How To Play Authors

Avoiding Ties: Some players specify rules to help prevent ties in the game. There are several, separate rules that are sometimes added to help prevent or determine the winner in case of a tie, with the players mutually agreeing on a rule before play begins. These include the following:

A point system is sometimes developed. In this system, the first book captured during a turn is worth 13 points, the next 12 and so on down to 1 point for the last book captured. At the end of the hand, the player with the most points captured during the hand is declared the winner. If two or more players still tie for the most points, the player amongst them who captured the first book is declared the winner.
If one of the tied players has a book consisting of the four Aces, they are considered the winner. If none of the tied players captured the Aces, the first player (amongst the players who tied) to have captured a book is considered the winner.
The tying player who is closest to the left of the dealer is considered the winner. If the dealer is one of those players, they would be considered the winner.
The individual who captured the first book amongst the tying players is declared the winner.

Turn Advancement: Some players prefer an alternate rule for the movement of the turn. When a player unsuccessfully asks any opponent for a card, instead of the turn passing to the next player to that players left, the turn automatically passes to the player who was asked and did not have the requested card. If the player who currently has the turn completely runs out of cards (by making a book with cards requested) the turn passes to the next player to that player's right as in the standard version.

Literature: Literature, is a partnership variation of Authors, usually for 4, 6, 8, 10 or 12 players. The game uses a standard 52 card deck with the four deuces removed (making a 48 card deck). The players are divided into two partnerships containing half the participants. Thus, for an six player game, there would be two partnerships of three players each. When played by exactly six players, this game is sometimes called Canadian Fish.

Any of the standard methods can be used to determine these partnerships, with the usual method being in which all players draw cards, and the players drawing the highest play against the players drawing the lowest. Any players drawing cards of the same rank would redraw until they drew a card of a unique value. The partners would then sit at the table in such a manner that the order of play (moving in a clockwise rotation around the table) would alternate between players from each partnership. The player who draws the highest card of all would be the dealer for the first hand. After this first dealer is determined, he would then deal out the cards to the players, dealing the entire deck. Some players may receive one extra card which is acceptable.

Whereas in the standard game, Authors, the players attempt to collect groups of four of a kind, when playing Literature, the partnerships are trying to collect groups of cards called half-suits. Each half-suit consists of six specific cards in a single suit. There are a total of eight half-suits in the full 48 card deck used in this game. The following table delineates these half-suits:

Card Rank	Suit Marking on Card	Half-Suit Name
3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8	Spades (♠)	Low Spades
3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8	Diamonds (♦)	Low Diamonds
3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8	Hearts (♥)	Low Hearts
3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8	Clubs (♣)	Low Clubs
9, 10, Jack, Queen, King, Ace	Spades (♠)	High Spades
9, 10, Jack, Queen, King, Ace	Diamonds (♦)	High Diamonds
9, 10, Jack, Queen, King, Ace	Hearts (♥)	High Hearts
9, 10, Jack, Queen, King, Ace	Clubs (♣)	High Clubs

The object of this game is thus to be the team that captures the most half-suits by the end of the game.

Complete Half Suit in the game Literature

When playing Literature, each partnership attempts to collect the largest number of half-suits.

Play begins with the first player to the immediate left of the dealer asking any player on the opposite team for a specific card. The player may only ask for a card from a half-suit in which they already have at least one card and may never ask for a card they already have in their hand. If the player asked has the requested card, they would then transfer the card to the asking player. In this case, the player would also receive another turn. If the player asked does not have the requested card, they would state this and, ending the current turn of the requester. The turn would then pass to the opposing player from whom the card was requested. Players with no cards in their hand may never be asked for a card. If a player, whose turn it is no longer has cards in his hand (due to having declared a half-suit), he may pass the turn to any other player in his partnership of his choosing.

