Jeu Royal de la Guerre
Jeu Royal de la Guerre (Royal Game of War) is a French novelty card game for two to twelve players that was described in La Maison des Jeux Academiques in 1659. It is a trick-taking game played with a dedicated war-themed 40-card pack based on the French-suited 36-card piquet pack. The suits are irrelevant for gameplay, and to a large extent the game is determined by four suitless special cards. Cards Jeu Royal de la Guerre was played with a dedicated pack of 40 cards. The pack consisted of a war-themed version of a piquet pack, which at the time still had 36 cards, along with 4 suitless cards. The suitless cards were Death, Force, Army General, and Prisoner of War. The remaining cards were Ace, King, Queen, Jack and 6–10 in each of the four French suits. The aces were styled as a cannoneer, a soldier with a drawn rapier, a battalion, and a squadron of horsemen. After removing the four suitless cards, the pack could be used for playing Piquet, Triomphe or Brelan. Rules The game is played for money, each player depositing the same amount before the cards are dealt. The number of cards each player receives