Soon to sweep the planet Earth along with the Swine Flu Pandemic (or Panic, as one hopes instead it will pan out), the new card card game Memulation was first devised in the wee hours of April 29, 2009, as a challenge to Stimulate the Memory, first saved at 8:13 a.m.
Simple Memulation
A Card Game for Two
The First Deal
Shuffle a deck of cards and deal the top 26 cards face down into two hands of 13 each. The 27th card, called The Pritticut, is turned face up upon the Undealt to determine both the Trump suit and Wild Card.
The Examination
Each player is allowed to examine (and or sort) each hand for a brief but specific period of time—say 30 seconds. Lucky Duck—decided by a cut by both players of the Undealt with high card becoming Lucky Duck and low card becoming Lame Duck—chooses which hand Lucky Duck will play and which, by consequence, is consigned to Lame Duck.
The Play
Following the general rules of play for Bridge, Whist, Euchre and other trick-taking games, Lame Duck begins the play with a card of choice, Lucky Duck following suit if possible. The two-card trick is won by the player of the high card, with tricks aligned face-down in front of the players as collected. The trick taker leads to the next trick.
The Trump Suit
When players can no longer follow suit, being void in the led suit, they may either trump (using the suit of The Pritticut) or sluff a card of choice.
The Wild Card
If players have in their hands any Wild Card of any suit (the denomination of The Pritticut) they may play it at will, regardless of suit led. Wild Card trumps all other cards, including trump, winning the trick.
The Score
After all 13 tricks have been collected, they are counted and registered for each player, each trick being one point.
The Old Deal
The Old Deal is left in place for the moment as it plays an important role in the New Deal.
The New Deal and ‘Stragedy
The Old Pritticut is buried in the Undealt which is now dealt into two hands of 13 each. Both players examine both hands, as before, and Lucky Duck again has first choice of hand. However, Lame Duck now has the benefit of ‘Stragedy and may choose one card from the face-down collected tricks of either hand of the Old Deal as The Pritticut for the New Deal, thereby determing the new trump suit and Wild Card, which might dramatically change the relative power of each hand, providing as well another important challenge to Memory Stimulation.
Play and scoring continues with the New Deal, as above, and now the tricks of the Old Deal may be compiled, having served their purpose until the Next Deal of 52 is shuffled and dealt.
Strategies of Memulation
The more you play Memulation the better your own personal strategies will fix themselves in your head: when to lead your long suit, when to lead your short suit, when to trump, and expecially when best to use your Wild Card. Lame Duck's memorization of not only all the tricks taken, but the placement of the cards within each trick is particularly important at Lame Duck's moment of 'Stragedy (which means literally "God's Tragedy", meaning Lucky Duck's Tragedy. Although Lucky Duck has first choice of the hand in the New Deal, Lame Duck may use memory to turn the tables in high fashion and make Lame Duck's hand by far the stronger with a long trump suit and/or a very beneficial Wild Card. This kind of memorization is not easy to develop, but that, after all, is the great challenge and fun of Memulation!
MultivarioMemulation
Memulation is easily adaptable, as can be easily imagined, to multivarious groups for multivarious purposes, be they memory-remedial or merely fun. Some suggested alternative rules are:
Bid Memulation
Following the rules of Simple Memulation, after Lucky Duck has been determined and made the choice of hand, both Lucky Duck and Lame Duck make a bid of how many tricks each plans to take.
The Bid
Players might decide the bid by auction, predetermining the rules of the auction. For example, each player may bid up or down at will or whim for a set final number of bids, say 5 each, with the fifth bid being final. A certain strategy would exist, therefore, in misleading bids.
Another suggested tactic for bidding is a single handwritten bid exposed at the same moment by each player, or fingers brought from behind the back at the same moment.
What should be avoided is a two-bid system so that the second bidder has the advantage of knowing in advance the other player's intention..
The Score
Scoring may change dramatically by the added factor of The Bid. Suggested scoring is to add a 10 point bonus to the trick total, if the bid is made exactly. For example, a bid of 5 becomes a score of 15, if 5 tricks exactly are taken. If fewer or more tricks are taken than bid, the player gets only the total of the tricks. It is suggested that no penalty be applied for not making the bid exactly, since the loss of the bonus is penalty enough.
TriplicoMemulation
A Three-Handed Card Game
Following the basic rules of Simple Memulation, deal face-down four hands of 13 cards, one hand to become Dummy. The Pritticut is selected at random out of Dummy and turned face-up on the table.
The Dummy
All three players take four cards at random from Dummy, memorize them, and place them face-down on the table in four lines, represening from left to right, Spades, Hearts, Diamonds and Clubs. Caveat: Best to remember the exact placement of each card in order to later have best chance at becoming Lucky Duck.
The Examination
All three players in turn examine (and or sort) each of the three hands for a brief but specific period of time, say 30 seconds for each hand. Each of the three players chooses among the cards they have aligned in Dummy in their effort to become Lucky Duck, with high card to have first choice of the three hands. Mucky Duck and Lame Duck get second and last choice by virtue of the relative high-low denomination of the cards they have chosen. In any case of denominational-tie, high and low is determined by suit rank, Spades-Hearts-Diamonds-Clubs in that descending order.
The Bid
All three players bid in order of Lucky Duck, Mucky Duck and Lame Duck, following auction rules for Bridge. Each player’s aim is to most advantageously partner with Dummy, whose suit distribution is now obvious upon the table. The auction continues up the line until there there are two passes in a row, with the final bid determining Declarer and Trump. Defenders are temporary partners for this hand only, and chairs are re-aligned according to Bridge partnership.
The Score
Unlike with Simple Memulation, follow Bridge scoring, either Chicago or Rubber Bridge.
QuadruplicoMemulation
A Four-Handed Card Game
Following the basic rules for Simple Memulation in combination with Bridge, deal four hands face-down. Each player examines all four hands in turn for a brief but specified time, say 30 seconds for each hand. Two partnerships will already be in place, Lucky Duck, Plucky Duck, Mucky Duck and Lame Duck will be chosen by high-card cut of a separate deck of cards. Partners are challenged with memorizing all hands, therefore, in order to make the best choice not only of the hands with high cards but with distribution of suits, in relation to the choice of their partner.
QuintuplicoMemulation
A Five-Handed Card Game
No longer a partnership game but returning to an individual card game, follow the rules of Simple Memulation or Bid Memulation with the exception that the deal is now only 10 cards per player. Pritticut Trump is the 51st card, with Pritticut Wild Card being the 52nd card.
HexaplicoMemulation
A Six-Handed Card Game
Players may decide upon team play or individule play, following the rules of Simple Memulation or Bid Memulation with the exception that the deal is now only 8 cards, with the 52nd card becoming Pritticut Trump as well as Pritticut Wild Card.
Contact: Robert Locke
Copyright © 2009 Robert Locke
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