Scalade

Scalade is a three-player trick-taking game, where players aim to win the next card up in each suit, in a manner reminiscent of games in the Stops family.

How to play

Players

The game is for three players, each playing for themself.

Equipment

The game is played with a standard 52-card pack of cards, from which the 2s and 3s have been removed, leaving a 44-card pack. The 2s and 3s themselves will ideally be kept to hand to be used to track information throughout the game, although this may be done by other means such as pen and paper.

In tricks, cards rank in the 'usual' order 4 (low), 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10 (denoted T on this page), Jack, Queen, King, Ace (high).

You will also need something to keep score, such as pen-and-paper, some slate and chalk, or a three-track cribbage board.

It is useful, additionally, to have a pool or markers or chips available to use for tracking holding bonuses. Usually you will only need a few - ten should be far more than sufficient.

Setup

Before the first deal is played, the following cards are placed separately face-up on the table:

These represent the ladders for each suit. These particular cards are the initial rungs of each ladder. Throughout the game the rungs of each ladder will vary, but there will always be one ladder of each suit.

If it helps with remembering, this ordering is the same as in games of the Schafkopf group, which also includes Skat and Doppelkopf.

They should be placed visibly to all players, off to a side rather than in front of any players or in the centre.

The remaining forty cards will be used for the first deal, and should be thoroughly shuffled.

The deal

The initial dealer can be chosen by any suitable means. For subsequent deals the role of dealer moves left around the table.

The game consists of several deals. Before each one the forty cards which are not currently rungs of the ladder are shuffled thoroughly. Once this is done the dealer offers this pack to the player on their right to cut.

After the pack is cut the dealer deals six cards to each player, in clockwise order beginning with the player to their left, one at a time. They then deal two cards face down in front of them. This is then repeated, with the final two cards being placed crosswise on top of the earlier two. Thus each player ends up with a hand of twelve cards, and the dealer has four cards face-down in front of them, positioned as two cards and another two sat orthogonally on top.

Players may then inspect their twelve-card hands, and once everyone is ready the play of the hand can begin.

Play

Trumps

The trump suit for the hand is set by the lowest-ranked card that is a rung of a ladder at the start of the hand, with 4 low and Ace high as described above. If more than one card has the lowest rank present, ties are broken by the suit hierarchy defined by the initial set of rungs, with preference given to the suit that starts the game with the highest rung. So Clubs beats Spades beats Hearts beats Diamonds.

Trickplay

Each hand consists of twelve tricks. The leader of each trick may play any card they like. Other players must follow suit if able, or if they are unable, may play any card.

Tricks are won by the highest trump played, or if no trumps are played by the highest card of the suit led.

Claiming ladders

If a trick contains a card which is the rank above the current rung in its suit, the winner of the trick 'claims' the ladder for that suit. It is possible for a player to claim more than one ladder in the same trick.

The new rung of the ladder will be the highest card played of that suit in the trick that consecutively follows the current rung. So if the previous rung was 5, and the 6 and 7 are played to the trick, the new rung will be 7. If only the 6 is played, without the 7, then the new rung will be 6. It does not matter for this purpose the order in which cards were played to the trick.

For this purpose the ranks 'wrap around', meaning 4 is considered to be directly above Ace.

The winner of the trick places the new rung card(s) in front of them, and places any remaining cards of the trick, as well as the previous rung(s) face-down into a discard pile. All players discard to the same pile - it makes no bearing on the rest of the hand.

Final two tricks

The winner of the penultimate trick picks up the two topmost cards stacked in front of dealer (which should be easy to separate from the other two, being stacked crosswise), and places them face up next to the completed trick. The claiming of ladders is then resolved as if all five cards (the three of the actual trick and these extra two) belong to the trick.

The winner of the final trick scores bonus points for doing so, which depends on the current ladder rungs, as described below.

The final two cards in front of dealer are the dead cards — they do not affect anything in the hand.

Scoring

Once all tricks are played, and the final ladders resolved, the hand is scored.

For scoring, the rungs of ladders have corresponding point values:

Players score the value of each ladder they have in front of them at the end of the hand. Additionally, the winner of the final trick scores bonus points equal to the lowest-valued ladder. This is in regards to their point value, rather than rank, meaning that e.g. if an ace is the rung of any ladder, this bonus is 1 point. For determining the final trick bonus it is the set of rungs after the final trick that set the value.

Holding bonus

At the end of the first hand, place each of the 2s of each suit face-up in front of the player who is holding the ladder of the corresponding suit, as a holding marker. Alternatively, anything representing the suits, such as suit markers, can be used for this purpose.

Following subsequent hands, if any player has a ladder of the suit they were holding at the end of the last hand, the score for that suit counts double. Then a token/chip is placed on the holding marker to indicate that the player has held it for two hands in a row. A suit with a token, if held at the end of the next hand by the same player, counts triple.

