How to Play
Game Rules
Game Rules
How to Play HyJack
Set-up
Number of Players
3-6 players
(For even more fun, add players and decrease the number of hands dealt accordingly)
Cards
One 52 card deck of HyJack with 2 HyJacker cards and 3 quick play rule cards for a total of 57 cards. See Special Cards.
Objective
Players in HyJack score points for winning tricks. A trick is when each player in turn plays a card face up on the table, and whoever plays the highest card (following trump rules) wins the trick. Before playing each hand, you must bid the exact number of tricks you think you will win for that hand. The player with the highest number of points at the end of the game wins.
Ranking
Ace is high followed by King down to Duce. Spades trump all other suits unless HyJacked.
GAME PLAY
Deal
Shuffle before each round and deal cards face down to all players. The first hand is dealt with three cards to each player. On each succeeding deal, one more card is dealt to each player until the round reaches 9 cards. Example: 3,4,5,6,7,8,9. Play can end here, or you can extend play, see The Countdown. At the end of each round the deal passes clockwise to the next player.
Bidding
Once you have looked at your hand, place a bid on the number of tricks you expect to win for that hand. The player left of the dealer begins the bidding. You may bid any number of tricks you think you can win based on the cards in your hand.. Dealer has the final bid.
Play
The player on the dealer's left leads the first hand and play continues clockwise. You must follow the suit that was led. If you cannot follow suit, you have three choices: trump with a spade, or play a non-trump card or use a HyJack card to win the hand. The highest card in the suit wins the trick unless trumped or HyJacked. If more than one trump is played the highest trump wins.
Keeping Score
- One player will keep score. As players declare the number of bids they plan to take, the scorer notes the bid on the score sheet. See example.
- At the end of each hand, all players declare how many tricks they won. You receive one point for each trick won. If your bid matches the number of tricks you won, an additional 10 points will be added. The scorer records the total for each player.
Example Score Card
First Hand – 3 Cards
- Kitty bid 0 and took 0 – winning her bid equals 10 points
- Saul bid 2 and took 2 – winning his bid equals 12 points
- Erin bid 3 and took 1 – losing her bid leaves her with 1 point for the trick she won
Second Hand – 4 cards
- Kitty bid 1 and took 1 – winning her bid plus 1 point for the trick equals 11 points
- Saul bid 2 and took 3 – he lost his bid, he won points for the three tricks 3 points
- Erin bid 2 and took 0 – she lost her bid and did not win any points
Special Cards
HyJackers
There are two HyJack cards in the deck – Blue and Green. These cards have the most power in the game. They can take any hand. Even hands with a “trump” or with an “ace”. If both cards show up in the same hand, the last HyJack played takes the trick.
Beanie Jack
The player who wins the trick in which Beanie Jack is played receives 0 points from the score for their bid during that hand.
Frilly Jack
The player who wins the trick in which Frilly Jack is played WINS 10 points from the score for their bid during that hand.
Variations on Game Play
The Countdown
You can extend game play by counting down the number of cards dealt to each player after the hand with 9 cards is dealt. Simply continue the deal with 9 and the next deal with 8 until you reach 3 cards.
Example for six players: 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, – 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3
Max Bet
Mid point in the game, when the hand size begins to count down all bids must equal the number of cards dealt for that hand. Example: when seven cards are in play, the number of bids declared must equal 7 not more not less. Further: If players one through five bid and their bids total 7, players six and seven must bid zero. Likewise, if players 1 through 6 bid a total of 4 bids, then player 7 will bid 3 bids to even out the hand.