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Bruus

Trick-Taking Card Games

Bruus is a trick-taking card game from northern Germany that was probably invented over 300 years ago and was called Brusbart until the twentieth century. Four people play in two partnerships with partners sitting opposite, using a 36-card pack, and the side that takes five of the nine tricks wins the hand, with a game lasting twelve matchsticks. Its cards have an unusual ranking in which a few matadors such as the jack called Spitz and the king called Bruus outrank everything, the sevens have a special role, and many cards are duds that cannot beat anything. Brusbart was once Hamburg's national game and gave rise to a family of similar games across northern Europe, but today Bruus is played only in a handful of villages around Husum, in tournaments and in choir clubs. Its features point to descent from the medieval game Karnöffel.

Facts
Sport
Game Type (category)
Card Game 1
Game Type (category)
Trick-Taking Game 1
Classification
Player Count
Team-Based (Two Teams) 1
Connections

Derived From

Karnöffel, Games
Source Pagat (John McLeod): Bruus
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Found In

Also in Geography Atlas: where this subject is found.

Source Pagat (John McLeod): BruusIntroduction [origin-region]
Quote, Introduction [origin-region]
Bruus is a north German game
Sources
1. Pagat (John McLeod): Bruus
  • Introduction
    Bruus is a north German game which was probably invented over 300 years ago.
  • Players and Objective
    There are 36 cards and nine tricks. The team which takes five tricks wins the hand.
  • Players and Objective [player-count]
    Four people play, two against two in partnerships. Partners sit opposite one another.
  • Introduction [origin-region]
    Bruus is a north German game
  • Derived From: Karnöffel, Introduction [derived-from]
    one of several clues that point to its descent from Europe’s oldest card game, Karnöffel
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