Three play for themselves to win the most card points. This should be one of your two entry points into tarot gaming but, while simple to learn, it should not be dismissed as an excellent and challenging game in its own right.

As Scarto, this should be one of your entry points into tarot gaming and should also not be underestimated. Four play in fixed partnerships with their partners seated opposite each other with the goal of winning the most card points.

Strictly speaking, Tarocchi is the general name for Tarot games in Italy but as all the others I’m listing have their own names and ‘Tarocchi for four as played in Piedmont’ is a bit long-winded, we’ll grant it the name. It is well deserved though, as this is a classic game and along with Scarto it is the basis for some of our original games listed afterwards.

The game of Conference is a ‘dead’ game now but worth reviving, if only for learning and for those whose style of game play is hopelessly informal (yes you, Bindi, Rebecca, and Jossie).

Four play in fixed partnerships and, unusually for such games, they sit next to each other. The goal is simply to win the most card points. The Conference rule allows partners to discuss their hands and strategy.

The game of League is original and does away with this rule but implements a novel order of play from a Hungarian game, that makes for some interesting strategy.

There are two other original – and entirely optional – rules sets introduced: Allegiances and Gallowglass.  

Devised on the same holiday but just after devising a new truffle at my niece’s request, hence the name. I called the truffle Tarocco, which was appropriate, it being orange, cherry, and almond.

In Mitigation three play for themselves to win the most card points. The game is the first that features a negotiations to determine if the hand is played or not.

The Piedmontese games of Partita are probably derived from the Bolognese games of the same name that are no longer played there. They inherit the Bolognese tradition of treating The four Powers (The Female Pope, The Empress, The Emperor, and The Pope) as having equal rank. They also use a reduced pack of just 54 cards created by omitting the lowest six pip cards in each of the four nation suits.

Knock is another game for four played in fixed partnerships with partners seated opposite each other and trying to win the most card points. It allows a number of visual signals to communicate between partners.

This is a three player game where all play for themselves. It’s twist has players keep tally of their scores as they play and going out when they reach 35 card points.

The Sicilian game is for four players with a bidding round structured to reveal enough information to make play interesting.

The Tarocchini are a small family of games played with a reduced tarot pack of 62 cards that is sometimes known as The Tarocchino. What distinguishes these games from others of the tarot family from Italy is that the emphasis is less on winning card points and more on scoring points from winning combinations and patterns of cards.

Many players rate Ottocento as among the best card games in the world. Four play in fixed partnerships, with partners seated opposite each other. The number of hands in played in a game is variable because the goal is to be the first team to score 800 points. Some points are actually scored during play, so it is possible for the game to end before a hand has been fully played out. As scoring is a little more involved in these games, I have elected not to simplify it here.

Terziglio is the three player member of the Tarocchini family, this game has bidding to decide who will play alone as Declarer against the other two playing in partnership as Defenders.