Tossní

Tossní

A particulairly lucky hand for the game of Tossní
Years active	c. 19th century to present (predecessors circa 200 years earlier)
Genre(s)	Card game
Players	2-6
Playing time	Casual games usually last 3 to 7 minutes
Random chance	Medium (card shuffling)
Skill(s) required	Strategy, tactics

Tossní (pronounced /ˈtɔʃ.niː/) is a Walnerian trick-taking card game of the Crazy Eights or Shedding game family, that is one of the most casually played games in the country.

Cards

The game is played using 2 Standard 52-card deck with 4 jokers added (making it a total of 108 cards)

It consists of 4 suits ( Hearts, Diamonds, Clubs & Spades), each having 13 values (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, J, Q, K & A), and 2 jokers (marked with letter "Z") of colors red ( + ) and black ( + ), all times two.

Cards in Tossní	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	J	Q	K	A	Z
Hearts
Diamonds
Spades
Clubs
Type of the card	„Regular“ cards No action after the round is undertaken									„Action“ cards Special action after the round happens

Those cards can then be aligned into a line of A-2-3-4-5-6-7-8-9-10-J-Q-K-A (Where the Ace can be on the beginning and the end, which in turn is used for rising value later in the game. A joker can work as a substitute to any value in the game)

Rules

See also: Rules of Mau-Mau

The objective of the game is to get rid of the cards that are dealt to your hand, either by placing them to the swap deck or by forming another decks using 3-card long straight flush to form another swap deck. If a legal move can not be done by a player, they deal a card from a shuffle deck (which is laid back-up on the table).

One move

A player plays a card from their hand on one of the swap decks on the table (only one card per round). A card on top of the swap deck must match either by suit (♥,♦,♣,♠) or by value (2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,J,Q,K,A,Z). This means, that on 8♥, for example 9♥, 4♥ or Q♥ can be placed because of the same suit, 8♦,8♣,8♠ can be placed because of the same value, but for example 2♦ or K♠ can not be placed, as neither the suit or value matches.

You can place multiple consecutive cards in a single move, if they are of rising value and of the same suit: On 5♦, you can place 6♦, 7♦ and 8♦. If you, hovewer, didn't have the 6♦, you can not place both remaining cards because there is a gap in the rising value.

If the card is of the „Action“ kind, a special action happens before the next player gets the turn.

Value	Cards	Special action
Jack		The player who played this card decides what the suit for the next round is. Next player has to play a card of that suit or another jack.
Queen		The player after the player who played this card has to draw 2 cards from the shuffle deck, unless they can play another queen. Then this skip applies to the next player down the stream of the game, and the value of cards to be drown is added up, meaning that if three players play a queen in a row, the next player has to draw 6 cards unless they can play yet another queen.
King		The player who played this card draws a card from one of the opponents of their own choosing (seeing only the back sides), mixes it with their own cards in hand and lets the person draw one card back (seeing only the back sides). This card can be the same card as the one that was drawn from the opponent in the first place (returning of the card can happen).
Ace		The player after the player who played this card has to skip their round unless they can play another ace. Then this skip applies to the next player down the stream of the game.
Joker		This card can be placed on the two suits of corresponding color (Red Joker corresponds to Hearts (♥) & Diamonds (♦), Black Joker corresponds to Spades (♠) and Clubs (♣)). If played, the next player has to draw a card if they can not play two cards of the same suit and rising value (for example 8♣-9♣, A♥-2♥, K♦-A♦, but not 2♦-4♦).

Playing the game

The game begins with the cards being shuffled (note: some people do not shuffle after the first round to rewards people with a good memory) and placed back-up on the table, each player is dealt 8 cards.

After the cards are dealt, the top card of the pack is placed face-up on the table. The game progresses clockwise and the first player is the one to the left of the person shuffling and dealing the cards. If the first card on the table is an action card, it applies. If it is a jack, players look on the bottom of the shuffle deck and pick the suit of that card.

The game ends when there is only one person left in the game, making it a rankable game.

Examples

Here are examples of simple cases between two players, that include all the special rules to the game of Tossní. The player with cards on the top is called an "opponent", while the player with the cards at the bottom is called "player" in those examples.

