The Fox in the Forest

To set up The Fox in the Forest, shuffle the deck and deal 13 cards to each of the two players. Place the remaining cards in a face-down draw pile, and turn the top card face up next to it to serve as the decree card, which determines the trump suit for the game. Players hold their cards in hand and prepare to start the first round.

The objective is to collect more trick pairs than your opponent by winning tricks throughout the round. However, players must be careful not to collect too many tricks, as greediness leads to a penalty where you score no points for winning 10 or more tricks.

On a turn, the starting player leads with any card from their hand face up. The second player must follow suit with a card of the same suit if they have one; otherwise, they may play any card. The highest card of the lead suit wins the trick, unless a trump card is played, which beats all other suits. Special card abilities also take effect when played, altering the game dynamics.

At the end of the round, players count their won tricks to determine their score. Winning 0-3 or 7-9 tricks awards 6 points, 4-6 tricks award 1-3 points respectively, and winning 10 or more tricks awards 0 points for being too greedy.

The game continues over multiple rounds with players shuffling and dealing new hands. The first player to reach a total of 21 or more points at the end of a round is declared the winner.