If one player has collected an entire half-suit by themselves, they would place the entire set face up in front of themselves and their partnership would earn credit for the set. It gets slightly more complicated, however, if a half-suit is divided amongst all the members of the same team. If a player, on his turn, believes this to be the case, they would, sometime during their normal turn, declare it by stating who has which cards of the set. If the player was exactly correct in their statement, the cards are removed from the respective hands, placed on the table in front of the declaring player and the team would be entitled to score for the set. If the player was incorrect in the specific ownership of the cards in the set but all cards of the set are owned by members of his own partnership, the cards are still removed but set aside, with no one entitled to score for the set. However, if the player was incorrect and one or more of the cards stated are actually owned by members of the other partnership, all cards are removed from the respective hands but are entitled to be scored by the opposing partnership.

Once all eight half-suits have been captured or removed, the team with the most half-suits is declared the winner. If both partnerships have captured the same number of half-suits, the game is declared a draw.

The main variant which is sometimes seen with Literature or Canadian Fish is a difference in the cards that are designated to make up the half-suits. The following describes some of the half-suit designations that might be found for alternate versions of this game:

The four eights are removed from the deck. In this case each low half-suit consists of the card denominations in each suit; 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7. The high half-suits in each suit would consist of; 9, 10, Jack, Queen, King, Ace.
The sevens are removed from the standard deck. With this configuration the low half-suits consist of the denominations; Ace, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6. The high half-suits would then consist of the remaining cards in each suit; 8, 9, 10, Jack, Queen, King.

Diplomat: Diplomat is another variant of Authors which, although having simple rules, can be quite challenging and often requires a razor sharp memory. Diplomat uses the standard 52 card deck and is usually played by from 3 to 6 players. The determination of the seating positions and first dealer is usually done in the same manner as standard Authors.

Once the first dealer is determined this player then distributes the entire deck to the players in a clockwise rotation one face down card at a time. If the cards do not divide evenly amongst the current number of players, some players may get one extra card which is acceptable. After the cards are distributed, the player to the dealer's right has the first turn, with the turns then rotating around the table in a clockwise direction.

A potential capture in the game of Diplomat

Players attempt to gather groups of four cards of the same denomination, formed from combinations of cards in the hand and from cards layed out in the center of the table.

If a player, on his turn, can form four cards of the same denomination from his hand and any cards face up on the table (see below) he may gather them up, show them to the rest of the players and set them face down in front of himself for scoring at the end of the game. On his turn, a player may do one of the following actions:

Question:

Lay Out:

A player who runs out of cards would skip their turn, waiting for the current game to complete and be scored. When all cards have been captured, the player with the most captured books is declared the winner. If two or more players tie for the most books, the player, amongst the tying players, who took the first book is declared the winner.

Some players prefer a variant on the situation during the game for when the cards do not deal out equally to all the players. In this variant, any cards that can not be divided evenly amongst the players are laid face up in the center of the table at the start of the game. In all other respects the remainder of the game is identical to the standard version.

Go Fish: Go Fish, (sometimes shortened to just "Fish") is probably the most well known card game in the entire world, with it being the first game taught to many youngsters or new card players. It is a simplified version of Authors.

Go Fish is designed for 2 to 8 players using one standard 52 card deck. As in Authors, any of the normal methods for deciding seating positions and first dealer may be used. Once this has been determined the dealer then deals out the hands in a clockwise direction around the table, starting with the player to his left. For a game with 2 to 5 participants, each player would receive a total of seven cards in the deal, while with 6 players or more, each would receive five cards. The remainder of the deck is placed face down in a pile in the center of the table as the stock. After dealing is complete, play begins with the first player to the dealer's left.

On his turn, a player would then ask any player by name for a specific rank of cards (i.e. "Lucy, do you have any fives?"). A player may not ask for cards of a rank in which they do not already have at least one card. The player asked must then give to the requester all cards of the requested rank. If the requester, after obtaining these cards is able to make a book of four cards of the same rank they would then show them on the table and then place them face down in front of themselves. If however, they have no cards of the requested rank, they would instead reply "Go Fish". If told to "Go Fish" the asking player would then draw one card from the stock pile and adding it to his hand. If a player is able to complete the book (of the rank requested) either through cards given by another player or by "fishing" from the stock, he is entitled to take another turn, asking the same or any other player for any rank of card. As long as the player completes the book on each request or draw, he may continue his turn.

