Wippen

Full rules

1. Overview
2. The cards
3. Setup
4. Playing a turn
5. Wip – emptying the pot
6. Later deals
7. End of a game
8. Scoring
9. Winning the game
10. Advanced rules
11. Tips for beginners
12. Variants

Overview

Wippen is a simple fishing game from Belgium, where it is often the first card game children learn. A few cards lie face up in the middle of the table – the pot. On your turn you play one card from your hand: if a card in the pot has the same rank, you capture it; if not, your card joins the pot. Whoever empties the pot makes a wip and scores a bonus point. At the end of a game, points go for the most cards, the most spades, the 10♦, the 2♠ and every Ace.

The basic game needs no counting at all. The advanced rules add adding up and building, and then Wippen is very close to Casino and a cousin of Scopa.

• Players: 2–6, each for themselves.
• You need: a standard 52-card deck without jokers (two decks for 5 or 6 players), and paper and pen for the score.

The cards

In the basic game only the rank matters: a 7 captures a 7, a Queen captures a Queen. Suits play no part in capturing – they only count when scoring (spades, the 10♦ and the 2♠).

For the advanced rules the cards also have a value: Ace = 1, 2 to 10 = their number. Jack, Queen and King have no number; they can only capture a card of the same rank.

Setup

1. Dealer: choose a dealer. Dealing and play go clockwise.
2. Deal: the dealer gives every player two cards face down, starting on the left. Just before giving themselves their two, the dealer puts two cards face up in the middle. Then everything is done once more. Now every player holds four cards, and four cards lie face up in the middle: the pot.
3. The rest: the other cards stay face down beside the dealer for the later deals.
4. Your pile: everyone keeps the cards they capture face down in a pile in front of them.

The same dealer deals the whole deck. How many deals that takes depends on the number of players:

With 6 players, take the four Kings of one deck out first, so the cards come out even. (Two decks also work for 2–4 players: then remove four Kings as well.) With two decks, each copy of the 10♦ and the 2♠ scores.

After the deal (two players), the table looks like this:

Playing a turn

The player to the dealer's left begins; then it's each player's turn in clockwise order. On your turn, play one card from your hand face up:

• Capture: if a card in the pot has the same rank as your card, take it. Put both cards – yours and the one you took – face down on your pile.
• Add to the pot: if you can't capture, lay your card face up in the pot. Your turn is over.

If you can capture, you must. You may only add a card to the pot when none of your cards matches a card in the pot. If several of your cards can capture, choose one.

Example: The pot shows 7♥ · 3♣ · Q♠ · 9♦. Anna holds 3♠ 5♥ K♣ 10♦. Her 3♠ matches the 3♣, so she must capture: she takes the 3♣ and puts it with her 3♠ on her pile. Next, Ben holds no 7, 9 or Queen – he adds his 4♥ to the pot.

Wip – emptying the pot

If your capture takes the last card from the pot, so that the pot is empty, you have made a wip: it scores 1 extra point. As a reminder, put one of the captured cards face up or crosswise in your pile. You can make several wips in one game.

The next player then has no choice: they must lay a card into the empty pot. If the following player can capture that card, the pot is empty again – another wip.

No wips in the last deal: once all cards have been dealt, emptying the pot no longer counts.

Example: Only the 8♣ is left in the pot. Carla plays her 8♥, takes the 8♣ – the pot is empty. That's a wip; she lays the 8♣ crosswise in her pile. Dan now has to put a card into the empty pot.

Later deals

When everyone has played all four cards, the dealer deals four more cards to each player, two at a time – but none to the pot this time. Play on in the same way until the whole deck is used up.

End of a game

When the last card of the last deal has been played, the player who made the last capture also gets all cards still lying in the pot – even if other players added cards after that capture. This is never a wip.

Scoring

Each player counts their pile. There are 11 points in every game, plus the wips:

If two players tie for most cards or most spades, they share: 1 point each.

