Dritzak!

It has oft been discussed that there exist no such written rules to the highly popular card game Dritzak. Your first reaction to this is most assuredly one of incredulity. How can such a game rooted in so much historical significance not have a written set of rules? This question will be answered by giving a brief history of the game and subsequently explain the rules as we now understand them. Bear in mind that I will only be touching the surface of the long, magnificent, and often times dark tale as a preface to the rules which will be presented.

History of the Game:

Legend has it that the true name of the game cannot be uttered using any human phonemes. The name Dritzak was the closest that mere mortals would ever come to a pronunciation. Almost all mythologies present some sort of origination story for Dritzak. The most well known however, is probably that of Greek mythology. As the story goes, Dritzak was created by Cronus. Cronus declared that this game was so perfect, not even his own son, Zeus, could play. Outraged, Zeus overthrew his father and the Titans, ushering in the age of the Olympians, and Dritzak was decreed to be the game of the gods. Later, Prometheus tricked Zeus into teaching him the rules, and subsequently taught the game to humans. Zeus, in a state of unrivaled fury, punished Prometheus by chaining him to a rock, where his liver would be devoured every day by an eagle and regrow every night. Nonetheless, Dritzak had arrived to mankind and it would forever alter the course of history.

The earliest records of Dritzak are found in the Minoan civilization circa 2000 B.C. The game was only played among the ruling class and for anyone else to play was punishable by death. The game spread quickly with the rise of the Greek city-states. This period is often known as the golden age of Dritzak. It became acceptable for all people to play. Many books were written about the game. Mathematicians tried to devise winning strategies; philosophers pondered the metaphysical properties; politicians sometimes even settled quarrels by playing. However, with the rise of the Roman Empire Dritzak became once again a game of privilege, only played by the senators and eventually the Caesar. The commoners were once again forbidden to play and eventually public knowledge of the rules disappeared altogether. Even the multitude of books written on the subject were wiped out when the Library of Alexandria burned to the ground in the first century. When Rome fell, so too, it seemed, had all knowledge of the once magnificent game.

It wasn't until the late 19th century that a book, detailing the rules for an ancient game, named Dritzak, was discovered in an Egyptian Monastery. It had been fervently guarded by the monks there for centuries. Historians of all backgrounds were amazed at the find. The book was thoroughly studied and dissected. Eventually, through word of mouth, the game spread, with each historian bringing the game back to his or her homeland. I will not delve into the modern history of the game, as I am sure you are mostly familiar with it. Perhaps that is the topic of another time, as it has been at the root of both evil and good, war and peace; it has both divided and unified nations and peoples. As for right now, that will suffice. Now onto the rules.

The rules of Dritzak:

Dritzak is a card game of mostly skill. There are of course minor factors of luck, but a skillful player is able to win with whatever hand they are dealt.

You will need:

• One standard deck of 52 playing cards.
• 2-5 players. (Variations exist for more players and will be discussed in the rule variations section.)

Objective:

• Each player is dealt a hand. The first player to play all of their cards is the winner.

The Deal:

• One player is selected to be the dealer.
• The dealer will deal in whatever way they see fit so long as each player receives three face down cards and six additional cards that will form the players hand. The three face down cards may not be seen by any player. The additional six cards can be dealt face up or face down at the dealers whim.
• The player picks up and looks at all six hand cards.
• The player will choose three cards from their hand and place them face up on top of the face down cards. These cards will remain there until the second stage of the game.
• The remaining cards are placed in the middle to form the draw pile.

Stage 1:

• Play starts so that the player with the lowest card in their hand is allowed to play first. This is generally accomplished by the dealer asking if anyone has 3s, then 4s, then 5s, etc.
• If more than one player shares the lowest card, then the starting player is chosen so that the maximum number of the lowest card can be played to start the game. For example, players A, B, and C are in a circle, with C playing after B, who in turn plays after A and so on. Players A and B both have threes while C does not. Thus, A will start play with a 3 followed by B.
• Note: While it is not expressly forbidden, it is considered poor form for B in the above example to not play a 3 during the start of the game, unless doing so creates a really funny situation.
• If there is more than one possible way to create the greatest number of lowest cards played, for example a four player game where the players sitting opposite from each other each have 3s and the other players do not, first play goes to the winner of a best of three rock, paper, scissors match. If more complicated situations arise, get creative.
  
• Play moves in a clockwise direction.
• A player may play any card so long as it matches or beats the card already down with two exceptions: a player may play a 2 or a 10 at any time. Aces are considered high.
  
