal Game, the players who have the two D♣ cards become partners,
and they form the attacking team. The other two players form the defending team.
If one player has both D♣ cards, and no other game type is chosen,
that player alone becomes the attacking team and the other three players form the defending team.
In this case, the player who holds both D♣ cards does not need to reveal this.
Playing alone with both D♣ cards hidden is called a Silent Solo.

Note: Until a D♣ card is played, or a player reveals themselves by making
an announcement such as “Re” or “Contra” (see later), no one may reveal who holds the D♣ cards.

In a Normal Game, the following cards are trump:
- All 8 D cards
- All 8 B cards
- All Diamonds (A, 10, K, 9)

(2) Marriage

Marriage can be chosen only by a player who has both D♣ cards.
In a Marriage game, the player who wins the first trick (who is not the Marriage player)
becomes the partner of the player who holds the D♣ cards.
These two players become the attacking team, and the other two players become the defending team.
However, if the player with the D♣ cards wins each of the first three tricks,
that player must play alone against the other three players.
The trump cards in Marriage are the same as in the Normal Game.

(3) Armut

Armut (“poverty”) can be chosen only by a player who has three or fewer trump cards in hand.
The player who chooses Armut selects three cards from their hand and offers them face down to be exchanged.

The first player who agrees to exchange becomes that player’s partner;
they form the attacking team and play against the remaining two players, who form the defending team.

Note: When choosing the three cards to offer for exchange, you must include as many of your trump cards as possible.
The player who chose Armut first offers the exchange to the player on their left.

If that player accepts, they take the three face-down cards into their hand,
then choose any three cards from their own hand and return them face down.
The cards returned may include cards they just received, and they may include trump cards.

After the exchange is completed, play begins.

If the player on the left refuses, the Armut player offers the exchange to the next player to the left, and so on around the table.
If all three players refuse, the hands are thrown in and the cards are re-dealt.
In this case, the dealer does not change.

The trump cards in Armut are the same as in the Normal Game.

(4) Solo

In a Solo game, exactly one player (the soloist) plays against the other three players.
The player who chooses a Solo also chooses one of the following Solo types.
The trump cards differ depending on the type of Solo.

Solo Types

- D Solo
All 8 D cards are trump. No other cards are trump.

- B Solo
All 8 B cards are trump. No other cards are trump.

- Suit Solo
Choose one of the four suits (Clubs, Hearts, Spades, Diamonds) as the trump suit.
If Diamonds are chosen, the trump cards are the same as in the Normal Game.
If Clubs, Hearts, or Spades are chosen, then the A, 10, K, and 9 of the chosen suit
become trump in place of the A, 10, K, and 9 of Diamonds.
If Hearts are chosen as the trump suit, the Hearts A, K, and 9 replace the corresponding
Diamond cards in the trump set. All other trump cards are the same as in the Normal Game.

- No-Trump Solo
There are no trump cards. All cards follow their normal suit and rank.

Teams

In a Normal Game, the two players who receive the D♣ cards form the attacking team, and the other two players form the defending team.
If one player receives both D♣ cards and no other game type is chosen, that player alone is the attacking team and the other three players are the defending team.
In the other game types, the player who chose the game and that player’s partner (if any) form the attacking team. All remaining players form the defending team.

3-2-2. How to Bid

Starting with the player to the left of the dealer and proceeding clockwise,
each player states whether they want to play a game other than the Normal Game.
If a player wants to play anything other than the Normal Game, they say “I hold”.
If they do not, they say “Pass”.

After everyone has either “held” or “passed”, the bidding is resolved:
- If exactly one player has said “I hold”, that player chooses and announces their game type: Marriage, Armut, or Solo.
- If two or more players have said “I hold”, they announce their chosen game types in clockwise order starting from the player to the left of the dealer.
If all players pass, a Normal Game is played.
Among the game types, Solo is strongest, then Armut, then Marriage.
If two players choose game types of the same strength, priority is given to the player who announces first. Therefore, players who announce later must either choose a stronger game type than those already announced, or pass.
The last non-pass announcement determines the game type for the round.