Once the stock runs out, play continues as normal, except when a player does not have any cards of the requested rank, the askers turn immediately ends with no draw and the turn passes to the next player to the left. Once any player runs out of cards (either by completing a book or giving his last cards to another player upon a specific rank request) or there are no cards left in the stock pile for a player to draw, the game ends. At this time all players count their books and the player with the most completed books is declared the winner. If two or more players tie for the most books, the game ends in a tie.

There are several variations of "Go Fish" which are often seen when playing this game. These include the following:

The winner is the first player to run out of cards (either through completing a book using the remainder of his cards or who gives the last of his cards to another player on request), regardless of how many books he or any other player has. If the stock runs out before any player runs out of cards, the winner would be the player who has captured the most books.
Play continues, until all books have been captured at which time each player counts their books and the player with the most books is declared the winner. If two or more players have captured the same number of books, the game is considered a tie. As players run out of cards through the course of the game, they would remain in their seat, waiting until all players run out of cards.
Instead of an orderly, squared, stock pile, the cards remaining after the deal are placed in a disorderly face down pool in the center of the table. When told to "Go Fish" a player may draw any card from the pool, attempting to minimize the disturbance of any other cards.
If a player is told to "Go Fish" their turn immediately ends after they draw, regardless if they are able to complete a book of the requested rank with the card so drawn.
If a player manages to draw a card from the stock that is the same rank as that asked for (this is called "making a catch") for he is entitled to another turn, regardless if the player was able to form a book with this card.

Fish: Fish is a popular card game in Australia and similar to it's cousin card game of "Go Fish", is played mostly by children. Fish is essentially the Australian version of Go Fish, however, while Fish is similar to that game, there are also some notable difference in the rules.

Fish is designed for play by 3 to 6 players and normally uses one 52 card deck including two Jokers. Determination of seating positions and first dealer can be performed using a variety of methods, such as drawing for high cards. Once the first dealer has been determine this player should shuffle the deck and the begin the deal. The dealer then begins dealing the cards in a clockwise rotation around the table, starting with the player at his immediate left. He continues dealing until each player has a total of seven face-down cards. The dealer then places the remainder of the deck in a face-down pile near the center of the table, called the Ocean.

Each player then examines his hand, and forms any pairs (two cards of the exact same rank) in his hand, placing these pairs of cards face-up on the table in front of himself. Whichever player is able to lay down the most initial pairs of cards has the first turn. If there is a tie for the player laying down the most such pairs, the player who is closest to the player at the dealers immediate left (in a clockwise direction), of the players tied for the most pairs, takes this first turn.

The Jokers as found in the deck are not considered wild cards in this game, but are rather independently ranked cards and thus a Joker can only be paired with another Joker.

Scoring in Australian Fish

A player's turn consists of asking any other player, by name, for a card of a specific rank. A player may never ask for a card of a rank for which he does not hold one such other card. If the player who was asked does indeed have a card of the requested rank currently in his hand (cards played to the table are permanently played to the table), he must hand this card to the asking player. The asking player then takes the card provided by his opponent and the card from his hand and plays it to the table in front of himself. He then may ask the same (or another player) for a card of a different rank. He continues his turn until the player asked does not have a card of the asked rank in his hand, at which that opponent says "Go Fish". The asking player then draws the top card from the stock pile, adding the drawn card into his hand. If the card draw from the stock forms a pair with any of the cards in his hand (including of the card requested from the opponent), the player's turn is still over, however he may place the pair, face-up in front of himself near all other such pairs he has previously played to the table. The player who stated "Go Fish" then has the next turn, asking for a card that he will attempt to pair from any player.

If a player runs out of cards during the game, he immediately draws seven cards from the stock pile. If there are fewer than seven such cards, he draws as many cards as he can from the stock pile, playing any pairs found in these cards to the table as normal. If a player runs out of cards after the stock pile has been exhausted he simply skips the remainder of his turns until the end of the game. Play continues as long as two or more players have cards in the hand, and if a player is told to "Go Fish" and the stock pile is empty, that player simply ends his turn. A player would, of course, only ask other players who still have cards in the hand for needed cards.

