Troggu

The Emperor, the fourth trump in a German captioned 1JJ deck

Troggu is a member of the tarot family of card games. Synonyms for the games name are: Trogga, Tappu, Tappä. It is played in the area of Visp, Switzerland, in Upper Wallis, especially in St. Niklaus and Grächen. After Troccas, it is the second most played tarot card game in Switzerland, but it is endangered as it is played only by older people in a small region. It is uncertain whether a young generation continues the tradition of this game and its survival is currently unclear. The game can be played by three to eight players.

According to card game author, John McLeod, Troggu was probably invented in the late 18th century. The reasons for this assumption concerns the rules for the Fool. In earlier Tarot card games and in modern French Tarot, the fool is played as an "Excuse", a card which exempts the player from following suit. In modern Tarock games in such regions as Austria and Hungary, the fool is played as Tarock XXII, the highest ranking trump. The rules of Troggu contain a mixture of both variations and may be a transitional game from the traditional rules of the Fool to the more modern one.^[1] In Troggu, the Fool is the highest trump but if it is the last trump in the player's possession, the player can elect to throw in another card instead of following suit. Once this occurs, the Fool is no longer a trump but an excuse that must be reserved for the last trick.

The game traditionally uses the Italian suited Swiss 1JJ Tarot deck but removes the 1 through 4 of the swords and batons and the 7 through 10 of the cups and coins for a total of 62 cards. Troggu players prefer the German translated version as opposed to Troccas players who use the French version. The French suited Tarot Nouveau can be a substitute if the red 7 through 10 and black 1 through 4 are removed. Like in most tarot games, the red or round suit pip cards are in reverse order.

Like other tarot games, it uses zero-sum scoring. In Troggu, there are 114 points and the cards are counted individually. The value of the cards are as follows:

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