Example: Anna and Ben play a game of two. Anna has 28 cards, 6 spades, the 10♦, one Ace and two wips: 2 + 2 + 1 + 2 = 7 points. Ben has 24 cards, 7 spades, the 2♠ and three Aces: 2 + 1 + 3 = 6 points.

Winning the game

Write down the points after each game. For the next game, the deal passes to the left. The first player to reach 52 points (as many as there are cards in a deck) wins; if several reach it in the same game, the highest total wins. For a shorter session, agree on a lower target or on a number of games beforehand.

Advanced rules

Once everyone knows the basic game, add these rules – one at a time, if you like. Agree before you start which ones you play.

Adding up

You may also capture two or more pot cards that add up to the value of your card. With a 9 you can take a 2, a 3 and a 4 together (2 + 3 + 4 = 9). Jacks, Queens and Kings can never be part of a sum.

With one card you may take everything that fits at once: every card of the same rank and every group that adds up to your card.

Example: The pot shows 7♣ · 3♥ · 10♠ · 6♦ · 5♠. Ben plays the 10♦ and takes the 10♠ and 7♣ + 3♥ in one go. The 6♦ and 5♠ (11 together) stay.

Building

Instead of capturing, you can build: put a card from your hand onto one or more pot cards to form a pile, and announce its total – "for 9". You may only build for a value you hold in your hand. On a later turn you capture the whole build with that card.

• Anyone holding a card of that value may capture the build – so it's a risk.
• The cards in a build are locked: they can no longer be taken one by one, only the whole build at once.
• While you have a build in the pot, you may not simply add a card to the pot. You must capture, build on or build something new.
• Capture your build before your four cards are used up.
• When you capture a build, you may take any other cards that match its value at the same time.

Example: The pot shows 2♥ · 3♠ · 6♦ · 3♣. Carla holds 4♣ and 9♥. She puts the 2♥ and 3♠ together, lays her 4♣ on top and says "for 9". On her next turn she captures the build with the 9♥ – and also takes the 6♦ and 3♣, which make 9 as well.

Raising a build

You can raise an existing build – yours or another player's – by adding a card from your hand to it. You need a card of the new total in your hand. Raising takes your whole turn.

Example: Carla has built "for 9" (2 + 3 + 4). Dan holds an Ace and a 10. He puts the Ace on the build and says "for 10". Now only a 10 can take it.

Double builds

A build can contain its value twice – two groups that each add up to the value, or one group plus a card of that value. This is a double build: it can never be raised again, so it's safer.

Example: The pot shows 2♠ · 3♦. Anna holds two 5s. She puts the 2♠ and 3♦ together (5), lays one 5 on top and says "for 5". Next turn she takes it all with her other 5.

Jacks, Queens and Kings can't be built or doubled: if three of the same face card were taken together, the fourth could never leave the pot.

Tips for beginners

• Grab the big cards. The 10♦ is worth 2 points, the 2♠ and every Ace 1 – take them whenever you can.
• Count the spades. In a game of two, 7 spades are enough to be sure of the 2 points.
• Don't leave one card alone. A single card in the pot is an easy wip for the next player.
• Think about the end. The last capture of the game takes all the leftover cards – that can decide who has the most cards.
• Learning together: for the first games with children, everyone plays with their cards face up and helps each other.

Variants

All optional – agree before you start.

• Most cards wins: the simplest form for small children – no points, just count the cards; the biggest pile wins.
• Stealing: everyone keeps their captured pile face up, with the card they last played on top. If you hold a card of the same rank as the top card of another player's pile, you may play it and steal their whole pile.
• Face cards take all: a Jack, Queen or King takes all cards of its rank from the pot at once (a rule from Belgian clubs).
• Builds plus loose cards: a build may be added to other pot cards like a single card: a build "for 4" and a loose 2 can be taken with a 6.
• Locked with its value: a build that already contains a card of its own value may not be raised.