3-3. Play

The player to the left of the dealer leads to the first trick, and the players then play a standard trick-taking game.

Goal of the play:
The goal is to win tricks whose cards contain as many card points as possible.
The attacking team wins the round if they score 121 card points or more.
The defending team wins if they score 120 card points or more.

Rules of play:
- The first card played to a trick is called the lead card. Its suit is the led suit.
- If you have one or more cards of the led suit, you must play a card of that suit.
- If you have no cards of the led suit, you may play any card.
- If no trump card is played to the trick, the trick is won by the strongest card of the led suit.
(See the strength ranking of the cards on the reference page.)
- If one or more trump cards are played, the trick is won by the strongest trump card.
- The winner of the trick takes all the cards played to that trick and places them
face down in front of them (or in front of their team).
- The winner of the trick leads to the next trick with any card they choose.
- If exactly the same card (same suit and rank) is played more than once in a single trick, the card that was played earlier in turn order counts as the stronger card.

3-4. Scoring for the Round

After all 12 tricks have been played, each team sums the card points of the cards they have taken in their tricks.
The team that has a majority of the card points – that is, 121 points or more –
wins the round. In case of a tie, the defending team wins.
The winning team gains positive victory points, and the losing team scores the same number of victory points as negative points.
The winning team’s victory points for the round are the sum of all conditions that apply from the following list (see also the section on Announcements).

4. Bonus Victory Points

The following bonus victory points are scored in addition to the victory points from simply winning or losing the round. They apply regardless of which team wins the round, unless otherwise noted.

[Fox] 1 point
If you win the trick containing an opponent’s A♦, your team scores 1 victory point.
Place any captured A♦ face up in front of you so that they can be checked later.
If the owner of the A♦ has not yet been revealed as a teammate or opponent,
place it face up for now. If they later prove to be your teammate, turn it face down.
When a player is playing alone against three opponents, the Fox bonus does not apply.

[Charlie] 1 point
If you win the last trick of the round with the B♣ card, your team gains 1 point.
If you play the B♣ card to the last trick and the opposing team wins the trick, the point goes to the opposing team.
If you play the B♣ card to the last trick and your partner wins the trick,
neither team scores the Charlie point.
When a player is playing alone against three opponents, the Charlie bonus does not apply.

[Doppelkopf] 1 point
If, in a single trick, all four cards played are only A cards or 10s (any suits), the team that wins that trick scores 1 point for Doppelkopf.
To remember this later, turn one of the cards in that trick face up in your score pile.

5. Announcements (Re, Contra, etc.)

Before or during play, the players may make the following announcements.
These announcements affect the victory points for the round.

General rules for announcements:
- Any player may announce on behalf of their team.
- You may announce even when it is not your turn to play a card.
- A team may not make the same announcement more than once.
- When a player makes any announcement, they must also publicly state

whether they belong to the attacking team or the defending team.

Re

Re is an announcement that can only be made by the attacking team.
If Re has been announced, the winning team will score additional victory points.
Re may be announced at any time before any card is played to the second trick
(that is, while you still have 11 or more cards in hand).
However, if the opposing team has already announced Contra, then Re may instead
be announced at any time before any card is played to the third trick (while you still have 10 or more cards in hand).

Contra

Contra is an announcement that can only be made by the defending team.
If Contra has been announced, the winning team will score additional victory points.
Contra may be announced at any time before any card is played to the second trick.
However, if the opposing team has already announced Re, then Contra may instead
be announced at any time before any card is played to the third trick.
If Contra has been announced and Re has not been announced, then the attacking team wins the round with 120 points or more, and the defending team loses the round unless they score at least 121 points.

“90”, “60”, “30”, and “Schwarz”

These are further announcements about how many points (or tricks) you expect the opposing team to fail to reach.

- “90” is announced when you believe the opposing team will score fewer than 90 card points.
- “60” is announced when you believe the opposing team will score fewer than 60 card points.
- “30” is announced when you believe the opposing team will score fewer than 30 card points.
- “Schwarz” is announced when you believe the opposing team will not win a single trick.

