How to Play Differenzler Jass
Differenzler is a Swiss trick-taking game where you predict how many points you’ll score — then try to hit your prediction exactly. The closer you are, the fewer penalty points you get. Lowest penalty wins.
The Basics
- 4 players, no teams
- 36-card Swiss deck (6 through Ace in four suits)
- Each player gets 9 cards, 9 tricks per round
- Trump suit is randomly selected each round
How a Round Works
1. Predict your points
Look at your hand and predict how many card points you’ll win in tricks this round (0 to 157). You’re not predicting tricks — you’re predicting the total point value of the cards you’ll collect.
2. Play tricks
Standard trick-taking rules:
- Follow the led suit if you can
- If you can’t follow suit, you may play a trump card
- Undertrump restriction: You can only play a lower trump if you have no cards of the led suit
- Puur exception: If your only trump is the Jack (the strongest trump), you can play any card instead
- Highest trump wins the trick. If no trump was played, highest card of the led suit wins
- The winner of the last trick gets a +5 bonus
Card Points
Cards you win in tricks have different values depending on whether they’re trump or not:
Trump cards
| Card | Points |
|---|---|
| Jack (Puur) | 20 |
| 9 (Näll) | 14 |
| Ace | 11 |
| 10 | 10 |
| King | 4 |
| Queen | 3 |
| 8, 7, 6 | 0 |
Non-trump cards
| Card | Points |
|---|---|
| Ace | 11 |
| 10 | 10 |
| King | 4 |
| Queen | 3 |
| Jack | 2 |
| 9, 8, 7, 6 | 0 |
The maximum possible points in a round is 157 (all card points + last trick bonus).
Scoring
Your penalty for each round is the difference between your prediction and what you actually scored:
| **Penalty = | predicted points - actual points | ** |
For example, if you predicted 45 and scored 52, your penalty is 7.
Penalties add up across rounds. The player with the lowest total penalty wins.
Tips for Beginners
- Count your guaranteed tricks — Look at your trump cards and high cards to estimate what you’ll win
- Remember the card values — Winning a trick with high-value cards (Jack of trump = 20, Aces = 11) adds up fast
- Don’t just count tricks — A trick full of 6s and 7s is worth 0 points, while one Ace alone is worth 11
- The last trick bonus matters — +5 points can swing your prediction, so plan for who wins the final trick
- Being exact is everything — It doesn’t matter how many points you score, only how close you are to your prediction