What You Need to Play the Game

4 players and 32 cards, preferably “mariáš” cards with a single suit.

These rules are a basic, simplified version for beginners.
The official SCWU rules are the only complete and comprehensive version of the game rules.

The Basics of the Game

• “Kočka” is played over several hands (games).
• In every hand, one of the four players loses.
• The player with the most penalty points after all the cards have been played loses.
• The player who loses receives one letter of the playing word.
• The game ends when the first player collects all the letters of the playing word.

Distribution

The player to the right of the player who will lead the first trick deals all 32 cards: 8 to each player.

Card Replacement

1. Each player selects 3 cards and passes them to the player on their left so that the other players cannot see their values.
2. Only then does he look at the 3 cards he received from the player to his right.

That concludes the exchange, and the first trick follows.

Trick

1. The first player to lead places a card face up in the center of the table (the opening lead).
2. Then the other players take turns playing one card each in a clockwise direction, always after the player to their right has played a card.
3. When all 4 cards are in the center, the player who played the highest card of the same suit as the first card played takes them: that is, the player adds the 4 cards from the center of the table to their pile, face down.

This player starts (leads) the next trick.

The lowest card is a 7, and the higher cards are, in order: 8, 9, 10, lower jack (jack), upper jack (queen), king, and the highest is the ace.

Which card can you play?

• The first card dealt determines the suit.
• If you have cards of the same suit, you must play one of them (follow suit).
• If you don’t have that suit, play any card.

Penalty points

You earn penalty points when you take one or more of these cards in your trick. Their values are added together.

Penalty points are assigned to all hearts and the Upper Jack of Leaves, which is called “Hejma” in Kočka.

• 10 points—green (leaves) upper jack—Hejma
• 5 points—Ace of Hearts
• 4 points—King of Hearts
• 3 points—Upper Jack of Hearts (Queen of Hearts)
• 2 points—the Lower Jack of Hearts (Jack of Hearts)
• 1 point—a 10, 9, 8, or 7 of Hearts

If you take the last trick, you’ll receive an additional 5 penalty points, even if there were no other penalty points in that trick.

It is therefore possible to accumulate a total of 33 penalty points in a single hand.

End of the deal

• The hand ends no later than after the 8th trick.
• Each player adds up their penalty points.
• The player with the most points loses and receives a letter.
• If two or more players have the same number of points, the player who took the Hejma loses.
• If the game ends in a tie, no one loses, and the game is replayed.
• Points from a hand aren’t recorded anywhere; only a loss (a letter) is noted.

Game Over

The game ends when a player collects all the letters of the playing word and is declared the loser.

Premature End of the Deal

• If a player has 17 or more penalty points during a hand, the hand may be ended because the player is certain to lose.
• The online game will also end the hand in other situations where it is clear that the game cannot be played to its conclusion with a different outcome.