Elfern

Elfern
"An old game that's very easy and enjoyable"[1]
Deuce of Leaves
King of Leaves
Ober of Leaves
Unter of Leaves
Ten of Leaves
The 'honours' in the suit of Leaves.
OriginGermany
TypePoint-trick
Players2
Cards32
DeckGerman or French
Rank (high→low)A K Q J 10 9 8 7 or
A K O U 10 9 8 7
PlayAlternate
Related games
Bohemian Schneider

Elfern or Elfmandeln, is a very old, German and Austrian 6-card, no-trump, trick-and-draw game for two players using a 32-card, French-suited Piquet pack or German-suited Skat pack. The object is to win the majority of the 20 honours: the Ace, King, Queen, Jack and Ten in a Piquet pack or the Ace, King, Ober, Unter and Ten in a Skat pack. Elfern is at least 250 years old and a possible ancestor to the Marriage family of card games, yet it is still played by German children.[2][3]

  1. ^ Cite error: The named reference Anon1988 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  2. ^ Reynolds (1987), p. 287.
  3. ^ Parlett (1991), p. 281.