Literature (card game)

The game is played by six or eight players in two teams. Six is best and is standard in the Canadian game.[2] Players sit in alternating order. Four 8's are removed from a standard French-suited 52-card English pattern pack to leave 48 cards. There are thus eight half-suits of six cards each called sets or books such as "Low Spades" (♠2 ♠3 ♠4 ♠5 ♠6 ♠7) or "High Hearts" (♥9 ♥10 ♥J ♥Q ♥K ♥A).[1]

The objective is to win more books than the other team.

Deal and play are assumed to be to the left i.e. clockwise. The first dealer is selected at random by e.g. drawing cards, highest deals. Dealer shuffles and deals all the cards out, individually and face down, beginning with the player to the dealer's immediate left. If six play, they will each receive 8 cards; if eight play, 6 cards. When the deal is finished players pick up and look at their own cards.[1]

Unusually, the dealer goes first. When it is a player's turn, the player may ask a question of any member of the opposing team as follows:[1]

• A specific card must be requested e.g. "I would like the 7 of Spades"
• The player must hold a card that is part of the requested book
• The player asked must hold at least one card
• The player may not ask for a card already held
• The player may not ask a teammate for a card

Example: Anna only has one Diamond in her hand – the ♦J. She may ask for the ♦9, ♦10, ♦Q, ♦Kor ♦A, but not the ♦J or any of the lower Diamonds.[1]

The called player must hand over the called card, face up, if held. The caller then has another turn and may ask another question of any desired opponent. If the called player does not have the called card, the turn ends and the called player has the next turn.[1]

A player who has collected an entire book, can lay it down, face up, and win it for the team. If a book is split between team members, a player can claim it when it is that player's turn, by saying "Claim" and declaring the cards held by each team member.[1][lower-alpha 1] For example, George says:

Claim! Low Spades, I have the 4 and 8, Mary has the 3, and Joseph has the 5, 6, and 7.

The players holding those cards then reveal them and, if George is right, his team wins the book called "Low Spades". If he is wrong because an opponent holds one of the cards, the opposing team wins the book. If his team holds the whole book, but George gets the distribution wrong because Mary has the 3 and 7 and Joseph has 5 and 6, then the book is forfeited and neither team scores for it.[1]

A player does not need to hold any of the book in order to make a claim. A won book is stacked in front of a member of the winning team.[1][lower-alpha 2].

At any stage a player may ask what the last question and answer was, but no information about earlier ones may be discussed. Players may ask how many cards another player has. They may not keep any written records about the game.[1]

A player who runs out of cards drops out of the game, unless this has arisen because that player has made a claim. In the latter case, the player may pass the turn to any teammate who still has cards.[1]

When a whole team runs out of cards, their opponents must try to claim the remaining books. If it is the turn of one of their team members, that player must do this alone. If it is the turn of the side that ran out of cards, the player whose turn it was, chooses an opponent with cards who must then make the remaining claims.[1]

Once all the books are claimed, the winners are the team with more books than the others. If both teams have 4 books, it is a tie.[1]