As long as a player keeps hold of the same suit in subsequent deals, these tokens can stack indefinitely, each increasing the suit multiplier for that player.

Any ladder which ends up with a different player has its suit marker passed to that new player, and any tokens removed, setting it back to counting singly.

To put this another way:

This only applies to the score for having a ladder at the end of the hand, not for winning the final trick.

It does not matter if a ladder moves between players during the course of the hand — it is only where it ends up at the end of the hand that affects how the bonus is figured.

Ending the game

When a ladder has made it to the same rung (or higher) as it started on, it is said to have completed an escalation.

The first suit that completes an escalation is called the advance suit. If more than one completes an escalation in the same hand, the suit is the 'higher-ranked' in the same sense as breaks ties in determining trumps. So Clubs is the suit if it is one of the tied suits, failing that it is Spades, and failing that Hearts (if only Hearts and Diamonds complete the escalation together).

The game continues until the advance suit has completed its fourth escalation. The hand in which it does so is the final hand of the game. Escalations may be tracked by upturning the 3s of the pack, starting with the one of the advance suit.

However, if the escalations occur too slowly this goal is lowered. The game is reduced to three escalations if:

In any eventuality the game ends after hand 28 if it has not yet done so. In the unlikely event the first and second escalations have not been completed after hand 14 and 21 respectively the game is reduced to two escalations.

A shorter game can be agreed by playing to three, two, or even one escalation, although this should usually be agreed beforehand, in which case analagous shortenings apply.

Double Scalade

Double Scalade is a variant of Scalade in which each suit has two distinct ladders. Play is identical to the standard form of the game ('Single Scalade'), except for the following differences.

Equipment

Include the 3s in the pack, so that a 48-card pack is used, lacking only the 2s. For scoring 3s count their face value, as other pip cards, and in trick-play they rank naturally below 4s.

Setup

The setup is as above but with an additional card in each suit, so that the initial (ownerless) ladders have rungs:

Play

The trump-suit is the suit with the overall-lowest rung at the start of the hand, with ties again being broken with the same hierarchy as in Single Scalade. Ladder capture works the same, except that there are two ladders in each suit to track.

Note that ladders of the same suit will generally have a gap between them. The only time they may abut is if one of them has the next card up in the dead cards, and the other one 'catches up'. The gap will naturally open again whenever the next rung is not dealt into the dead cards.

Scoring

Players score for each ladder as in Single Scalade.

The final trick scores the sum of the lowest two rungs of the eight ladders.

Holding bonuses

Players only get the holding marker for a suit (or add a token to one they already have) if they hold both ladders of a suit at the end of a hand. However, scoring works the same regardless of how many ladders in a suit are held. So a player holding both Hearts ladders after the first hand gets the Hearts holding marker. Next hand if that player has only one Hearts ladder it will score double, but they will relinquish the holding marker (as no other player can have both Hearts ladders).

Ending the game

The game ends in the same way as Single Scalade, except that an escalation is defined as being made when the lower ladder of a suit reaches its initial value again. This can be tracked by counting every other time a ladder of that suit gains or passes that value. For instance, in Diamonds, the first time a ladder reaches or passes 5 will be the upper ladder, and the next time a ladder reaches or passes 5 it will be the lower ladder, and thus Clubs has completed an escalation.

Where to Play

Traditionally some in Sussex say that the game should be played in the pub nearest to a castle. However, that is not always a practical or desirable option, so there are various other possibilities that still keep in the spirit. In rough descending order of preference, the game should ideally be played:

Failing any of these options it is acceptable to think of some connexion to any of the above, or to the game of Scalade in some fashion, no matter how flimsy, tortuous, or convoluted.

Pubs near castles

Committed Scalade enthusiasts may wish to consult this (highly incomplete) list of pubs nearest to specified castles for the ideal Scalading experience. Some of these pubs I have been to at some point, and are fine places to play cards. Most I have not visited, or done so recently, so it may be best to research beforehand, particularly to check opening hours / whether the pub still exists. Mostly these are Sussex-based, but I have included a few others with no particular strategy.

I used the highly scientific method of using my eyeballs and fingers on online maps, so results are approximate. Sometimes more than one were in reasonable contention, in which case I have listed multiple. If you have any additions / suggestions / corrections / other comments then do let me know. I would especially like to know any interesting locations you have played Scalade at!

Sussex

Kent

London

Pubs with Scalade-appropriate names

If you thought that list was incomplete, then check out this beaut. These are a selection of pubs that have suitable names for playing Scalade in, by my judgement. This list excludes any appearing as a 'closest-to-a-castle' pub.

Contact

If you have any thoughts about the game, or questions / any other feedback, feel free to get in touch at: scalade 'at' repiqued-interests.co.uk.