Dutch is a card game played with a standard deck of playing cards (jokers removed). It is recommended to use two decks (104 cards in total) for smoother gameplay.
- Players: 2 to 10
- Average game length: about 30 minutes
The goal is to finish the game with the fewest points possible. Each card is worth points equal to its rank (Ace = 1, Jack = 11, Queen = 12, King = 13). At the end of each round, players tally up their points. Once a player reaches 100 points or more, the game ends, and the player with the lowest score wins.
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Dealing
Each player receives 4 cards face down. Players may not look at their cards. If a player peeks, they receive a penalty card for each card they looked at.
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Setup
- Place the remaining cards face down in the center as the draw pile.
- Flip the top card of the draw pile face up to form the discard pile.
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Turns
In clockwise order, each player chooses either to:
- Draw a card from the draw pile, or
- Take the top card from the discard pile.
Then, the player must swap this card with one of their face-down cards (revealing it).
- If the card came from the discard pile, swapping is mandatory.
- If it came from the draw pile, the player may either keep it or discard it immediately.
The replaced card is then placed face up on the discard pile.
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Matching cards
Whenever a card is placed on the discard pile, any player holding a card of the same rank may immediately discard it too, even outside their turn.
⚠️ If a player makes a mistake (e.g. plays a card thinking it matches when it doesn’t), they must take a penalty card. They also cannot play again during that turn. -
Calling “Dutch”
A round ends when a player declares “Dutch” at the end of their turn.
- All players then get one final turn.
- The player who called Dutch is immune from forced swaps but may still discard matching cards during the final turns.
Certain cards trigger effects when discarded. If multiple special cards are played at the same time, their effects are resolved in the order they were placed.
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Jack (11): allows the player to swap any two cards on the table, regardless of who owns them.
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Queen (12): allows the player to peek at one of their own cards without penalty.
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Ace (1): allows the player to give a card from the draw pile to another player of their choice.
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Kings (13):
- Red Kings (♥ ♦) = 0 points.
- Black Kings (♠ ♣) = 13 points.
At the end of each round, all players add up the values of their cards.
- If the player who called “Dutch” does not have the lowest score, they receive a +10 point penalty.
- In case of a tie for the lowest score, the player who called “Dutch” has the advantage.
To simplify scoring, you can use the scorekeepr app. (Project on GitHub)
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Doubles: if you swap one card for another of the same value (e.g. a 5♥ for a 5♣), you may immediately discard the card you just drew.
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Know your cards: it’s better to replace cards early in the round, even if they seem bad—knowledge of your hand is more valuable.
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Queens are powerful: keeping a Queen early on can speed up discovering your hidden cards.
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Rearrange strategically: players may shuffle the positions of their cards to prevent opponents from memorizing them.
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Deck choice:
- Using two decks with the same back design prevents players from guessing where cards came from.
- Using two decks with different backs can make the game more chaotic and increase card stealing.
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No cards left: a player may end up with no cards, but they must still wait until the end of their turn to call Dutch.
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King order: cards are always resolved in the order they’re played. For example, if a black King is played after a red King, the black King takes precedence during the draw phase (thus blocking the red King).