Overview
LUZ is a trick-taking card game in which you must bet on the number of tricks you'll take during play, in spite of not knowing the exact values of your cards. Only your opponents will be able to see the fronts of your cards, and vice versa.
In 3/4/5 players game, a deck contains 8/10/12 values in each of the 5 colors: red, yellow (trump), green, blue, purple. (For the colour-blind, the yellow trump suit is the one identified with suns.)
Gameplay
The game is played over 4 deals. At the end of the 10th round (10 tricks), you will win or lose points depending on the bet you made.
A deal is made up of 4 phases:
1. Deal
Deal 10 cards to each player. This will leave 10 unused cards in the deck each deal.
The cards are sorted first by color, then by card value. The "+" card tells which side is the higher value.
2. Reveal and Bet
Starting with the first player, each player bets exactly how many tricks they think they will win using bet beads. Each Bet Bead (yellow) represents 1 trick. A Safety Bead (blue) represents 1 additional optional trick.
Tip from the rules: A safety bead can also be used to take a trick that an opponent thought they would win. Feel free to use them aggressively.
3. Play Tricks
During this phase, you'll play through 10 tricks.
The first player can lead a card of their choice. The colour of that card is called the required colour for the trick, because other players must follow with the same colour if they can.
If you don't have a card of the required colour, you may play a card of your choice.
When all players have played a card, the player who played the strongest card wins the trick and leads the next trick.
The strongest card is the yellow (sun) card of highest value, if any. If no yellow cards were played, the card of the required colour (that the first player led) is strongest.
The deal ends when all players have played all their cards, after the 10th trick.
4. Scoring =
If you won exactly the number of tricks you bet in the 1st/2nd/3rd/4th deal, you score 5/10/15/20 points if you used a safety bead, or 10/20/30/40 points if you did not.
If not, you lose 5 points for each trick that you overbet or underbet.
The player with the highest score at the end of the 4th deal wins the game. In case of a tie, the one who scored the most points during the final deal wins. If the tie persists, the one closest to the First Player in the turn order wins.
Three-Player Games
During the fourth deal only, the player who currently has the most points bets first. They also start the first trick during the Play Trick phase.
In the case of a tie, the player closest to the First Player in the turn order wins.