Note: The hand of each player should remain private and seen only by the player, it is shown open only for the purpose of explaining the examples.

Setting up the cards

The game begins and both players are dealt 8 cards. The card on the top of the shuffle deck (displayed to the centre right) is turned upside down and placed on the table as a swap deck. As it is the Jack (in this case, a Jack of Diamonds (J♦)), the deck is turned upside down and the card on the bottom's suit is taken (in this case, it is the Four of Spades (4♠)). Therefore, in this specific case, it is assumed, that the abstract player has chosen the beginning suit to be the one of spades. The bottom card (Four of Spades) is then randomly mixed into the deck without shuffling the deck.

Example of a card dealing and the opening of the game

Using the Jack

The opponent (on the top) played the Three of Diamonds (3♦). The player can not play any valid move using regular cards, so they decide to play a jack (J♦) and choose for the suit to be clubs, as they have multiple cards of that suit that could be gotten rid of. The opponent then plays the Ten of Clubs (10♣).

Example of a Jack changing the color of the game

Using the Queen

The player has dealed a card of 9 of Clubs (9♣). The opponent used the opportunity and played a card of Queen of Clubs (Q♣), putting you in the situation, where you have to draw 2 cards from the shuffle deck (in this case Three of Hearts (3♥) and Eight of Spades (8♠)).

Example of using the Queen to make the opponent take two colours

Firing back the Queen

In the same situation, if we have a Queen (in this case, the Queen of Hearts (Q♥)), we can place it and "fire back" the card taking, adding two more cards (adding up all the queens stacked). The opponent therefore has to draw 4 cards (in this case Three of Hearts (3♥), Eight of Spades (8♠)), Eight of Clubs (8♣) and the Ace of Clubs (A♣))

Example of Queen firing-back

Using the King

The player has played the King (in this case, the King of Hearts (K♥)). Being in a game of two players, they have no choice but to draw from the opponent. They have randomly picked a card of Ace of Spades (A♠)). The opponent then draws blind from our hand - in this case picking the Eight of Clubs (8♣). The player could've picked the Ace of Spades back, but in this case, this didn't happen.

Example of a card dealing and the opening of the game

Using the Ace

The opponent has played the Ace (in this case, the Ace of Diamonds (A♦)). The player doesn't have any ace to fire back, so the opponent skips the player's turn and plays again.

Example of using of an Ace

Firing back the Ace

In the same situation, however, if the player has an ace (in this case the Ace of Spades (A♠))), they can fire back and make the opponent either fire back again or skip their turn. The number of skips doesn't add up.

Example of Ace firing back

Using the Joker

The opponent played a joker (in this case, a Black Joker). As the player does not have two neighboring cards of the same suit, we have to draw one card.

Example of a playing of a Joker

Joker playing back

The opponent played a joker (in this case, a Black Joker). The Player does have two cards of the same suit with rising value (in this case, the Eight of Clubs (8♣) and Nine of Clubs (9♣)). The player plays both cards at once, with the one of the higher value going second (remaining on top of the deck).

Example of a playing of a Joker with avialable playing back

Joker firing back

The opponent played a joker (in this case, a Black Joker). The player can play back using another joker (in this case, a Red Joker). The opponent doesn't have 2 cards of following value and the same suit, so they have to draw a card.

Example of Joker firing back

Setting up a new deck

A new deck can be formed by playing three cards of the same suit and a rising value at the same time. The player has this three cards (5♦-6♦-7♦). We lay those cards on the table in a rising order and form a second deck on which people can play. This is considered a move on its own and the next player plays after it is finished.

Example of setting up a new swap deck

After the cards run out

If the game progresses for long enough, the players may run out of the shuffle deck from which they draw. This issue is solved by taking all the cards but the top one from the swap deck and turning them upside down (without shuffling) as a new shuffle deck. Similar system works with multiple decks as well, but all but one deck are cancelled (the remaining deck is picked by the person who can not do a legal move and therefore has to do those changes). In this case, the opponent can not do a legal move and has to draw a card.

Example of refilling of the shuffle deck once it runs out