Rook Card Game: How to Play
In 1906, a card game was designed by the Parker Brothers Company that catered to people who, because of their Fundamentalist Protestant beliefs, were prevented from playing or using a regular deck of cards. The rook card game is played with a deck of 57 cards, These cards are four colored suits ( black, red, green, and yellow), and are numbered from 1 to 14 in each suit. There is one “rook” card per deck, which displays a picture of the bird.
There are many different variations of the original rook card game, but they are all pretty much point/trick based games with the use of trumps and bidding. In most games, the 14 is considered the high card and the 1 considered the low card, with the rook card being considered high trump.
In general, a rook card game is played in the following manner, with a few variations for different versions of the game. The cards are shuffled and the dealer deals ten cards to each player, clockwise, around the table. Five cards are dealt into the center to form the “nest”. Once the cards are dealt, the player to the left of the dealer starts the bidding, bidding no less than 100, or passes. This continues around the table until at least 3 people have passed. The fourth person then becomes the “high bidder”. The bidder picks up the nest and adds it to his or her hand, and then chooses five cards to discard to produce a new nest. Once the player has discarded, he or she picks the trump color. The next player to the left makes the first play. Players must play a card that matches in color to the card that was led. If the player has no cards of that color, than they may play any card. The person with the highest card wins the trick for their team, and leads the next round. Play continues in this manner until all of the tricks have been played out.
After the cards have all been played out, the point cards in each trick are then counted. The high bidders team has to have at least what they bid, or they have to subtract their points from their previous score. The other team always keeps their points. The game ends when one team reaches 500 points.
Jeremy is a rook enthusiast.

