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2-4 players – a 4 suit deck (24 cards) 9,10,J,Q,K,A
5-6 players – all 6 suits are included (48 cards) 7,8,9,10,J,Q,K,A
The following rules apply to games with 2-6 players, however some rules do differ for 5 or 6 player games. These particular rules are highlighted with separate explanations for 2-4 and 5-6 player games.
It is advisable to have a Euchre player, or someone familiar with trick-taking games read the rules first, as they will pick up on it very quickly.
THE DECK: For 2-4 player games select four of the six suits to build your Terpeno game deck. For games with 5 or 6 players the two additional suits are included in the game deck.
In both scenarios, some cards need to be removed. For a quick reference as to which cards to remove, see our Deck Options Guide.
From the shuffled deck spread face down, the players draw cards for first deal. The player with the highest card deals first. Just to be clear, it’s not the highest player with a card that deals first – it’s the player with the highest card.
cards rank: A (high), K, Q, J, 10, 9.
The dealer has the right to shuffle last. The deck is cut by the player to the dealer’s right. The cut must not leave less than four cards in each packet.
The cards are dealt clockwise, to the left, beginning with the player to the left of the dealer. Each player receives five cards. The dealer may give a round of three at a time, then a round of two at a time, or may give two, then three; but the dealer must adhere to whichever distribution plan he begins with.
On completing the deal, the dealer places the rest of the deck in the center of the table and turns the top card face up. Should the card turned up be accepted as the power suite aka. trump, by any player, the dealer has the right to exchange the turned up card for another card in their hand. In practice, the dealer does not take the turned up card into their hand, but leaves it on the deck until it is played; the dealer signifies this exchange by placing their discard face down underneath the deck.
After the first hand is played, the deal passes to the player on the dealer’s left for the next hand.
Beginning with the player to the left of the dealer, each player passes or accepts the turn-up as the power suit. An opponent of the dealer accepts by saying “I order it up.” The dealer accepts by making their discard, called “taking it up.”
The opponent who order up the power suit then selects their partner for the hand. In four and five handed Terpeno, they select one partner. In six handed Terpeno they select two partners.
If all players decline the turn-up card, the dealer signifies refusal of the turn-up by removing the card from the top and placing it (face up) partially underneath the pack; this is called “turning it down.”
If all four players pass in the first round, each player in turn, starting with the player to the dealer’s left, has the option of passing again or of naming the power suit. The rejected suit may not be named.
If all four players pass in the second round, the cards are gathered and the next dealer shuffles and deals. Once the power suit is fixed, either by acceptance of the turn-up or by the naming of another suit, the turn-up is rejected, the bidding ends and play begins.
The opening lead is made by the player to the dealer’s left, unless this player is playing alone, in which case the opening lead goes to the next player to their left. If possible, each player must follow suit to a lead. If unable to follow suit, the player may trump or discard any card. A trick is won by the highest card of the suit led, or, if it contains trumps, by the highest trump. The winner of a trick leads next.
Scoring in Terpeno Rush is simple. Taking the majority of tricks in a hand, (3 or more) earns the winner(s) the terpene crystal corresponding to the trump suit. There are no additional points scored for taking all the tricks in a hand.
Winning a second hand in the same suit is an undesirable outcome whereby the player is penalized with the forfeiture of the terpene crystal the player earned earlier in the trump suit, with one exception – when the winning team did not set the trump suit. This is called a “terpeno”, aka a “euchre”.
The first player to collect one crystal from each suit without redundancy wins the game.
When the person who sets the trump suit for a hand, fails to win the majority of tricks, they are “terpenoed”. The winners of the hand who did not make trump DO NOT lose their terpene crystal, but rather than collecting a second stone for the suit, they may take any stone they choose from a player on the side that lost the hand.
In a four handed game, the two winners cannot both take a crystal from one player on the losing side – each player on the losing side must forfeit one crystal each. If one player on the losing side does not have a stone the player on the winning side needs for their set, the winner may then take a crystal from the other losing player. A terpeno in a five handed game has three winners and only two players on the losing side. In this case the player who set trump for the losing side forfeits stones to two players and their partner only loses one.
If the losing team that is terpenoed does not have a terpene crystal to forfeit, no debt is carried. The player on the winning side then selects any terpene crystal they like from the terpene bowl.
If the player who fixes the trump suit believes they can win the hand without the help of a partner’s cards, the player may exercise the option of declaring they are playing “alone” distinctly at the time of making the trump. This player then plays against everyone at the table.
2, 3 and 4 players: If they win 3 tricks they earn the trump stone as usual, but if they 4 tricks they may take that stone off one of the other players. If they take all 5 tricks they may take the trump stone AND a second stone of their choosing from two of their opponents. They cannot take two stones from one player. If their opponents do not have the crystal(s) they need, they may take them from the bank.
5 and 6 players: Going alone in a 5 or 6 player game allows the person going alone to choose a partner, who will not play the hand. That player may offer one card from their hand to the player going alone who will then discard one card should they choose to accept it. If the loner is successful the silent partner will also earn the trump stone, but they do not share in the extra scoring stones should the loner take 4 or all 5 tricks. The player who went alone however does get the privilege of taking their stone(s) from opponents as they would in a 4 player game.
The same scoring applies as in Terpeno Rush for winning and losing crystals, however additional points are scored. It is a race to 31 points to win the game and collecting a full set of crystals earns a 10 point bonus. When a player scores the bonus they return their crystals to the bank and start collecting again. The other players do not relinquish the crystals they have earned and continue trying to complete their set to earn the bonus points.
As it does in Euchre, play begins with dealing five cards to each player and turning up the last card, revealing the potential trump suit. This is where Terpeno takes it’s first turn…
Terpeno is played in teams, BUT the teams can change every hand, so it is essentially every-man-for-himself.
Because the player who makes trump gets the honour of choosing their partner for the hand, they may choose someone who already has the trump stone. The risk of one partner losing a crystal by winning in the suit again leads to inevitable mayhem, double crossing tactics and risk/reward decisions.
Early in the game, choosing a partner is a quite random choice. Most often two players winning a hand, will both be awarded a terpene nugget because crystal duplication is unlikely. But as the game progresses, players will typically select the player with the fewest points to prevent the players who are ahead of them from increasing their lead. But that strategy also breaks down as the game progresses.
By mid-game and late game most players will have stones and the conflicts become inevitably more frequent. Players will then deliberately choose partners that have already earned the nugget of the trump suit selected.
This act is this sabotage does come with considerable risk – in playing their hand your ‘partner’ must follow suit in accordance with the rules, BUT they are NOT obligated to play their hand in your best interest. ie. to win the hand. If they are better served by allowing the other team to win the hand, they will try to make that happen. That will award other players a stone, but it will prevent their own loss while exacting payback on the player who made them their ‘partner’.
These temporary alliances keep everyone engaged and helps prevent one player from running away with the lead.
By far the most common scenario is for one of the players to choose the player on the verge of winning as their partner, in a suit they have already won to create a duplicity forfeiture. In this case everyone at the table will be playing to take down the eminent winner. Scoring the last point is always the hardest and most satisfying to win.
The bowers are flowers in the Terpeno deck – hybrid cards that combine two suits. The larger icon on top is the primary and default suit – aka. the right flower. When this suit is the power suit [aka. trump] it is the highest ranking card in the deck.
The smaller icon below indicates the suit of the left flower. When this suit is the power suit [aka. trump] it is the second highest ranking card in the deck.
The Blue Kush card shown here is the “Jack of Berry” – the right flower of the Berry suit and the left flower of the Pine suit. It can only be played as a Pine card when Pine is the power suit aka.trump.
