Tarocchini

Tarocchini (plural for tarocchino) are point trick-taking tarot card games popular in Bologna, capital city of the Emilia-Romagna region of Italy and has been confined mostly to this area.

They are the diminutive form of tarocchi (plural for tarocco), referring to the reduction of the Bolognese pack from 78 to 62 cards, which probably occurred in the early 16th century.

[2] The Fool is not a trump, it can't beat any cards and is played as an excuse from following suit.

However, both the Fool and the Magician may be used as contatori (counters or wild cards) to assist in making sequences.

The four highest trumps, which are unnumbered, are Angel, World, Sun, and Moon and they are collectively known as grande (big).

It adds a round of point-counting before and after the game based on sets and runs of the cards.

An unusual feature is that the partners are allowed to make certain limited signals to each other during play.

Eldest hand speaks first, declaring a monte if wishing to restart the game.

The scoring of meld points after card play is unique to Tarocchini and Minchiate.

Once the first declaration of points is finished, normal card play ensues.

As in all tarocchi games, there is the rule that a player that can't follow suit must trump if possible.

The Fool's player gives a low valued card to the trick's winner (only if it is an opponent) at the end of the hand.

In solo, the declarer plays without exchanging with the stock which remains hidden and is awarded to the winner of the last trick.

All other rules are the same as Ottocento but some players restrict signalling until the highest card of the trick's suit has been played (Kings or the Angel).

The declarer must have more points than their opponents to win the hand, a tie is counted as a loss.

Score calculation is unnecessary if one side won all the tricks; they are automatically awarded 40 game points.