Royal Family

Rules overview

Royal Family Players: 4 Deck: Standard 52 cards (no Jokers) Time: ~30 minutes

Introduction & Theme

In the Royal Court, alliances are fleeting and reputations fragile. Over six rounds of contests, each player must capture and safeguard the right nobles and jesters to assemble their House. The true Royal Family—King, Queen, Jack, and their loyal Jester—brings the highest honor, but holding extra courtiers is costly. The trick is to win just enough without being burdened by excess.

Objective

Across six rounds of trick‑taking, you’ll retain up to one card after each round (if you won at least one trick) to build a personal face‑down Family. At the end, form the highest‑ranking Family set you can, then apply duplicate penalties.

Components

• 52‑card deck (no Jokers)
• Pencil and paper for scoring

Core Terms

• Royal: any King (K), Queen (Q), or Jack (J)
• Jester: any 2
• Family: your personal face‑down set of cards kept for end‑game scoring
• Captured‑Trick pile: the face‑up pile in front of a player containing all cards from tricks that player won this round
• Suit hierarchy (for all tiebreakers): Spades ♠ > Hearts ♥ > Diamonds ♦ > Clubs ♣
• Forehand: the player left of the dealer; leads the opening trick of each round

Setup

1. Shuffle the full deck. The starting dealer is any player; dealer rotates left each new round.
2. Deal a full hand to each player based on the round (see Round Flow).
3. Forehand (left of the current dealer) leads the first trick of each round.

Round Flow

The game lasts six rounds with shrinking hand sizes that exactly account for removed Family cards:

• Round 1: 13 cards each (13 tricks); 4 cards will be removed to Families → 48 remain
• Round 2: 12 each; remove 4 → 44 remain
• Round 3: 11 each; remove 4 → 40 remain
• Round 4: 10 each; remove 4 → 36 remain
• Round 5: 9 each; remove 4 → 32 remain
• Round 6: 8 each; then score

Trick‑Taking

• No trump. A is high; ranks descend A, K, Q, J, 10 … 3, 2.
• You must follow suit if able; otherwise play any card.
• Highest card of the led suit wins the trick.
• The winner collects the 4 played cards face‑up into their Captured‑Trick pile and leads the next trick.
• Captured‑Trick piles are open information; any player may inspect any pile at any time without changing card order.

Note: Jesters (2s) have no special power during tricks. They only matter for end‑game scoring and penalties.

Retention Step (end of the round)

After the last trick of the round

1. Each player examines their own Captured‑Trick pile and chooses exactly 1 card to keep face‑down into their Family.
2. If you won no tricks this round, you keep nothing this round. You may end the game with fewer than six Family cards.
3. You may look at your own Family cards at any time; other players may not.

Round Clean‑up

1. Move all unchosen cards from every Captured‑Trick pile to a central discard.
2. Shuffle only this discard to form the deck for the next round.
3. Dealer passes left; the new forehand leads the next round’s opening trick.

Scoring

At the end of the game, reveal all Families simultaneously. From your Family cards, you may choose any valid Family set from your Family cards. You will then score:

• That Family's base value (from the chart), minus
• −1 per duplicate Royal (KQJ) or Jester not used in the chosen set

Players should always select the Family set that gives them the best net score.

Family Rankings (highest to lowest)

• 20 — Royal Family: K Q J + suited Jester (all four cards same suit)
• 18 — Royal Family: K Q J + unsuited Jester (Jester not matching the KQJ suit)
• 15 — Royal Family: K Q J (same suit)
• 12 — Noble Assembly: K Q J (mixed suits) + any Jester
• 10 — Noble Assembly: K Q J (mixed suits)
• 9 — Duke & Duchess: suited K Q + suited Jester (all three same suit)
• 7 — Duke & Duchess: suited K Q
• 6 — Duke & Duchess: mixed‑suit K Q + any Jester
• 5 — Duke & Duchess: mixed‑suit K Q
• If you cannot form any listed Family, you score 0 points (penalties may still apply).

Penalties (Duplicates)

After choosing your Family set, each extra copy of any Royal or Jester left in your Family is worth −1 points. Only Kings, Queens, Jacks, and 2s count as duplicates.

Example: Your six cards are K♠, Q♠, J♠, 2♥, K♦, 2♦. You must score 18 for KQJ + unsuited Jester. Your leftovers are K♦ and 2♦, which are both extra copies, for −2 total; your final score is 16.

Tiebreakers

Ties in total score are broken in order

1. Higher Family rank/points (per the list above).
2. Suited Jester advantage: between identical Family ranks, a Family containing a suited Jester beats one with an unsuited Jester.
3. King’s suit: if still tied, compare the suit of the King in the scoring Family using ♠ > ♥ > ♦ > ♣.
4. Still tied, or if no King is in the scoring Family: players share the victory.

Examples

• Example: Scoring with duplicates Family cards: K♥, Q♥, J♥, 2♥, A♣, 9♦ → Score 20 for KQJ + suited Jester; no duplicates remain; total 20.
• Example: No set Family cards: A♠, 10♣, 8♦, 7♣, 5♥, 2♦ → You cannot form any Family; score 0. The lone 2♦ is not an extra copy, so no penalty.

Conduct & Corrections

Standard trick‑taking etiquette applies. If a renege (failure to follow suit when able) is discovered, correct it per your group’s usual practice before awarding the trick. If a player forgets the Retention Step and the discard has already been mixed, re‑deal the next round and award that player no keep for the missed round.

Optional Balance Modules

These are plug‑in variants for groups that want gentler scoring and more consistent progress.

Module A: Softer Duplicate Penalty

• Already integrated into v2.2 (−2 per duplicate).

Module B: Charity Keep

• If you won no tricks in a round, reveal the top card of the central discard and add it face‑down to your Family.

Designer intent: Ensures every player finishes with exactly six Family cards.

You may use Module B alone or keep it off. Module A is now baseline.