NUMBER OF PLAYERS: Three to six

AGE APPROPRIATE: 14 to adult

THE DECK: Universal Card Deck – 54 cards and some Galaxy cards, depending on the number of players.

RANK OF CARDS: Galaxy (high if used), Sun, Moon, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1

VALUE OF CARDS: The nine Jupiter cards count as one point. The Mars 7 and Neptune 7 count as seven points each. There is no trump suit.

RANK OF SUITS: The suits are not ranked in this game. Each suit is equal.

THE SHUFFLE AND CUT: Draw or cut for deal; high suit deals – E (high), J, M, N, S, V. If any players draw or cut the same highest suit, the card rankings go into effect. Dealer shuffles. The player at dealer’s right cuts the deck. Deal rotates left each hand.

THE DEAL: The dealer gives the following number of cards face down to each player:3 players – no Galaxy cards included – 18 cards to each player4 players – Venus and Saturn Galaxy cards included – 14 cards to each player5 players – Venus Galaxy card included – 11 cards to each player6 players – no Galaxy cards or all six – 9 or 10 cards to each playerDeal and play are clockwise.

OBJECT OF PLAY: To avoid taking point cards, or take all of them (all nine Jupiter cards, the Mars 7, and the Neptune 7). The player with the fewest number of points at the end of the game is considered the winner. This game is similar in concept to Hearts, which is played with a Hoyle deck.

THE PASS: Before play begins, each player selects and passes face down a determined number of cards in a determined direction to an opponent: # of Players # of Cards to Pass Direction of Pass each Hand 3 4 left, right, two each way 4 3left, right, across, one each way 52left, right, second person on left, second person on right, no pass 6 2left, second person on left, across, second person on right, right, no passEach player must pass the cards before looking at the cards he/she is receiving.

THE PLAY: The player holding the Venus 1 card must lead it to start the first trick. The other players in clockwise order must play a card of the same suit that was led if possible. If they do not have a card of that suit, they may play any card. The person who played the highest card of the suit led wins the trick and leads to the next trick. Players may not lead with a Jupiter card until after one has been played (or sluffed) to another trick. Sluffing a Jupiter card then allows Jupiter cards to be led from that point forward for the remainder of the hand if players so choose.

SCORING: A separate account is kept for each player. At the end of each hand the points taken in tricks by each player are totaled. However, if one player manages to win all the point cards (all the Jupiter cards, plus the Mars 7 and the Neptune 7), that player may choose to have 23 points taken off his/her score or have 23 points added to all his/her opponents’ score. The game continues until one player has exceeded a total of 100 points at the conclusion of a hand. The player with the lowest total score is then the winner. Variation: If a player acquires a total of 100 points exactly, his/her score is reduced to zero.

© Copyright 2001 by John Frampton & Craig Richter