Schadenfreude
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Schadenfreude (shaa·duhn·froy·duh, from German, literally 'harm-joy') is a trick-taking game where second-highest wins and you collect cards to score, but not too much! Go over 40 and you lose!
Contents #
- 50 cards
- 48 number cards (-3, -2, -1, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9)
- 2 wild cards (0, 10)
- Scoreboard 0-40
- 5 scoring markers
Modifications for using standard playing cards:
- A-9 as normal, with A as 1
- King as -3
- Queen as -2
- Jack as -1
- Red Joker as wild (10)
- Black Joker as wild (0)
Setup #
- 5-4 players (50 cards total)
- All cards are used
- 3 players (38 cards total)
- 36 number cards
- -3, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 in the four suits
- 2 wild cards
Deal #
Scoreboard is laid out, cards are dealt to each player face down.
- 5 players, 10 cards each
- 4 players, 12 cards each, set aside remaining 2
- 3 players, 12 cards each, set aside remaining 2
Each player chooses a marker and places it on the 0 position on the scoreboard.
Choose a starting player by some method and play begins
Objective #
The goal of the game is to get as close to 40 points without going over. If you exceed 40 points, you lose. (Meaning you will have to push your opponents over 40 to win).
Round Overview #
- The leading player chooses any card and plays it.
- Proceeding clockwise, the other players play a card in turn.
- The other players must play a card that follows (matches) the same suit that was played by the lead player.
- If you have more than one card of a suit, you can choose any of them to play.
- If you do not have any cards of the lead suit, you can play any card.
- Wildcards can follow any suit.
- Once all players have played a card, the trick is judged and card(s) are awarded.
- Return to 1 and repeat until all cards have been played from the players hands. Once your hands are empty, the round is over! Tally the player’s scores and play another round if necessary.
Trick Resolution #
Short version: Second-highest of lead suit wins, winner collects their card and any non-following cards.
Example:
| Player | Card | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|
| A | 4♥️ | Lead card, suit to follow is ♥️ | |
| 👑 | B | 7♥️ | Winner with second-highest of lead suit |
| C | 9♥️ | Highest of lead suit does not win | |
| D | 3♠️ | Not able to play hearts, so out of consideration |
Any cards played which did not follow suit cannot win. (Leave these cards on the table for now).
The player who played the second highest card in the lead suit gets the trick.
You collect the card you played and any other cards played which did not follow suit. All other cards are discarded. (If only one player played a card of the lead suit, they win the trick.)
The player who wins will lead the next trick.
| Player | Card | Collect or discard for winner | |
|---|---|---|---|
| A | 4♥️ | Discarded | |
| 👑 | B | 7♥️ | Acquired (as card B played) |
| C | 9♥️ | Discarded | |
| D | 3♠️ | Acquired (as non-following card) |
In the example, Player B wins the trick and collects 7♥️and 7♠️. The other cards are discarded and Player B leads the next trick.
Card Collection #
Short version: Set aside collected cards. Any collected pairs are discarded.
Set any collected cards aside in a score pile such that they are not mixed up with the cards in your hand. The numbers should be visible to all players.
If you collect a card and already have a card of that value in your score pile, discard them both.
If you would have 3 of the same card in your score pile, place two of them in the discard pile and keep one to score.
Example:
Cards collected: 7♠️, 1♥️, 9♦️
Previously collected cards: 7♥️, 3♠️
In this case you already have a 7, so discard the pair. Your score pile will be 3♠️, 1♥️, and 9♦️.
In the example, the player would have a current score of 16 from their collected cards. Play continues until all cards have been played from the players hand.
Wild Card Processing #
Wild cards can follow all suits. By playing this card, you treat it as the lead suit.
You are not obligated to play a wild card if you do not have any cards of the lead suit.
If a player leads with a wild card, the suit to follow becomes the first non-wild card played.
Nathan’s Note: Wild Cards always follow suit. The 10 can never win a trick, but it can transform a following 9 into the second-highest, forcing that player to take the hand they would have otherwise lost. A 0 can win the trick if following the lead and no other lead suit cards are played.
Score Calculation and Next Round #
Short version: Mark your round end score on the scorecard. Play until someone breaks 40.
A round ends when the players have played all cards from their hands. Each player moves their token on the scoreboard by the sum of the ranks of the cards in their score pile.
If a score on the scoreboard would go below 0, the player places their score marker at 0. If no player has scored more than 40 points, the next round is played.
All player’s cards, plus any discarded or unused cards, are collected, shuffled and dealt out.
After the first round, the player with the lowest score takes the lead. If there is more than one such player, they can choose the lead in any way they like.
End of the Game #
If any player has scored over 40 points, the game ends.
All players who scored over 40 points are eliminated and the remaining player closest to or at exactly 40 points is the winner. If there is more than one such player, none of these win, and the next closest player to 40 points is the winner.
If everyone scores over 40 points, everyone is eliminated.
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