The Last Card

This game is played with a special deck of 64 cards (40 are used for 3 players, 52 for 4 players, 64 for 5 players), numbered from 1 to 16 in each of four suits (blue circles, green squares, red triangles, purple stars). All but 4 cards are dealt to the players; the top card of the remaining 4 is turned up to determine trumps. This is a trick-taking game. One player leads to the first trick and may play any card in his hand. Succeeding players must follow these rules (in order) when playing: (1) Must play a card of the same suit that was led; (2) If player does not have the suit led, she must play a trump card; (3) If player cannot do either rule (1) or (2), he may play any suit. In addition, once it is determined which of the three foregoing rules applies to a player, she, if possible, must play a card that has a higher numeric value than the highest-valued card already played to the trick. If she cannot play a higher card, then she may play any card that follows the applicable rule. When all players have one card left in their hands, the round ends. Each player’s score is the number of tricks he caught times the numerical value of the “Last Card” remaining in his hand (thus the title of the game).