This is Viggo. It's a fun game to play with 3–5 people (although right now the server does not support 5 players). When you select to enter the Viggo game, you will be asked to enter a user name. Once you enter your name, you will be brought to the Viggo game as an observer. If you want to join the game, click Sit. This will tell the server that you would like to "sit" at the Viggo table!
Once you are sitting at the Viggo table and the game begins, the person whose turn it is will have their name in red.
Enter your turn by typing the cards you want to play and clicking on play. To enter multiple cards, use a comma separator. For example, to play a straight, you might enter:
4c,5d,6d,7c,8s
Of course, since suits really don't matter much (except the 3♣), you can omit the suits and just enter:
4,5,6,7,8
and the computer will play your first card it finds with that face value regardless of suit. The only exception is with the 3♣. If you have multiple 3's in your hand and you specify a '3' in your play, the computer will play your other 3's before the 3♣. If you want to play the 3♣ and you have multiple 3's in your hand, you must specify '3c'.
Below is a brief set of instructions:
Introduction
"What is Viggo?", you ask. Viggo is a person who is a bit strange and maybe a bit stupid as well. He is a loser. In fact, he loses all the time! The card game Viggo is named after him.
The goal in Viggo isn't to win, but to avoid losing. The first rule in Viggo is:
There are no winners in Viggo, only the loser. The loser is the Viggo.
Viggo is played with regular poker cards, and with three to five players. Deal out all of the cards — if there are three players, remove the 4-clubs (4♣), and if there are five, remove the 4-clubs (4♣) and 4-spades (4♠). Do not show your cards to the other players.
The goal of the game is to get rid of all of your cards. The player who has the 4-diamonds (4♦) begins the game, and then play clockwise around the table. When it is your turn, you can play cards onto the table, or you can pass. After each player has passed the last cards played, the player that played the last cards has won the trick and can begin the next trick. The hand continues until the first player has run out of cards.
After the hand is finished, each player counts up his/her remaining cards. Each player gets one point for each card. Then begin the next hand. The game is over when the first player reaches, for example, 50 points.
Rules covering which cards you can play
- Every play must follow the pattern of the previously played cards. For example, if the trick began with a pair, then everyone must follow with a pair.
- Allowed card patterns are:
- A single card or pair
- Three or four of a kind
- A five-card straight
- Every play must be higher than the previous play. For example, if the trick began with a pair of 4's (i.e. 4♥ and 4♠), the lowest legal play you can follow up with is a pair of 5's. If you do not have a legal play, you must pass.
- 4 is the lowest card, and then 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, Jack (J), Queen (Q), King (K), Ace (A), 2, 3, 3♣.
- 3-clubs (3♣) is the highest card and can be played on top of other 3's, even in combination with other cards. For example, if the last play was the straight Q♣,K♣,A♠,2♥,3♥, you can follow up with a straight that ends with 3♣.
A bit about strategy
The points below are a general strategy. Be careful, they do not apply in every situation!
- In general, play the lowest card(s) that you can. For example, if the trick began with a pair of 4's, and you have a pair of 9's and a pair of K's in your hand, play the pair of 9's first. You might get the chance to play the pair of K's later in the trick!
- Try to hold your highest cards for as long as possible.
- Try to remember which other high cards have been played (i.e. A's, 2's and 3's).
- If you will begin the trick, play a pattern that you can follow up (i.e. you also have higher cards of the same pattern).
- If you have a strong hand (with many high cards), one idea is to hold off playing any long patterns until you can win at once.
An example: if you are on lead and are holding 10♦,10♥,10♠,Q♣,3♣, it would be a bad idea to play the 3 tens.
Instead, play the Q♣ and follow up with the 3♣ (which always wins) when it is your turn again, and then begin the next trick with the tens and you win immediately!