Once the last card has been paired and played to the table, the game ends and scoring occurs. The following are the possible scores in Fish:

If a player has two pairs (four cards total) of a specific rank, that player earns three points for this pair of pairs.
A pair of Jokers earns that player two points.
Each single pair a player has managed to form during the game earns that player one point.

The game is played until one or more players reach an accumulated total (over several hands). This total is directly dependent on the number of current players in the game. For 2 or 3 players, this total should be 40 points, for 4 or 5 players this total should be 30, and for 6 or more players, this total should be 20 points. Once this scoring threshold is reached by any player upon completion of a hand, the player with the current highest total of points is considered the overall game winner.

Australian Fish - Adelaide Variant: There is also another popular variant of Go Fish which is played in Australia, particularly in the city of Adelaide and the surrounding area, which is similar to the rules for the normal, International version, which however, also has a number of unique differences. This variant, which also goes by a number of other names, is designed for play by four to ten players. The game is played using two standard 52 card decks shuffled together, with the inclusion of four total Jokers.

Determination of the first dealer and seating positions can be done the same as in Fish or Go Fish, with draw for high cards a common method. After shuffling the deck, the dealer then deals out seven cards to each player in a clockwise direction, starting with the player to his immediate left. The player to the immediate left of the dealer has the first turn.

The object of this variant, as in standard "Go Fish", is to lay down to the table, groups of four cards of the same rank (called a book), which a player may do once he forms such a collection of four equally ranked cards in his hand. In this variant, however, a player is never required to lay down a book to the table from his hand, however, those cards are then open for another player to ask for on a turn.

On a player's turn he may ask any other player, by name, for a specific number of cards of a certain rank (i.e. "Mew, do you have two Jacks?"). If this player has that many (or more) of the request cards, he gives the player the number that was asked for (but no more). If the player has fewer than the number of cards requested (or no cards of that rank at all), he simply tells the asking player "Go Fish". The asking player then draws one card from the stock, which immediately ends his turn. The player who stated "Go Fish" then takes the next turn. A player may never ask for a card of a denomination of which he does not have at least one card currently in his hand.

If a player runs out of cards during in hand during gameplay, he immediately draws seven cards from the stock pile. If there are less than seven cards in the stock pile, he takes all the cards currently found in the stock pile. If a player runs out of cards and the stock pile is empty, he simply sits out the remainder of the game until scoring occurs on the hand. If a player is told to "Go Fish" when there are no cards remaining in the stock pile, he simply ends his turn with no draw.

Once all the cards have been formed into books (a group of four cards all of the same rank) the game ends and scoring occurs. Each set of four cards of the same rank earns that player 1 point. However, if a player manages to capture two books of the same rank, that player earns a total of 3 points for all eight cards. A book of Jokers earns a player two points rather than the usual one for a normal book.

The game continues over multiple hands until one or more players reach a specific accumulated total. This total is directly dependent on the number of current players in the game. For 4 or 5 players, this total should be 40 points, for 6 or 7 players this total should be 30, and for 8 or more players, this total should be 20 points. Once this scoring threshold is reached by one or more players at the end of any hand, the player with the highest total of points is considered the overall game winner.

Trivia: In the late Eighteenth and early Nineteenth centuries, canaries were used in coal mines to detect poisonous gases (such as high levels of Carbon Dioxide) and were kept in cages near where the miners worked.

Blue Canary: Blue Canary is a game played similar to Go Fish, however this game features additional collectible options as well as restrictions on asking for cards. This game is also sometimes called Green Canarie or Breck Fish. As will be seen during play, many of the terms used in the game are related to mines and mining, as is the game's name. The game was originally created in Italy by British students studying there.

Blue Canary uses one standard 52 card deck along with two Jokers. Selection of seating positions and first dealer can be done in the same method used in Authors and standard Go Fish.

