The Last Card

This is a trick-taking game played with a special deck of 64 cards (40 are used for 3 players, 52 for 4 players, 64 for 5 players), numbered from 1 to 16 in each of four suits (blue circles, green squares, red triangles, purple stars). All but 4 cards are dealt to the players; the top card of the remaining 4 is turned up to determine trumps. One player leads to the first trick and may play any card in their hand. Succeeding players must follow these rules (in order) when playing: (1) Must play a card of the same suit that was led; (2) If player does not have the suit led, they must play a trump card; (3) If player cannot follow either rule (1) or (2), they may play any suit. In addition, once it is determined which of the three foregoing rules applies to a player, they, if possible, must play a card that has a higher numeric value than the highest-valued card already played to the trick. If they cannot play a higher card, then they may play any card that follows the applicable rule. When all players have one card left in their hands, the round ends. Each player’s score is the number of tricks they caught times the numerical value of the “Last Card” remaining in their hand (thus the title of the game).