• The 2 acts as a start over card. A 2 may be played on any card and any card may be played on a two. The 10 is referred to as the clear card. It may be played on any card. After doing so, the player discards the entire pile of cards and is allowed to play again with any card in their hand.
• If a player is unable to match or beat the top card, and does not have a 2 or a 10, they must pick up the entire pile. The player to the left then begins play again choosing from any card in their hand. A player may pick up a pile even if they have a legal move for strategic purposes. However, if it is your play and there is no pile, you are forced to play a card.
• If you possess two or more cards of the same value, you may play them all on your turn, assuming they match or beat the top card.
• After you play, draw cards from the draw pile so that your hand size is back to three. If after you play you have three or more cards in your hand, do not draw new cards. In addition, after playing a 10, you may draw a card if you only have two cards in your hand before playing again.
• If at any time all four of the same value card are played directly after each other, either by one player or multiple players, it acts as if a 10 and the pile is cleared with the player who completed the set taking another turn. If a player has all four of one value card, they may not be played unless they match or beat the top card in the play pile.
  
• Play continues in this manner until the draw pile is empty and a player plays the last card in their hand.
  

Stage 2:

• Once the draw pile is depleted, play continues in the same manner as stage 1, except no new cards are drawn.
  
• Once all cards have been played from a players hand, the player plays from the face up cards in front of them. If no face up card can be played, the player picks up the pile and must play all cards in hand before being able to play from the face up cards again.
• A player is allowed to play more than one face up card at a time assuming the cards are of the same value. A player may not play the last card from their hand and a matching face up card at the same time. Face up cards may not be played until the turn after a player rids themselves of all hand cards.
• Once all face up cards have been played, the player selects a face down card to play on their next turn. If this card does not make a legal play, the player picks up the pile, including the offending card and puts them in their hand.
• The player cannot play another face down card until all cards have been played from their hand.

Winning the Game:

• When one player plays their last card so that none remain face down or in their hands, they are declared the winner.
• In the event that one is playing, it is not possible for a female to win Dritzak. It is the goal of the player to her right to make sure she does not win. When a male does end up inevitably winning, all the males are considered to have won. Since it is impossible for a female to win, whenever a game ends with a female playing her last card, it is declared that she has cheated and the win does not count. Another game must be played in order to guarantee a fair ending.
• There exists a special victory condition. That is when a player plays the second to last face down card and reveals a 10. This immediately clears the pile and he plays his last face down card and wins. This is known as the walk-off Deegan. It is an acceptable reason to gloat. Other variations of this include the double, triple and quadruple walk-off Deegan. For these conditions to apply, the last two, three or four cards played before the final face down card must all be 10's. Having a 10 as the final card played does not count towards any walk-off.

Rule Variations:

• Skip Rules - If a player plays the same value card as the top card, the next player in line is skipped over and misses their turn. If two of the same value card are played on the same value top card, the next two players are skipped. If playing any number of same value cards causes all four to be together in the play pile, the pile clears with the player completing the set playing again. No players are skipped. Note that a player must play on a same value card already played in order to skip. Playing two of the same valued card on a lower valued card will not skip any players.
• Rule of 7s - When a player plays a 7, the next player must play a card that either matches or is lower than 7. This rule applies only when a 7 is the top card and is no longer in effect if the next player plays lower.
• 6 player game - since there are insufficient cards to deal 9 each with 6 players, only deal 5 cards to each players hand. Each player puts three cards face up and keeps a hand of 2. After a play, a player draws back up to two cards if necessary.
• Multiple decks - it is possible to play with multiple decks for larger groups. Play should be exactly the same except for how to handle getting a set of cards to act as a 10. Three possibilities exist: any four same face value cards, all 8 (or 12, 16 etc), and any four same value cards of unique suites.
  
• Reversal - Matching the top card of the play pile causes the direction of play to reverse. If play is moving clockwise, switch to counter-clockwise and vice verse. It only reverses once for one player playing doubles on a same value card. Clearing a pile by completing the set still reverses play.
  

Miscellaneous Notes:

• While it may seem random, deciding on which face down card to play most certainly is not. The value of each card is known by the one they call Shijo. If you are blessed enough to be in his vicinity during play, you may ask for his advice of which card to play. If the Shijo is feeling benevolent, he may even reveal which card to play. Even if he is not at your location, he is still able to give you advice if you ask. You must be strong with the Shijo to get accurate results, however. Any misplay is a result of your own weakness.
• The walk off Deegan is rare enough by itself and certainly reason to celebrate. However, the double walk-off will most assuredly amaze all who are watching. The triple walk-off is likely to cause every person withing half a mile to fall into a stunned silence for upwards of five minutes, whether they were watching the game or not. The quadruple walk-off has never happened in recorded history. There is a legend of a man who once accomplished the feat and immediately began to glow and ascended into the sky, never to be seen from again.

And there you have it. The most comprehensive rule set for Dritzak on the Internet.

Good Luck, and may the Shijo be with you!