- Set-up
- About 3 min
- Reading
- None
The quick verdict
Full verdict ↓Great for Four players who like partnership card games such as 28 or Court Piece and want a new bidding game
Think twice if You rarely have four players: the 2, 3, 5 and 6-player games are variations on the main partnership game
How we rate it
Learning curve. Following colour and trumping are quick to learn, and the beginner game helps; judging a bid and using the nest well take a few evenings. Around 2 on our scale, with Ticket to Ride and Codenames.
Luck & skill. The deal decides a lot in any one hand, but bidding sensibly, picking trumps, burying cards in the nest and playing with your partner win games over many hands.
Interaction. Teams bid against each other, partners help each other through the play without talking, and every trick is a small fight over the scoring cards.
Set-up. Sort out the 1s to 4s for the main game, shuffle and deal, building the five-card nest as you go: two or three minutes.
Reading. Nothing to read during play; you need to add up scores after each hand.
Learning curve: 1 = UNO or Connect 4; 3 = Catan; 5 = a heavy strategy game. These describe the experience, not an overall score.
Is Rook right for you?
Great if
- Four players who like partnership card games such as 28 or Court Piece and want a new bidding game
- Families who prefer a deck with no kings, queens or jacks, the reason Rook was made in the first place
- Long evenings at family get-togethers, with a running score to 300 over many hands
- Teaching children from about 8 to play tricks and trumps, starting with the beginner game
Skip it if
- You rarely have four players: the 2, 3, 5 and 6-player games are variations on the main partnership game
- Nobody in your group enjoys counting points and keeping score after every hand
- You want a quick filler: a full game to 300 points takes a good while
How Rook plays
The cards and the deal: the deck has 56 number cards, 1 to 14 in black, red, green and yellow, plus the Rook card with its bird. In the main game four players sit as two partnerships, partners opposite each other. Take out the 1s, 2s, 3s and 4s and keep the Rook, which leaves 41 cards, then deal them all one at a time, laying five face down in the middle as the nest.
- Time to teach: about 15 minutes (5 for the beginner game).
- Reading and language: Play needs no reading: the cards carry numbers in four colours. Bidding, naming trumps and keeping score can all be done in Hindi, Malayalam, English or any mix; only Hasbro's game guide is in English.
How to play Rook · Triple S Games
Choose a video · Watch right here
If this creator doesn’t allow embedded playback, watch on YouTube ↗.
A turn, step by step
- 1Bid
Bid in steps of 5 from 70 for the points your team will capture. The winner takes the nest and names the trump colour.
- 2Trick
Follow the colour led if you can. The highest trump wins, or else the highest card of that colour; the Rook beats everything.
- 3Score
Count your 5s, 10s, 14s and the Rook. A team that misses its bid loses it; the first team to 300 wins.
The full explanation: how a game of Rook goes
Bidding: only some cards score. Each 5 is worth 5 points, each 10 and 14 is worth 10, and the Rook is worth 20, so 120 points are at stake in every hand. Starting at 70, players bid in steps of 5 for how many of those points their team will capture; once you pass, you are out of the bidding. The highest bidder adds the nest to their hand, puts any five cards back face down and names the trump colour.
Taking tricks: the player to the dealer's left leads any card, and everyone in turn must follow that colour if they can; if not, they may play a trump or anything else. The highest trump wins the trick, or, if no trump was played, the highest card of the colour led. The Rook is the highest trump of all and may be played on any trick, even when you could follow colour. Whoever takes the last trick also wins the nest and any points in it.
Scoring: if the bidding team captures at least its bid, it scores everything it took; if not, it loses the whole bid. The other team always scores its own points. The first partnership to reach 300 wins. Hasbro's rules also take 40 points off a team whose player hints to a partner about what to play.
Beginner and other versions: Hasbro's beginner game for four drops the bidding and the nest; the top card of the nest sets trumps, the scoring cards are worth 1 to 4 points, and the first player to 40 wins. The guide also has games for 2 players (with a dummy hand), 3 players, and 5 or 6 players without the Rook card. Many families keep house rules, such as making the Rook the lowest trump or playing to 500, so agree yours before the first deal.
What's in the box
- 57Cards
1 to 14 in black, red, green and yellow, plus the Rook card - 1Game guide
the partnership game, a beginner game and versions for 2, 3, 5 and 6 players
Box: 0.07 kg. Handy to know for gifting and travel.
From Hasbro's product record for item B0966 ('57 cards and game guide') and its guide; the listing behind our link gives the same contents. There is no score pad, so keep score on paper.
Where to buy
How to make sure you get a genuine copyEditions and the details worth checking.
