ROOK
2-6
8+
30+
A great deal of fun for you and your friends! Grab a partner and get ready to play. ROOK is all about being the first team to reach 300 points by bidding and naming tricks. But beware the wild Rook; when he lands, everything can change. And it's not necessarily for the better...
Trick and trump your way to winning-but beware of the Rook!
User Reviews (4)
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I was fortunate to grow up in a family that played games. Although they were games like Monopoly, Clue, Stratego, Sorry and Battleship and in my opinion there are a lot better games to choose from cards have always been a staple at family gatherings. Whether it is 500,Euchre,Spades or Rook there are things that I have learned from cards specifically Rook that has carried over to other games.
1. Making due with the hand you are dealt. Sometimes I have a laydown hand but most of the time I am hoping to get something good out of kitty or I’m relying of my partner to help me out. Rook teaches teamwork.
2. No guts, no glory. In many games it’s the player willing to take a chance that often comes out on top. Rook taught me you never know what might be in the kitty, and you won’t know unless you take the bid.
3. Know your limits. With the above being stated, I quickly learned that I had to be selective when I was going to take a risk or play it safe. That principle carried over to a lot of games. I can’t count the number of games lost because of being to aggressive, fortunately the wins out number the losses that’s what keeps me playing.
4. How to read people, knowing their tendencies. How to play to the strengths of my partner. Rook is often won or lost by being good or bad at this.
All in all it’s a great game because of many ways to play. I will put some of the house rules I am aware of in the “house rules” section. For me in was a gateway to learn and love lot’s of other games both card and board alike.
A trick taking game. Functionally it is a deck of cards with an extra in each “suit”. 1-14 in four colors plus the Rook. You start out bidding how many points you can win (5, 10, 14, and Rook cards score points). The winning bid declares what color is trump. Then you start playing tricks trying to score points. The bid winner tries to claim points totaling at least the bid, the other players try to prevent this, of course.
It is simple to pick up. Replay value is going to vary person to person; it’s either your kind of game, or it isn’t. I can enjoy it, but I really don’t want to play this one with my in-laws. To them it is a tradition, and they take it far too seriously.
Some games are classics because they’ve been around forever, like Monopoly (no comment) or Chutes and Ladders (again, no comment). Rook is a classic because it plays well after hundreds of games, like euchre and cribbage.
The rules can be a bit off-putting because they get muddled with variations. I suggest you just drop the cards below 5 and focus on the basic rules. Also, be sure to play the 4-person rules, with partners.
Anyone who thinks Rook has no replay value isn’t playing with the right people and doesn’t fully grasp the game. 5/5
Despite classifying myself as an avid gamer, I will take Rook over almost any other game every single time.
Yes, Rook *is* a trick taking game, but the strategy goes significantly further than other games like Hearts or Spades. In Rook, the strategy is all about reading your partner and playing to their strengths and weaknesses.
The rules are easy enough to understand, but the game takes a few play throughs with a patient partner before one REALLY begins to understand how the game works. 3/5