How to Play the Card Game Commune

Commune is a fun and unique game which can be great fun for large groups. The game appears to have gotten it's name because every player's cards are considered community cards, and are considered to be members of every player's hand.

The game can be played by almost any number of people (great for 2 to 10 players) and does not even require use of a table. The game uses one standard 52 card deck with the addition of two Jokers. The ranking of the cards in the deck are as follows (from high to low); Ace, King, Queen, Jack, 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3. All twos and Jokers are considered wild cards and may be used to take on the identity of any other card in the deck. In fact, as a wild card, a two may never actually be set as a two in any valid combination during play.

Before play begins, each player should be provided three chips or other tokens, which they place in front of them. The object of the game is to be the last player who still has tokens. When a player loses his last token due to penalties (see below), he must drop from the game. The last player remaining with tokens is declared the winner. After the tokens are distributed, seating positions and the first dealer can be determined. The most common method used for this game is for all players to draw a card from the shuffled, face-down deck. The player drawing the highest card takes first choice of seats, the player drawing the next highest cards takes the next choice and so on until each player is seated. The player drawing the highest card of all becomes the first dealer. If two or more players draw cards of the same rank, these equally marked cards can be further ranked by suit, in the following order (from high to low); Spades, Diamonds, Hearts, Clubs. For the subsequent hands during the game, the deal rotates from player to player in a clockwise direction. Once a player is eliminated, he would no longer participate in the deal for the current game, with the deal passing to the next player in rotation as necessary.

Once the first dealer is determined, he thoroughly shuffles the deck and offers it to the player at his immediate right to cut. After the cut, the dealer then begins distributing the cards to the players starting with the player to his immediate right. He deals the cards one by one in clockwise direction around the table, face down in a pile in front of each player. Each player receives a number of cards equal to four minus the number of tokens he currently has. Thus a player with two chips would receive two cards (4 - 2 chips = 2 cards). He continues dealing this way in a counter-clockwise direction until each player has the requisite number of cards. On the first hand, each player would receive one single card (4 - 3 chips = 1 card). After completing the deal on each hand, the dealer places the remainder of the deck face down in the center of the table as a stock. Each player may look at his own hand but should ensure the other players are unable to see it. On the first hand, play begins with the player to the dealer's immediate left. On each subsequent hand, play begins with the last active player who lost a chip.

The first player on a turn, after examining his card or cards then makes a bid. A bid consists of any valid combination (see valid combinations below). The bid should name the exact contents of the important part of the bid (i.e. two pairs, consisting of a pair of fours and a pair of tens). A player's bid would be a valid combination that the player believes might exist from amongst all the cards in all players' hands, including his own. The valid bids are shown in the following table (shown in order from lowest ranked to highest):

Bid Name

Bid Description

Example

High Card

This is a bid indicating a high card amongst all the community cards

King high

One Pair

Two cards of the exact same rank

A pair of fives

Two Pair

Two cards of the same denomination and two other cards of another matching denomination

One pair of threes
and one pair of Jacks

Three of a Kind

Three cards of the exact same denomination

Three eights

Straight

Five cards all in sequence. The denomination of the high and low card in the sequence must be named.

Straight of five to nine

Full House

A set of three equally ranked cards and another set of two equally ranked cards.

Hand consisting of three of a kind and two of a kind

Full House consisting of
three fours and two Queens

Four of a Kind

Four cards all of the same denomination

Four Aces

Five of a Kind

Five cards of the same denomination. This would obviously need to include at least one wild card

Five fours

After a player makes a bid the next player in turn then has two options. He must either "Call" the last bid or make a bid of his own. If he opts to make his own bid, his bid must be higher than the previous player's bid. A bid is higher if the bid is either in a higher ranked category, or in the same category but including higher cards of import in the bid (such as a higher pair). If a player Calls the previous bid, all the cards are then exposed. If the declared bid is, in fact, found amongst all these cards, the player who Called loses one chip. However, if a combination of cards is not found in the community card, the player who made the bid loses one chip instead.

When a player loses his third chip he must drop from the game. The game continues until only one player remains who is declared the winner of the game. If, on a hand, two or more players tie for the most tricks taken during the round, the deck is shuffled and all tying players draw one card from the face-down deck. The player amongst them who draws the highest card, using the same rules for ranking these cards as in the draw for first dealer, is deemed the winner of that hand and is given the opportunity to select the trump suit for the next hand.

Variations and Optional Rules

Five Card Menteur: Menteur is another fun game with a similar goal to Commune. This game is usually played by 2 to 8 players using one standard deck with two Jokers. The ranking of the cards in the deck are as follows (from high to low); Ace, King, Queen, Jack, 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2. The Jokers are wild cards and can be used to represent any other card in the deck.

The first dealer and seating positions can be performed in a variety of ways. The most common method is for each player to draw from a shuffled deck. The player drawing the highest card takes the first choice of seats, the player drawing the next highest has the next choice and so on until all players are seated. If two or more players draw cards of the same denomination, these players should draw additional cards to determine the ordering among themselves. The player who draws the highest card of all also becomes the first dealer. The player drawing the lowest card of all is the starting "player" receiving the first hand.

Once the players are seated and the first dealer and starting player determined, the dealer shuffles the deck and offers it to the player at his right to cut. After the cut, he then deals five cards to the starting player, face down. No other players yet receive any cards.

The starting player then picks up and examines the hand, ensuring no other players see the faces of the cards. After examination he then declares a valid bid (see below). The bid does not necessarily have to actually be found in the hand. At a minimum the bid must state the category of the bid (i.e. three of a kind), but the player may further specify the actual cards in the hand to any degree of detail (i.e. "three kings and two odd cards" or "three Kings, one Ace and one nine").

The following are the allowable bid categories used in this game listed in rank from lowest to highest:

Bid Name	Bid Description	Example
High Card	This is a bid indicating no other combinations, stating the ranking of the highest card in the hand	King high
One Pair	Two cards of the exact same rank	"One pair" or "Two fours"
Two Pair	Two cards of the same denomination and two other cards of another matching denomination	"Two pairs" or "A pair of fives and a pair of eights"
Three of a Kind	Three cards of the exact same denomination	"Three of a kind" or "Three eights, a five, and a King"
Straight	Five cards all in sequence but not in the same suit	"Straight" or "Straight of four to nine"
Flush	Five cards all of the same suit but not in sequence	"Flush" or "Flush with highest card a Queen"
Full House	A set of three equally ranked cards and another set of two equally ranked cards.	"Full House" or "Three Kings and two Jacks"
Four of a Kind	Four cards all of the same denomination	"Four of a kind" or "Four eights and a nine"
Straight Flush	Five cards in direct sequence and of the same suit.	"Straight Flush" or "Straight Flush three to eight"
Five of a Kind	Five cards of the exact same denomination. This would need to include at least one wild card.	"Five of a kind" or "Five tens"

After the player makes his bid, the next player in a clockwise rotation then has two options:

Challenge the Bid:
Accept the Bid:

Once a challenge occurs (either successful or unsuccessful), the cards are all gathered and shuffled by the new dealer (player to the previous dealer's immediate left). The last player to have lost points becomes the starting player for the next hand.

The game continues until one player reaches a specific number of penalty points (such as 5), and is considered to have lost the game. The player with the fewest number of penalty points is declared the winner.