Trigami

Full rules

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

Overview

Trigami is the three-player version of Bugami, designed by David Parlett. It is a trick-taking game: a trick is one card from each player, and the highest card of the suit led wins it. You score for every trick you win, but each player first chooses a bug suit – a suit they don't want to take – and every card of it in their tricks cuts their score down. Trigami adds two bolder bids: Turnip, where you take the suit of a hidden card as your bug suit, and Doublets, where you promise to take no bugs at all. Both double your score.

• Players: 3.
• You need: one standard 52-card deck without jokers, paper and pencil.

Designed by David Parlett – original rules: Trigami.

The cards

1. Take out three whole ranks – Parlett suggests the 9s, 8s and 7s. These 12 cards are the bid cards. Each player takes all four cards of one rank, so everyone has one bid card of each suit.
2. The remaining 40 cards are used for play. In each suit they rank from high to low: A K Q J 10 6 5 4 3 2. There are no trumps.

Setup

1. Choose the first dealer at random; after each deal the next player to the left deals.
2. Shuffle the 40 playing cards and deal them clockwise in batches: - 3 cards to each player, - then 4 cards to each player, - then 1 card face down to the middle of the table, - then 3 cards to each player, - then 3 more cards to each player.
3. Everyone has 13 cards. The card in the middle is the turnip; nobody may look at it yet.

Bidding

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.

Instead of an ordinary bid, you can make one of two special bids:

• Turnip: say "Turnip" and leave all your bid cards face down. Your bug suit will be the suit of the turnip card, whatever it turns out to be. Your score counts double.
• Doublets ("double or quits"): announce "Doublets" as you turn your bid card face up. You promise to take no cards of your bug suit at all. If you succeed, your score counts double; if you take even one bug, you score nothing.

After the bidding, turn the turnip face up and leave it in the middle as a reminder. It is added to the last trick and goes to whoever wins it – it only matters if it is of that player's 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) an opponent's bugs onto a trick they will win.
3. The highest card of the suit led wins the trick. The winner keeps it face down and leads to the next trick.
4. After 13 tricks, the turnip joins the last trick.

Scoring

At the end of the deal, count your tricks and your bugs:

• 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.
• No tricks: 50 points.
• Every trick: if you won all 13 tricks, you score 100 without dividing, and both opponents score 0, whatever they bid.
• Turnip: work out your score as above, then double it (never double first and divide afterwards).
• Doublets: if you took no bugs, score 40 per trick (100 for no tricks); if you took one or more bugs, you score 0.
• Winning every trick after a Turnip or Doublets bid scores 200.

Example: The turnip is dealt face down. Anna bids Turnip, Ben reveals spades and announces Doublets, Carla reveals hearts. The turnip is turned up: the 5♦ – so Anna's bug suit is diamonds. Anna wins 4 tricks with 1 diamond: 40 ÷ 1 = 40, doubled 80. Ben wins 5 tricks without a single spade: 5 × 40 = 200. Carla wins 4 tricks with 3 hearts: 40 ÷ 3 = 13.3, so 13.

Winning the game

Add up the scores after each deal. The first player to reach 500 points wins; this usually takes about ten deals. If two pass 500 in the same deal, the higher total wins.

Tips for beginners

• Count the cards: every suit has exactly ten, and once the turnip is face up, every other card is in one of the three hands.
• Choose a bug suit you are short in; a void (no cards of that suit) lets you discard other suits whenever it is led.
• Bid Doublets only with a very safe hand – few or no cards of your bug suit and no way to be forced to win a trick full of it.
• Turnip is a gamble. The hidden card is more likely to be of a suit you hold few of – so it pays best when you are short in two or three suits.
• With the turnip in the last trick, think twice before winning the final trick if it is of your bug suit.

Variants

• Other bid ranks: any three ranks can serve as bid cards; Parlett only suggests 9, 8 and 7.
• Plain Bugami for three: play Bugami with all 52 cards, 17 each, bid cards from a second deck and without Turnip or Doublets.