Cover-cover, a card game.
Created | Updated Mar 24, 2003
Cover-cover is a card game taught to me by an Austrian friend and colleague of my father's. Its beauty lies in its simplicity.
The rules are as follows:
1) Divide the pack between yourself and your opponent/s.
2) Each player holds his/her hand ("hand" is the term for each player's own portion of the deck) face down and deals one card from the top.
3) The game is Ace-high (the Ace is the most powerful card, then the King, then the Queen, then the Knave and so forth).
4) The highest card wins each trick (in card-parlance a trick is a "point", "score" or "win" in terms of an oppenents cards being overpowered by one's own cards).
5) The Tricks are placed faced down to form a "Winnings Pile". When a player has dealt out his/her original hand he/she must then take up his/her winnings pile as the new hand and start a new winnings pile.
6) If the cards of a trick are of the same hierarchical value, all players must shout "Cover-cover!" - in order to share the joy - and then cover their own cards with a further card from their hands played faced down on top of their previous cards. They must each then play another card on top, face up, and as before the player of the highest card wins all the cards in the trick. Play continues until one player has all the cards.
7) Very occasionally in games of more than two players there will be a Cover-cover between members of a subgroup - which can include 2-4 players - within the group of players who have dealt the same cards, while the rest of the group have dealt cards of a lower value. In these instances the winner of the subgroup Cover-cover wins all the cards. Subgroup Cover-covers occuring where other cards are higher are ignored, and absorbed into the winner's winnings pile without comment.
This game works best with two players. It is more a game of friendship and endurance as there is no strategy involved. Play can go on for ages; people have been reduced to fits of the giggles when they think they are about to lose but suddenly have a run of luck.
The most fun ensues when nested Cover-covers occur...
FAQ: Further research is required to determine whether or not this game is improved by the consumption of intoxicants.
H2g2 Card Games Link: A597882
The rules are as follows:
1) Divide the pack between yourself and your opponent/s.
2) Each player holds his/her hand ("hand" is the term for each player's own portion of the deck) face down and deals one card from the top.
3) The game is Ace-high (the Ace is the most powerful card, then the King, then the Queen, then the Knave and so forth).
4) The highest card wins each trick (in card-parlance a trick is a "point", "score" or "win" in terms of an oppenents cards being overpowered by one's own cards).
5) The Tricks are placed faced down to form a "Winnings Pile". When a player has dealt out his/her original hand he/she must then take up his/her winnings pile as the new hand and start a new winnings pile.
6) If the cards of a trick are of the same hierarchical value, all players must shout "Cover-cover!" - in order to share the joy - and then cover their own cards with a further card from their hands played faced down on top of their previous cards. They must each then play another card on top, face up, and as before the player of the highest card wins all the cards in the trick. Play continues until one player has all the cards.
7) Very occasionally in games of more than two players there will be a Cover-cover between members of a subgroup - which can include 2-4 players - within the group of players who have dealt the same cards, while the rest of the group have dealt cards of a lower value. In these instances the winner of the subgroup Cover-cover wins all the cards. Subgroup Cover-covers occuring where other cards are higher are ignored, and absorbed into the winner's winnings pile without comment.
This game works best with two players. It is more a game of friendship and endurance as there is no strategy involved. Play can go on for ages; people have been reduced to fits of the giggles when they think they are about to lose but suddenly have a run of luck.
The most fun ensues when nested Cover-covers occur...
FAQ: Further research is required to determine whether or not this game is improved by the consumption of intoxicants.
H2g2 Card Games Link: A597882
