Napoleon (card game)

This article is about the European trick-taking game. For other card games with similar names, see Napoleon (disambiguation) § Gaming.
Napoleon
OriginEngland
Alternative namesNap
TypeTrick-taking
FamilyTrick-taking
Players3-7 (5 best)
SkillsTactics & Strategy
Cards28-52
DeckFrench
PlayClockwise
Playing time20 min.
ChanceMedium
Related games
Loo

Napoleon or Nap is a straightforward trick-taking game in which players receive five cards each and whoever bids the highest number of tricks chooses trumps and tries to win at least that number of tricks. It is often described as a simplified version of Euchre, although David Parlett believes it is more like "an elaboration of Rams".[1] It has many variations throughout Northern Europe, such as Fipsen. The game has been popular in England for many years, and has given the language a slang expression, "to go nap",[2] meaning to take five of anything.[3] It may be less popular now than it was, but it is still played in some parts of southern England and in Strathclyde. Despite its title and allusions, it is not recorded before the last third of the nineteenth century, and may have been first named after Napoleon III.[1]

  1. ^ a b Parlett (1990), pp. 194–195
  2. ^ From the game of Nap, when a player sets himself to get all five tricks - Thesaurus of Traditional English Metaphors, pg. 602
  3. ^ Arnold (1995), p. 162.