What reviewers and players say
Rook has been played for well over a century, and its fans are often families who hand it down: the written review we read, from I Slay the Dragon, calls it the reviewer's family game on both sides of his family and a game that leaves plenty of room for conversation. Players like how open the rules are, the gamble of the bid, the surprise in the nest and how easily house variations slot in. The trade-offs are that it really wants four players, that rules differ from family to family, and that seasoned players have a big edge over newcomers. For Indian card players it sits close to 28: partners, a bid, trumps and points for the cards you capture.
What people love
- The bidding: a strong hand can win big, and an overbid can sink the whole team
- The nest, which can make or break the bidder's hand
- Many easy variations, from Hasbro's no-bidding beginner game to calling a partner
- A game to talk and laugh over, across generations
Common complaints
- Best with exactly four; the other player counts are variations
- House rules vary widely, such as where the Rook ranks and whether you play to 300 or 500, so agree them first
- Experienced players have a big edge over beginners
Based on 5 reviews and discussions
- Review Review: Rook (FarmerLenny, May 2012) · I Slay the Dragon
- Reference Rook - card game rules (John McLeod, updated July 2014) · Pagat
- Reference Rook (card game) · Wikipedia
- Reference Rook Card Game, product record (Hasbro Consumer Care, B0966) · Hasbro
- Reference Rook Card Game, instructions page with the 2014 guide and 2008 rules (Hasbro) · Hasbro
Summarised in our own words from the sources above. We don't use Amazon reviews or ratings.
More like Rook
Which game is the best fit?
Our picks if Rook isn't quite right.
Swipe to compare every game
| Compare the games.The details that make a difference. |
YOU’RE VIEWING
Rook
|
ANOTHER WAY TO PLAY
UNO
|
ANOTHER WAY TO PLAY
Phase 10
|
|---|---|---|---|
| Why consider it | This game Bid for trumps with your partner, but beware the wild Rook | A different fit Another family card game with its own deck of numbers in four colours, but you race to empty your hand | A different fit A family card game with its own numbered colour deck, for players who prefer rummy-style sets to tricks |
| Players | 2–6 | 2–10 | 2–6 |
| Best with | 4 | 4-6 | 3-5 |
| Play time | 30–60 min | 10–30 min | 45–90 min |
| Age | 8+ | 7+ | 7+ |
| Rules | Medium | Easy | Easy |
| Indian edition | Imported | Imported | Available |
| On this page | Explore UNO | Explore Phase 10 |
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Also worth a look (not in our catalogue yet): Twenty-eight (28) – India's own partnership trick game where the highest bidder names trumps and points come from captured cards; Court Piece (Rang) – Partnership tricks and trumps with an ordinary deck, without the bidding.
Questions people ask about Rook
How many players can play Rook?
Rook is at its best with four, playing as two partnerships. Hasbro's guide also has versions for 2 players (with a dummy hand), 3 players and 5 or 6 players, which is why the pack says 2 to 6.
What cards are in a Rook deck?
There are 57 cards: the numbers 1 to 14 in four colours (black, red, green and yellow) and one Rook card with a bird on it. There are no kings, queens or jacks, and the main game takes out the 1s to 4s.
What does the Rook card do?
In Hasbro's main rules it is the highest trump and is worth 20 points, and you may play it on any trick, even when you could follow colour. If it is led, everyone must play a trump. Some families play it as the lowest trump instead.
Can you play Rook with normal playing cards?
Some groups do, using the ace for the 1 and a joker for the Rook card. A Rook deck is easier, because its 11 to 14 cards and scoring cards already match the rules.
Is Rook like 28 or Court Piece?
It is close. Like 28, it is a partnership game where players bid for the right to name trumps and score points for the cards their team captures. Rook uses its own deck, gives the bidder a five-card nest and adds the wild Rook card, and a game runs to 300 points.
Game facts
- Designed by
- George S. Parker, Grace Parker
- Publisher
- Hasbro (Hasbro Gaming; Rook was introduced by Parker Brothers in 1906)
- In India
- Hasbro India Toys Pvt. Ltd., Mumbai (named as importer on the Amazon.in listing)
- First published
- 1906
- Players
- 2–6
- Barcode
- 630509278022
- Language
- No reading – Play needs no reading: the cards carry numbers in four colours. Bidding, naming trumps and keeping score can all be done in Hindi, Malayalam, English or any mix; only Hasbro's game guide is in English.
- Box size and weight
- 0.07 kg
Sources & photo creditsThe references behind this guide.
Facts on this page come from the publisher, the Indian maker or distributor, and the sources below. Photos are credited under each one.
- Hasbro Consumer Care (US) - Rook Card Game, product record (item B0966)
- Hasbro - Rook Card Game, instructions page (B0966 guide and Hasbro's earlier Rook rules)
- Hasbro - Rook Card Game guide, B0966, variations page (PDF, 2014)
- Hasbro - Rook instructions, Original Rook Partnership Game (PDF, 2008)
- Pagat - Rook, card game rules (John McLeod)
- Wikipedia - Rook (card game)
- I Slay the Dragon - Review: Rook (May 2012)