Recruit

You're recruiting for an epic quest but must avoid having redundant leaders on the team. You'll score points by collecting cards during this trick-taking game but will lose points for collecting duplicate face cards (Jack / Queen / King).

Remove 1 joker. Deal 13 cards to each player. Dealer may declare gameplay variations while dealing. Display 1 card to determine the trump suit. With 2-3 players, discard up to 4, draw to replace; with 4 players, pass exactly 4 cards to your partner (across the table).

You must follow the led suit if possible. If you can’t follow suit, play any card. Joker is a "super-trump" and takes the trick. Otherwise, the highest trump takes the trick. Otherwise, the highest in the led suit takes it. Aces are high.

Score the hand: 1 point per card taken. For each face rank (J / Q / K), lose 5 points if you took more than 1 of that rank. With 4 players, don't combine partner cards (or scores) until the end. Play 4 hands.

-description from the designer