• Players: 2
• Prerequisites:
  • 1 deck of cards (52 cards, without jokers)
• Play time: 15 minutes

Whist is a 2-player trick taking game played in 2 phases. During the first phase the players try to win tricks in order to draft the cards that weren’t dealt at the start of the game. During the second phase the players try to win the most tricks.

Setup

Decide which player will start the game. Shuffle all cards, and deal 13 to each player. Place the remaining 26 cards face down as the stock, and flip over the top most card. The suit of this card is the trump suit for the remainder of the game.

Phase 1: drafting

During the first half of the game, the players try to draft the best cards from the stock.

Standard trick-taking rules apply:

• The leading player plays a card from their hand.
• The other player must follow suit, if possible. Otherwise they may play any card from their hand.
• The winner of the trick is determined by:
  • The highest card of the trump suit.
  • If no trump suit is played; the highest card of the leading suit.
• The winner of the trick leads the next trick.

The person who won the trick gets the top (open) card of the stock. The other person gets the card below, without showing it to the other player. Cards received during this phase directly get added to the players hand, and can be used in either phase. The top card of the stock is reveiled for the next trick.

Play continues until the stock is depleted. All cards played in tricks during this phase are set aside.

Phase 2: scoring

During this phase the players continue playing tricks until their hands are depleted (13 tricks in total). The winner of the game is the player who scored the most tricks during this phase of play.

Closing words

Claim is a modern designer card game with gameplay similar to Whist; 2-player trick taking with a drafting and scoring phase.

Fox in the Forest is another enjoyable modern designer 2-player trick taking game.