Bugami

Full rules

1. Overview
2. The cards
3. Setup
4. Choosing your bug suit
5. Playing
6. Scoring
7. Winning the game
8. Tips for beginners
9. Variants

Overview

Bugami is a trick-taking game in the spirit of Hearts, designed by David Parlett. A trick is one card from each player; the highest card of the suit led wins it. You score for every trick you win – but each player secretly chooses one suit as their bug suit, and every card of that suit in your tricks cuts your score down. Once the bug suits are revealed, the fun is to push each player's bugs into their own tricks while keeping yours out. Alternatively, you can bid to take no tricks at all.

• Players: 3–7, best with 4 or 5. Everyone plays for themselves.
• You need: one standard 52-card deck without jokers for play; from a second deck (an old or incomplete one will do), four bid cards per player – one of each suit. Paper and pencil for the scores.

Designed by David Parlett – original rules: Bugami. For three players there is also the sharper Trigami.

The cards

In each suit the cards rank from high to low: A K Q J 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2. There are no trumps.

The bid cards are only used to show your choice. Give each player one card of each suit (♠ ♥ ♦ ♣) from the second deck; their ranks don't matter. If you have no second deck, each player can write their bid on a slip of paper instead.

Setup

1. Choose the first dealer at random; after each deal the next player to the left deals.
2. Shuffle the playing deck and deal it out one card at a time, clockwise, until everyone has the same number. Put any cards left over face down to one side; they go to the winner of the last trick.

Choosing your bug suit

Look at your hand and decide which suit you least want to win. That is your bug suit, and its cards are your bugs. Put the bid card of that suit face down in front of you. When everyone is ready, all turn their chosen bid cards face up at the same time. They stay face up, so everybody knows everybody's bug suit.

Misère: instead of choosing a suit, you can bid to win no tricks at all. To do this, leave all your bid cards face down when the others reveal theirs.

Several players may choose the same bug suit.

Playing

1. The player to the dealer's left leads – plays the first card of the first trick.
2. The others play one card each, clockwise. You must follow suit – play a card of the suit led – if you can. If you can't, you may play any card; this is your chance to discard (throw) another player's bugs onto a trick.
3. The highest card of the suit led wins the trick. The winner keeps it face down and leads to the next trick.
4. Any cards left over after the deal are added to the last trick and go to its winner.

Example: Anna's bug suit is hearts, Ben's is spades. Carla leads the 7♦ and Dan follows with the 3♦. Anna has to follow with a diamond and plays the K♦ – the highest so far. Ben has no diamonds and discards the Q♥. Anna wins the trick – and has taken one of her own bugs.

Scoring

At the end of the deal, count your tricks and your bugs (cards of your bug suit in your tricks):

• Normal score: 10 points per trick, divided by the number of bugs you took; drop any fraction. Four tricks with 1 bug score 40, with 2 bugs 20, with 3 bugs 13.
• Clean tricks: if you took tricks but no bugs, each trick scores 20 instead of 10 (four clean tricks = 80).
• No tricks: if you took no tricks at all (without bidding misère), you score 30.
• All tricks: if you took every trick, you score 100, whatever bugs they contain. Everyone else scores nothing, except a successful misère bidder.
• Misère: if you bid misère and took no tricks, you score 100; if you took even one trick, you score nothing.

Example (4 players): Anna (hearts) took 5 tricks with 2 hearts: 50 ÷ 2 = 25. Ben (spades) took 4 tricks without a spade: 4 × 20 = 80. Carla (diamonds) took 4 tricks with 3 diamonds: 40 ÷ 3 = 13.3, so 13. Dan bid misère and took no tricks: 100.

Winning the game

Add up the scores after each deal. The first player to reach an agreed target – for example 250 points – wins; if several pass it in the same deal, the highest total wins.

Tips for beginners

• Pick a bug suit you are short in (few or no cards). Then you can't be forced to win tricks with your own bugs, and once you are out of it you can throw other suits away.
• Watch the other bug suits: when you can't follow suit, discard a card of someone else's bug suit on a trick they are going to win.
• Taking a few clean tricks is worth a lot: two clean tricks (40) beat five tricks with two bugs (25).
• Misère is good with a hand full of low cards, but one high card you can't get rid of can ruin it.

Variants

• Jokers: add one or more jokers to the deck. A joker counts as a bug for whoever takes it. You may discard a joker only when you can't follow suit. If you lead a joker, it wins the trick, and the others may play any card.
• Shotgun Wedding: players who chose the same bug suit automatically become partners for that deal. They keep their tricks together, and each of them scores what the partnership scores as a whole. Misère bidders always play and score on their own.