I don't know if there are many Mennonites on here but LOOK AT THIS TERRIBLE KITTY

Matthew Miller

Matthew Miller

(I know some non-Mennonites — esp. in southern Indiana, Ohio, Kentucky — also play Rook, but I think the variant we play is different.)

Matthew Miller

In the Mennonite version:

Discard the 2s, 3s, and 4s. 1s are high and worth 15 points. 10s and 15s are 10 points, and 5s are 5 (that's why 6s are the worst).

Rook is 20 points but plays at 10.5, which makes the game like 10× more interesting than Rook-high. (Which is kind of like the kid's version.) I've heard of some people playing Rook-low, but I think that would take out some of the tension.

High bidder takes the kitty, picks trump*, and plays first.

( * not _that_ trump!)

hprum :amigacheck: :fedora:

@mattdm I own a copy, I should really learn how to play.

Matthew Miller

@murph

Cool. The version we play is not in the rulebook — it's, like, an oral tradition game.

Nick VA7TZ 🇨🇦

@mattdm Neat, I had no idea about the alternative deck of cards (and the interesting history behind it)!

Matthew Miller

@va7tz

My grandmother (an avid rook player) once told me that _her_ mother believed that playing cards (particularly, with the face cards) were (literal) tools of the the devil. She herself didn't think that, but still would never actually play a game using them.

Matthew Miller

@va7tz

Her mother wasn't Mennonite, but rather some form of Methodist, but a century ago in Iowa the practical differences were small.

jaranmiller

@mattdm Where I'm from, we'd call that kitty either "pure trash" or "hot garbage." As a Mennonite, I must thank you for speaking out about Rook on the fediverse.

Matthew Miller

@jaranmiller

Yeah, complaining about the kitty is part of the tradition, for sure. That's why I had to take the picture — no, like, I mean _really_ *the worst*.

Also, hello!