The Perfect Card Game

[Changabooniggiwan]

About 15 years ago a friend and I, both idle and unemployed, decided to create the perfect card game. We were dissatisfied with others we had played for various reasons, and we wanted a game that met some basic criteria-

Luck was to be a minimal element. A poor hand should not mean an automatic loss, indeed there should not be such a thing as a poor hand. Strategic play should be paramount, but not limiting (e.g. a given hand should present various avenues of play, not a single dictated 'best play'). An element of psychology (bluff and counter-bluff) was desirable.

To that end we tried various things, and eventually came up with what we believed was the perfect game. I recall that we played it continuously for a year or more, all the while amazed by the simplicity, nuance and beauty of the thing we had created.

I am no longer in contact with that friend, and time, travel and life have all taken their toll on my memory. I now cannot recall the rules of the game we created, and am left with just a few scant flashes:

The game was played with a full 52-card pack and two Jokers.

The game was for 2 players, each of whom initially received half of the shuffled pack.

The card values were cyclic - A 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 J Q K then back to A, 2, 3...

The objective was to get rid of all your cards first.

The cards were discarded by 'following on' other discarded cards, but I forget how.

There were, at times, more than one pile to discard onto.

Sevens were important for some reason.

It was possible to do something nasty to your opponent. The sort of play that would make them swear loudly and stamp around the room.

Sometimes you could discard face down cards and your opponent would have to decide if you were being honest.

Now, we told a lot of people about the game. It became quite the rage amongst Exeter's dole-queue community, and I wonder if it has survived my own memory loss.

Does it ring a bell with anyone? If not, can it be reconstructed?

[Trojan Horse]

Tenacious D forgot the best song in the world, and you forgot the best card game in the world. You two should get together and commiserate.

[LordKinbote]

[lexprod]

I made a card game in high school that got pretty popular, called Ace of Spades. At first it started as just keep drawing cards from the pile until someone gets the Ace of Spades, but we kept adding more and more rules until it became this massive game with a few alternate win conditions and some sabotage. Still, if anyone draws the Ace, they win XD
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I'll have a P please...