How to play
Durak is the most played card game in Russia and much of Eastern Europe. The name means “fool”, and that is the whole point: there is no winner, only a loser. The player left holding cards at the end is the durak. This version is podkidnoy (“throw-in”) Durak for two players.
Pick Computer or Friend in the menu. In friend mode both of you share the device; the screen hides the cards and asks you to pass the phone whenever the turn changes. Then choose how many rounds a match needs: 1, 3 or 5.
The deck has 36 cards: 6 through 10, Jack, Queen, King and Ace in each suit. Aces are high. Each player gets six cards, the rest become the stock, and the bottom card of the stock is turned face up and tucked under it. Its suit is trump for the whole round. In the first round the player holding the lowest trump attacks first; after that the loser of the previous round defends first.
Attacking. The attacker plays any card. The defender must either beat it or take it:
- A card is beaten by a higher card of the same suit or by any trump. A trump is beaten only by a higher trump.
- Once the card is beaten, the attacker may throw in another card, but only one whose rank matches a card already on the table (attack or defence cards both count). The defender beats that too, and so on. When the attacker has nothing to add, or chooses not to, they tap Enough. All the cards on the table are discarded and the defender becomes the attacker.
- If the defender cannot or does not want to beat a card, they tap Take. The attacker may first throw in any more matching cards up to the limit, then the defender picks up everything on the table. The attacker keeps attacking.
The limit. In one bout the attacker may play at most six cards, and never more than the defender held at the start of the bout. Cards still unbeaten can never outnumber the cards in the defender’s hand. The status line under your hand shows how many more you may add.
Refilling. After every bout both players draw back up to six cards, attacker first. The face-up trump card is the last card drawn. Once the stock is gone, nobody draws any more.
The end. When the stock is empty and a player runs out of cards, they are safe. The other player, still holding cards, is the durak and loses the round. If the defender beats the last attack with their last card while the attacker also has none left, the round is a draw and nobody scores. Each round won is a point; the first to the target wins the match.
Strategy
Spend low cards early. While the stock still has cards, attack with your sixes and sevens. Every low card you throw in is a card you no longer have to carry.
Guard your trumps. Beating a seven with the ace of trumps wins the bout but wastes your strongest card. Taking two or three small cards is often cheaper than spending a high trump while the stock is still being drawn.
Pairs are weapons. Holding two or three cards of the same rank lets you keep throwing in after a successful attack. Attack with a rank you hold in multiples.
Count the trumps. There are nine in the deck. Watch which have been played and which the opponent picked up; the trump card under the stock is visible to both, so you know who gets it last.
The endgame flips. When the stock is empty, every card you take is a card you have to get rid of without refills. Attack hard with matching ranks when the opponent is down to one or two cards, because they cannot beat more cards than they hold.
About the computer player
The computer sees only what is on the table, its own hand and the number of cards in the stock, never your cards. It attacks with its cheapest card, throws in only cheap non-trump cards unless you are nearly out of cards or the stock is empty, defends with the cheapest card that beats the attack, and prefers to take a small pile rather than spend a high trump early. In 120 simulated single-round games between two copies of this player, each seat won more than a quarter of the rounds, so neither the first attack nor the deal order decides the game on its own.
