Rentz Card Game

Rentz is an American version of the Romanian card game Renț. Rentz is mainly a Trick-taking game with a collection of mini-games. The object of each mini-game is to either avoid taking "tricks" or score points. The game can be played by four players, each of which is dealt 13 cards from a standard playing card deck at the start of each hand.^[1]

Rules

• 4 players
• A dealer is picked at random to start the game.
• The dealer deals 13 cards to each of the 4 players then picks the mini-game. Note: A mini-game can only be chosen once per dealer.
• The mini game is played until all cards are played or the mini-game is otherwise ended.
• "Trick-taking" mini-games are played when the dealer plays a card. The other players then play cards of the same suit in a counter-clockwise fashion. When each player has played a card, the player who played the highest card of the initial suit takes the "trick". Note: if a player does not have a card of the initial suit, he must lay a card of any suit.
• The "Rentz" mini-games is played differently, and will be described below.
• The dealer then shuffles, re-deals 13 cards to each of the 4 players and picks a different mini-game until all mini-games have been played, at which time the dealer is changed.
• After all four players have dealt all mini-games, scores are compared. The player with the most points wins.

Excel Keeping Score

• download the *xlsx file.

Mini-games

• Acool: -10 points per trick taken.
• Diamonds: -15 points per Diamond taken.
• King of Hearts: -75 points if the King of Hearts is played. The mini-game is ended once the King of Hearts is taken in a trick.
• Queens: -25 points per Queen taken.
• Rentz: The Rentz mini-game not a "trick-taking" mini-game and is the only game where a player can gain points. Each suit is started by a Jack, and a player can play a card above or below the Jack. If the player cannot play a card, the player must "pass". This game is played until all 2's and Aces have been played. The first player to get rid of all of his or her cards gets 200 points. Second place receives 150, third receives 100, and fourth receives only 50 points.^[2]

References