Play Durak Online

Overview

Durak is a popular climbing card game from Russia where teams of players try to have the least penalty points after one person reaches 4. Durak is played with 4 players divided into 2 teams.

Ranking of Cards

In Durak, Aces are high and 6s are low.

Summary

• The objective is to get rid of your cards first and the loser is the last player left holding cards
• The role of Defender passes around the table - other players attack by playing a single card and the Defender must play a trump card or a higher ranked card of the same suit
• After the first attack, attackers can only play cards of the same rank as cards already played in the bout
• If the Defender defeats a set number of attacks, all cards played in the bout are discarded. If the Defender loses, they must pick up all the cards played

Presets

• Classic: Attack limit is 6 and and the lowest value cards are Sixes
• Teams: Both members of one team attack one member of the other team. The defender's team-mate cannot assist them

The Deck and the Deal

Durak is played with a deck of 36 playing cards, containing 6s through Aces. After teams are decided amongst the players, the dealer passes out 6 cards clockwise to each player. The remaining deck forms a draw pile.

How to Play

The top card of the draw pile is turned face up - its suit becomes the trump suit.

Play consists of bouts, in which one player is the defender and another the attacker. The attacker plays down a card from their hand which the defender must beat with a higher card of the same suit or any trump card, similar to the standard trick rules.

When a card is defended, the attacker can play another card, which must be of equal rank to at least one other card already played in the bout. If the attacker cannot or does not wish to continue the attack, then one of the other players may take up the attack. The attack can contain no more than 6 cards, or the size of the defender's hand at the start of the bout, if that is less than 6.

If the defender fails at any point, attacking players can continue to play cards up to the attack's size limit, but the defender cannot defend again and the defender must add all the cards played in the bout to their hand.

If the defender beats all the attacking cards, they win the bout and all cards played in that bout are discarded.

The role of defender ordinarily passes clockwise around the table. The primary attacker is usually on the defender's right. If the defender wins the bout, they become the new primary attacker against the player to their left. However, if the defender is defeated, they do not become the attacker. Instead, the player to their left becomes the primary attacker and the next player after that becomes the defender.

At the end of the bout, players draw cards to replenish their hands back to 6 cards. Once the draw pile is empty, play continues without drawing cards. Once a player runs out of cards, they are out of the round. The last player to go out is the loser.

Scoring

Players score penalty points depending on the order in which they got rid of all of their cards. The first player to do so scores no penalty points, the second player to do so scores 1 penalty point, and the last player to do so scores 3 penalty points. All other players score 2 penalty points.

Winning

The game ends when one player has accrued 6 penalty points - this can also be set to 5, 8 or 10 points. The winner is whoever has the fewest points.

Variations

CardzMania supports several customizable rules and options so you can play Durak exactly how you like or how you grew up playing with your friends and family. In addition to the classic way of playing, we often have new creative options for you to try to spice up the game if you are interested in trying different spins for fun.

Points

Players determine a set amount of points when the game ends.

Rounds

Players determine a set amount of rounds (also known as hands or deals) that the game will go to (instead of the points selection above).

Timer

Players only have a set amount of time to make their turn after which a turn is automatically played for them and the game proceeds: Fast is 7 seconds, Standard is 15 seconds, Slow is 30 seconds, and Very Slow is 60 seconds. Players can also choose to disable the timer, but that is only for private tables.

Deck Min

The amount of cards in the deck can be set to 52 (2 and above) or 36 (default - 6 and above).

Attack Limit

The maximum attack size can be set to 4, 6 (default), 8, 10 or 12 cards.

Climbing/Shedding Basic Rules

Climbing games typically center around players getting rid of their cards as fast as they can. Each climbing game has its own rules for discarding cards and its own implications for getting rid of your cards first. Some games run on a points system where the player who gets rid of their cards first gets the most points. Other games run on a ranking system where the player who gets rid of their cards first is in a better position for the next round.

Card Game Basics

A deck of cards consists of 52 cards, with 4 distinctive subgroups. Each of these subgroups is recognised by a symbol and are referred to as suits. They consist of Clubs, Spades, Hearts and Diamonds. Each suit contains 13 cards which, generally, are considered in this order, Ace (A), 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, Jacks (J), Queen (Q) and King (K). Some games include the two Jokers found in a standard deck but most games don't.

Feedback

Would like to discuss new features or variations for Durak? Need a custom rule? Have a question? Got a suggestion? Don't see a game you want to play? Please contact us by email, facebook or twitter - we really value your feedback and love hearing from all of you!

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