Rules of the game Durak

There are two main types of Durak game - durak and movable durak. The game can be played by two to four people or a team of 2 on 2. If you don't know the rules of this truly popular game, you can easily learn them. Let's start with the classic Durak.

Durak. Rules

The number of cards in the deck is 36, this is the most common option, but you can play with 24 or 52 cards.

Basic provisions

Each player is dealt 6 cards, and the next one is opened and becomes the trump card. It is placed face down, that is, open, under the remaining deck. The goal of the game is to get rid of all your cards. The last player with cards remaining loses.

The hierarchy of cards is established as follows:

• the lowest - 6;
• then come the cards with numerical values in ascending order 7-8-9-10;
• jack;
• queen;
• king;
• ace.

Trump cards have an advantage, they can beat any non-trump card, for example, a trump 6 beats a non-trump Ace.

Order of moves

• The right to make the first move belongs to the player who received the lowest trump;
• moves are made clockwise to the player sitting to the left;
• you can move with any card you have. Typically, you move with the smallest non-trump card or pairs, for example, with two eights or three nines. You can lay them all at once, or one by one;
• opponents can throw in to the defender either cards of the same rank as the attack or cards of the same rank as the ones he was fighting;
• you can only fight with a higher-ranking card or a trump card;
• if it's not possible to defend, you need to take all the cards, including the thrown ones and those that could have been defended;
• at the player's discretion, it is allowed to immediately take the cards with which the attack was made, even without attempting to defend;
• throwing in more than 5 cards is prohibited. The maximum number for a throw-in in Durak is always 6;
• at the end of the game, when the deck is empty, it is not allowed to throw in more cards than the defending player has. For example, if they have 4 cards left, only one can be thrown in, and no more than 3;
• after the throw-in, all players in turn draw cards from the deck so that each has six. If there are not enough cards in the deck, play with those that remain;
• the last player with at least one card left is considered the loser;
• if after the throw-in there are no cards left in the deck and among the players, a draw is declared.

Movable Durak. Rules

The main principles of playing Movable Durak coincide with the rules of Durak. The main difference in this variant is that if a player has nothing to defend with, they can transfer the turn to the opponent. To do this, they need to have a card of the same rank as the one that was played.

For example, if the attack was made with the seven of diamonds. If the defender has a seven of any other suit, they can decide whether to defend or transfer it to the opponent. In case of transfer, they need to place their card next to the one on the field, and the player sitting to the left will defend.

Conditions to be observed in Movable Durak:

• if a participant starts defending, transfer is prohibited;
• it is prohibited to transfer to the opponent a greater number of cards than they have in their hand, this rule applies at the end of the game when the deck is empty.

In Movable Durak, you can play with a "pass." In this case, the player is allowed to show a trump card of the same rank as the one played to them, but not lay it on the table, and use it next time.

Team Durak

In Team Durak, players play in pairs of 2 on 2. Partners are players sitting opposite each other. A mandatory condition is that members of the same team are not allowed to throw in cards to each other; they play as a team against opponents, helping each other.

If one of the team members exits, opponents take turns playing against the remaining representative of the team. The remaining team member also takes turns playing against opponents.