How it plays
Two partnerships compete to empty their hands and collect valuable cards. Lead a single card or a combination, such as a pair or run; following plays normally have to match the combination and beat it. After everyone else passes, the last player to play collects the trick and leads again.
Four special cards change those exchanges, including a Dog that passes the lead to your partner and a Phoenix that can fill a gap in a combination. Calling Tichu before your first play stakes one hundred points on being the first person out.
Decisions you’ll make
Before play, pass one card to each other player. Strengthening your partner can be more useful than keeping every good card, but you also need to leave yourself combinations you can actually shed.
Winning the current trick may be less useful than allowing your partner to retain the lead. Conversely, a rival’s Tichu call gives your team a reason to block that player from going out first.
Learning the game
Involved: combination rules, four special cards, team tactics and scoring commitments interact.