Bruus

Bruus
Once Hamburg's national game
The eponymous Bruus
OriginNorth Germany
TypePlain-trick game
FamilyKarnöffel group
Players4 or 6 (4 best)
Cards32 or 36
DeckFrench pack
Rank (high→low)J K 8 9 A J
7s & 'duds' (K Q 10)
PlayClockwise
Related games
Bräus • Brus • Brús • Drużbart • Voormsi
Features 'daring' and 'tormenting';
double and triple tricks;
Sevens with special powers.

Bruus, formerly Brausebart or Brusbart, is a north German card game for four players in two teams of two. It was once highly popular but has since died out except for a few pockets in the state of Schleswig-Holstein. As Brusbart, it was the ancestor of a family of similar games in northern Europe, including Swedish Bräus and Danish Brus which are still played today. Bruus features 'daring and tormenting' which has been said to give the game a certain charm. Once considered the national game of Hamburg, Bruus is a descendant of Karnöffel, the oldest identifiable European card game in the history of playing cards with a continuous tradition of play down to the present day. The game is named after the Bruus or Brusbart, once its top card, but now its second-highest trump.