Once the first dealer is determined, this player should then proceed to deal the hand, one by one in a clockwise direction. The number of cards received is dependent on the number of players participating in the game. For 3 to 5 players, each player would receive eight cards. For 6 to 8 players, each should receive five. After each player has the requisite number of cards, he should then divide the remainder of the pack into two approximately equal sized face-down piles in the center of the table. These piles are called the mine or pit.

In keeping with the mining vernacular, each turn is called a swing. The player to the dealer's immediate left would then have the first turn. A players turn consists of requesting from a specific player a specific number of cards of a certain denomination (i.e. Lucy, do you have 2 Tens?). A player must have at least one card of the requested denomination in order to ask another player for cards of the same denomination. If the player asked has the number of cards asked for, he must pass them to the asking player. The asking player then adds them to his hand and may take another turn. A player may ask the same or another player for cards of the same or another denomination. One restriction, however, is that a player may never ask the same player for cards of the same denomination more than twice in sequence on any turn. If an asked player does not have the cards asked for, that player would indicate this ending the asking players turn. The asking player would then draw one card from the mine. Allowable Veins in Blue Canary

The goal of each player is to create special sets, called veins. The following are the allowable veins:

Standard Vein
Standard Vein with Joker
Unstable Vein
Jokers

A player may place valid veins from his hand on the table in front of himself at any time. If a player is able to complete a valid vein and play it to the table from a card just requested from another player, the asker may also draw one random card from that same players hand. When a player runs out of cards, he waits for the remainder of the players to complete. The game continues until all players run out of cards or all possible veins have been played. When the game concludes each player declares the total number of veins created. The player with the most total veins is declared the winner. If two or more players tie for the most veins, the player with the vein of the highest denomination (using the following ranking, from high to low; Joker, Ace, King, Queen, Jack, 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2) is set as the winner. Each hand is considered a complete game.

Old Maid: Old Maid is a classic children's game designed for three to six players. Due to the popularity of this game it is played throughout the world and is known by a many names throughout the world (such as Schwarzer Peter, Vieux Garcon and many others).

Old maid uses one standard 52 card deck in which the Queen of hearts, Queen of diamonds and Queen of clubs have been removed. The remaining Queen left in the deck (the Queen of spades) is known as the Old Maid, with the object of the game to not be the last player left with this card.

A number of methods can be used to determine seating positions and first dealer with drawing for low card a common method. Once this is determined, the dealer shuffles the modified deck and begins dealing out the cards one at a time starting with the player to his immediate left. He deals the cards one by one until the entire pack is dealt out. Depending on the number of players, some players may receive one extra card, which is acceptable.

Which card is the Old Maid

After all the cards have been dealt, the each player then picks up his cards and removes all the matched pairs of 2 cards found in his hand. If a player has four cards of the same rank he removes these cards as well. The pairs should be set face-up on the table in front of the player. The players may then arrange the cards in their hands as they see fit. After all current pairs have been removed by the players, play of the hand begins.

The player to the immediate left of the dealer has the first turn, with the turn rotating around the table in a clockwise direction. Each turn consists of a player drawing one card from the face-down hand of the player to his immediate right. That player should fan out his hand such that the backs of all cards are visible. The player drawing the card then adds the card to his own hand. If it creates a matched pair he removes the pair from his hand, placing the cards forming the pair face up on the table in front of himself.

The turns continue in this manner until all the cards but one (the Old Maid) have been discarded from the hand. The player who is left with the Old Maid in hand is said to have lost the game and is given the title of Old Maid.

After each game, the deck rotates in a clockwise direction around the table to the next player who will deal the next hand.

