Talon: A Tarot Card Game

TALON: A TAROT CARD GAME is a modern tarot trick taking game.

The tarot is a long time subject of misinformation and pseudohistory, falsely linking the cards to ancient Egypt, Romani people, or Kabbalah and of baseless assertions that the cards were always intended for esoteric or divinatory purposes.

The best available evidence, however, tells us that the tarot was created for a trick taking game back in the 15th century because a clever Italian wanted to have a trump suit in a card game.

"Isn't it enough to see that a garden is beautiful without having to believe that there are fairies at the bottom of it too?" Douglas Adams - The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy

Inspired by contemporary Central and Eastern European tarock games but with influences from similar French and Swiss games, TALON: A TAROT CARD GAME incorporates many refinements of modern tarot trick taking games and combines them in a way to further appeal to today's tabletop gamers.

Outline of play:

Each player receives a hand of 12 cards and players bid to become the declarer by stating how few cards they wish to exchange with the talon or kitty. The declarer's side tries to win the majority of card points in tricks.

The three player game is a simplified form of 42 card Tapp Tarock similar to the kind played in Eastern Europe.

The game for four players is a streamlined form of Königrufen in which the declarer has the option of choosing a hidden partner by naming a king.

The five or six player games use 66 or 78 cards and blend elements of early Tapp Tarock with Swiss card games.

Although designed mainly for three to six players; a two player variant, similar to Strohmandeln or Strawman Tarock, is also provided in which players are dealt additional piles of cards in addition to their regular hands.

Complete rulebook and player reference charts are available below for free download.

This latest edition of TALON: A TAROT CARD GAME includes a restoration of an iconic and now public domain version of the Nicolas Conver Tarot of Marseilles which was published in 1930 by Paul Marteau, director of the Grimaud playing card company.

The Trump Cards:

The Fool

The World XXI*

The Judgment XX*

The Sun XVIIII

The Moon XVIII

The Star XVII*

The House of God XVI

The Devil XV*

Temperance XIIII

(Unnamed) XIII

The Hanged Man XII

Strength XI

The Wheel of Fortune X

The Hermit VIIII

Justice VIII

The Chariot VII

The Lover VI

The Pope V

The Emperor IIII

The Empress III

The Popess II

The Juggler I

*Cards marked with an asterisk contain artistic nudity typical of a Tarot of Marseilles. Although such nudity is non-pornographic, sale is restricted to adults 18+. As an alternative, some players might prefer a Sparrow deck, a type of tarot deck composed of numbered game cards similar to Rook or Uno decks. Sparrow: A Game of Triumphs

The Court Cards:

King, Queen, Knight (Cavalier), & Knave (Jack)

The Plain Suits:

Batons (Clubs), Swords (Spades), Cups (Hearts), & Coins (Diamonds)

The card names have been translated to English from the original French using the International Playing-Card Society pattern sheets and A History of Games Played with the Tarot Pack: The Game of Triumphs (Michael Dummett and John McLeod 2004) as sources for the translation.

Italian suited tarot pattern sheets - IPCS

A History of Games Played with the Tarot Pack

Corner indices (K, Q, C, J) have been added to better suit the needs of contemporary card players. Arabic numeral indices have been added to the trump cards as well as the cards of the plain suits.

I've used a Smiley Joker image on two supplementary cards. This Smiley Joker image is from the Playing-Card Suit Font created by Gyula Zsigri

https://www.pagat.com/com/cardsttf.html