How to Play Tressette
Description
An Italian partnership trick-taking game with no trump suit and very specific card point values. Communication is limited to a few legal signals — everything else is inference.
Objective
Team up with the player across from you and be first to reach 31 points, won through card values captured in tricks.
Setup
Four players in fixed partnerships, using a 40-card Italian-style deck.
Deal ten cards to each player.
Rules
There's no trump suit at all in Tressette. Follow suit if you can; if you can't, play anything.
Cards rank unusually: 3 is highest, then 2, then Ace, King, Knight, Jack, then 7 down to 4.
Highest card of the suit led wins the trick. Winner leads next.
Aces score a full point each; Kings, Knights, Jacks, 3s, and 2s each score a third of a point, adding up as your team captures them.
Winning
Add up your team's card points at the end of the hand, plus one extra for taking the last trick.
First team to reach 31 points across as many hands as it takes wins the match.