Joffre

Overview

What ABG knows about this game

Fanatically popular 32-card trick taking card game played, with special deck, in the Quebec region of Bellchasse (St-Anselme). It was first published as a World War 1 propaganda game in November 1914 by the Tribune newspaper in Sherbrooke, Qc, and was then sold as "Shoo le Kaiser". It was renamed Joffre, after the victorious French general, in the 1920s. It is a re-emplementation of Lost Heir and was re-emplemented in Saskatchewan as Kaiser. It is played with 2 teams of 2. Players bid on the number of tricks they think they will win. High card taking the trick, and each trick being worth 1 point. Each suit represents a different army from WWI (ex: instead of an Ace of Hearts you have a 7 General of Russia) There are 4 special cards in the deck. If you win a trick with the "Joffre" (French commander in WWI) then he is worth an additional 5 points and taking the German "Kaiser" will cause you to lose 3 points. The other 2 special cards (England and Russia) have no value.