Mucken or Muck is a variation of the popular German card game, Schafkopf.

However, unlike Schafkopf, it must always be played in teams of 2 players, so there are no soloist or Rufer ("caller") contracts.

Mucken is mainly found in the province of Upper Franconia in the German state of Bavaria.

As well as being a pub game in Franconia, tournaments are also regularly organised such as the Muck Championship in Hof.

As in Schafkopf, the aim is to score a certain number of points by winning tricks (stechen) or by drawing cards (ziehen).

If schwarz is announced they only have to take one trick (irrespective of its card points) in order to win.

The dealer shuffles the cards, lets the player to his right cut them and then deals them clockwise in two packets of three cards, starting with the player on his left, the forehand (Vorhand or erster Mann).

The rules on cutting, knocking and dealing the cards vary markedly from one region to another.

Before the actual game starts, there is an auction (Spielansage) to determine who will be the declarer and which contract will be played (see below).

Once a contract has been bid, the following players may raise it by announcing a higher-ranking contract, "Me too" (Ich spiele auch); the first player may now raise the bid again, whereby the game would return to him.

Where two or more players place bids of equal rank, the seating order is the decider.

Depending on the rules agreed, a member of the defending team may double the game value by declaring "Kontra!"

Heading the trick with a higher value card or trump is not mandatory (i.e. there is no Stichzwang), but players must follow suit (Farbzwang or Bedienpflicht).

If a player is unable to follow suit, he can either trump it or discard (i.e. there is no Trumpfzwang) Failing to follow suit, playing too soon or verbally influencing the play will generally result in the loss of the game.

During the game announcement it will be declared how many card points the declarer must score to win the game (see also Schneider and Tout) Unlike Schafkopf points are not awarded to or deducted from each player.

In Wenz there are only four trumps, namely the Unters or Wenzen which rank in the order: Acorns (Eichel), Leaves (Gras/Grün), Hearts (Herz )and Bells (Schellen).

Muck corresponds to a Heart Solo in Schafkopf, with the difference that it is played in teams.

From the rules of Skat, is the March (Durchmarsch), i.e. one player takes every trick and wins the game.

In Ramsch, it is often compulsory to take the trick if you can (Stichzwang), i.e. a player who has the choice, for example, follow suit or to head with a trump must do so.

In Schneider games, the declarer is predicting that the other team will not be "Schneider-free", i.e. will not score more than 30 points.

In many Bavarian pubs, this is acknowledged by the custom of no longer using the cards, but framing them and hanging them on the wall with the date and the name of the player.