A set of Rook playing cards were first developed by the Parker brothers in the year 1906. It was an alternative to traditional playing cards, specifically for people practicing Puritan tradition or Mennonite culture since they associated the face cards in the standard playing cards with gambling. A set of Rook cards has 56 cards consisting four colors (red, yellow, green, and black). All the cards are numbered from one to fourteen and the set contains a Rook card. Even though the rules may feel complex, the game is fairly. It is mostly played as a bidding game, but as mentioned earlier, there are different versions of this game. Ideally, the game should be played with two or more people, but it can played with two players also. Well, let's jump to the rook card game rules. ✦ First off, determine how many individuals will be playing this game. If there are four players, then you need to divide them into two teams of two players each. Next, gather around a table so that two people from the same team are seated across each other. Remove the 2s, 3s, and 4s from the deck but don't remove the Rook card. You should be left with 45 cards. ✦ Distribute 10 cards to each player and place the remaining five cards in the center of the table. They should be placed face down, these cards are known as the nest. You are supposed to keep a nest card every time you deal until it reaches five. ✦ Even though you have a teammate, you are not supposed to show or discuss your cards with any other player. Now, take a look at your cards and determine how many points you will be able to earn in that hand. Total points available in each hand is 180, and this is how the points are segregated. ✦ All the 1s are worth 15 points, 10s are worth 10 points, 14s are worth 10 points, 5s are worth 5 points, and the Rook card has 20 points. ✦ The bidding process starts with the player who sits at the left of the dealer. He claims the number of points he and his partner can make. The minimum bid is 100, and it increases in multiples of five. If a player does not wish to bid, he/she can miss his/her turn. ✦ The player with the highest bidding points gets to pick up the nest cards. Now, he/she chooses any five cards that he possesses and places them face down at the center of the table, these will be the new nest cards. The highest bidder then chooses a trump color of his choice and announces it to other players. ✦ The player who is sitting to the left of the highest bidder now begins the suit by playing any card of his choice. All the other players can play a higher or lower numbered card of the same color card. If they don't, they can use some other card. The Rook card is the trump card, and the player who plays the highest card of the lead color or the trump card takes the suit. ✦ Once the hand is over, add the points of all the players. If the bidding team has not earned 300 points or their bidding amount, they must give up their points and subtract it from their score. The first team to earn 300 points is the winner. It's a simple and fun game to play; the best part being that you don't need to purchase Rook cards, you can even play the game with a standard 52-deck cards. You can use the joker as the Rook card and apply the same rules as the special deck.