Each of these announcements increases the victory points scored by the winning team.

However, if the result contradicts an announcement, the team that made the failed
announcement loses the round, even if they scored 121 points or more.

Timing restrictions for these announcements:
To make any of these further announcements, your team must already have announced Re or Contra in this round.

In addition, announcements must be made in order from weaker to stronger:
first Re or Contra, then 90, then 60, then 30, and finally Schwarz.

If you wish and the timing allows it, you may make several announcements at once.

Example: The attacking team announces Re, 90, 60, and 30 all at once
before any card is played to the second trick.
Deadline for each announcement
The announcements must be made no later than the following times:
- 90: before any card is played to the third trick (while you have 10 or more cards)
- 60: before any card is played to the fourth trick (while you have 9 or more cards)
- 30: before any card is played to the fifth trick (while you have 8 or more cards)
- Schwarz: before any card is played to the sixth trick (while you have 7 or more cards)
If any of these announcements has been made and the opposing team has not yet
announced Re or Contra, then the opposing team may still announce Re or Contra
up to one trick later than the normal deadline for that announcement.

Example: The attacking team announces Schwarz before the third trick.
Since the normal deadline for Schwarz is the sixth trick, the defending team
may announce Contra as late as before the seventh trick.

Special case in Marriage games

In a Marriage game, players who have not yet clearly become members of either team may not make announcements.
However, if the soloist’s partner is determined on the second trick,
the deadline for all announcements is delayed by one trick.
If the partner is determined on the third trick, the deadlines are delayed by two tricks.

6. Victory Points

The following table shows the basic victory points for a round.
(These are in addition to the bonus points described above.)

- Base victory for the winning team: 1 point
- Defending-team victory (when the defending team wins; not used in 1-vs-3 games): 1 point
- 90 announcement succeeded (opponents score fewer than 90 points): 1 point
- 60 announcement succeeded (opponents score fewer than 60 points): 1 point
- 30 announcement succeeded (opponents score fewer than 30 points): 1 point
Schwarz announcement succeeded (opponents win no tricks): 1 point

When announcements are made, Re and Contra have the following victory point values:
- Re announced: 2 points
- Contra announced: 2 points

The further announcements have the following victory point values:
- 90 announced: 1 point
- 60 announced: 1 point
- 30 announced: 1 point
- Schwarz announced: 1 point

In addition, the following points are gained when the opposing team’s announcement fails:
- Opponents announced 90 but scored 120 or more: 1 point
- Opponents announced 60 but scored 90 or more: 1 point
- Opponents announced 30 but scored 60 or more: 1 point
- Opponents announced Schwarz but scored 30 or more: 1 point

If Contra has been announced and Re has not, then in case of a tie on card points, the attacking team is considered to have won the round.
If 90, 60, 30, or Schwarz has been announced and the result matches the announcement, then the team that made the announcement wins the round.
If the result does not match the announcement, then the opposing team wins the round, even if the announcing team scored 121 points or more.
If both teams have made announcements and neither team’s announcements are fulfilled, the round is a draw. In that case, only the points for “the opponents failed their announcement” are awarded.
All announcements by both teams that were valid for the result score their points.
For example, if both teams successfully announced 90, each team scores 1 point for its own 90 announcement, for a total of 2 points between them.

Note: A team does not score 90 (or 60, 30, Schwarz) simply by scoring fewer than that many card points when they win the round. These points only apply when the losing team scored fewer than the announced threshold.

- - - - - - 

Acknowledgements

In creating this special Doppelkopf deck and these rules, we received kind cooperation from the following people.

GameFarm website (Yuji Akagiri)
The Japanese rules on the GameFarm website were an important reference when preparing this rulebook.
(Original Japanese page: https://gamefarm.jp/rule/doppelkopf.html )

Saya and Trick-kuma
They kindly proofread the Japanese rule text.

Daiko Printing Co., Ltd. – Mr. Yamashita
Once again, they kindly supported this project with printing advice.

Design and Japanese rules: Sai Beppu
Contact: designallotment@gmail.com