Variants of Old Maid: Being a popular children's game, there are a number of variant rules that are sometimes added in different locales. The following are some of the optional rules or changes made to the game:

Winner Determination
One Card Removed
Differing Card
Multi-Deck Old Maid
Old Maid Reverse
Old Joker
Hidden Card
King Escapes

Quartett: Quartett is a variant of Authors which is commonly played in Germany. As this game is quite popular there, a number of different publishers have created special cards for this game. However, the classic version of the game can be played using the standard German pack of 32 cards (the same deck as used in Germany's national card game, Skat). This deck is created by removing all the cards of denomination 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6 from a regular deck, leaving all cards of denomination of 7 or higher in the deck. Since the object of the game is to collect four cards of the same rank (called quarts), there is no real concept of relative ranking amongst cards of different ranks. The game is designed to be played by three to five players, however a variant for two players is described below.

Determination of seating positions and first dealer can be done in the same manner as for Authors. Once the first dealer has been determined, he then takes the shuffled pack and begins dealing the cards, face-down and one-by-one in a clockwise direction around the table starting with the player at his immediate left. He continues dealing until the entire deck has been dealt out. It may occur, depending on the number of participants in the game, that one or more players may have one additional card. This is acceptable and expected, and the differential will even out as the turn to deal also rotates around the table in a clockwise direction. The player to the dealer's immediate left has the first turn.

A quartet of Quartets.

On his turn, a player asks any other player for a specific card, by rank and suit (i.e. Phantom, do you have the nine of Spades). A player may never ask for a card unless he has at least one other card of that same rank. If the asked player has the requested card he must pass it to the asking player. He may then ask the same player or any other player for another card from the same rank or another rank (providing the asker has at least one card of the same rank). His turn continues until an asked player does not have the card asked for. After this, the last player asked (who did not have the card requested) then has his own turn, asking any other player as did the first player.

If a player, at any time, finds he has four cards of the same rank in his hand, he must place these four cards (called a quart or quartet) face-up on the table in front of himself. If a player runs out of cards (either by giving his last card to another player or creating a quartet), he drops from the game, waiting for the game to complete to determine the winner. If he emptied his hand by creating a quartet with a card asked from another player, the turn would move to the next player to that player's left.

After every player has depleted his cards, each player counts his total quarts and the player with the most quarts is declared the winner.

Two Player Quartett: Quartett can also be played by two players and bears a strong resemblance to Go Fish. This game also uses the 32 card German Deck. Determination of first dealer can be done by both players drawing a card from the shuffled deck, and the player drawing the highest card becomes the first dealer. If both players draw a card of the same rank, the first card is discarded and each player draws another card, this continuing until one player clearly draws a card of higher rank. After each deal, the role of dealer alternates amongst the two players.

Once the first dealer has been determined, the dealer then deals each player 10 cards, one at a time and face-down, starting with his opponent. He then places the remainder of the deck face-down in a pile in the center of the table. The opponent of the dealer has the first turn.

As in the standard variant of this game, a player on his turn asks his opponent for a card by specific rank and suit. He must already have in his hand a card of the same rank as requested. If the opponent does not have the card, the player asking for the card then draws a card from the stock and his opponent then takes his own turn in the same way.

The game continues until the last card has been formed into a quart, at which time the players count the total number of quarts created and the player with the most quarts is declared the winner.

Omben: Omben is a card game similar to Authors and Go Fish which is played in any areas of Indonesia, including the island of Java. The game is also sometimes known under the name Minuman. It is usually played by two participants, although the game can also be played by up to five. The game is played using one standard 52 card deck.

Determination of seating positions and first dealer can be done using the same methods as in Authors. Once the first dealer has been determined and the deck shuffled and cut, the dealer then deals, in the normal fashion, 5 cards to each player. The player to the immediate left of the dealer has the first turn, and play rotates in a counter-clockwise direction around the table.

As in Authors and it's many variants, on each turn in Omben, the player asks any opponent for a specific rank of card (such as "tens"). If that player has any such cards, he must give all of those cards to the asking player, which ends that player's turn. However, if the player asked has no cards in the same rank as asked, the asking player must draw cards one-at-a-time from the stock pile until he draws a card of the rank requested (said to take a "drink" of water). If a player manages to obtain four cards of the same rank in hand, he then discards these four cards to the table.

The game continues until one player runs out of cards, with that player declared the winner (regardless of how many such four of a kinds that player has managed to collect or discard to the table).