The Story
Where it came from, and why it turned out this way.
TraditionRussia and the former Russian Empire · exact inventor unknown
The fool left holding the cards
Durak means ‘fool’ in Russian, and the title names the loser rather than the winner. The game’s central joke is social and sharp: several players may successfully leave, but the final person holding cards receives the only lasting role. Surviving is not enough; someone must be left behind.
An attack-and-defense family
Durak is not one immutable text but a family of beating games built around a 36-card deck, a visible trump, six-card hands and bouts of attack and defense. Podkidnoy lets the table throw in matching ranks. Perevodnoy adds the famous transfer: before defending, the target can add the attack rank and redirect the whole problem to the next player.
Why public memory matters
Most of the stock and opponents’ hands stay hidden, yet taken table cards were seen by everyone. A careful player can remember that a rival now holds a particular trump or rank. Digital play should preserve that legitimate memory without exposing unseen identities, so this implementation tracks only cards that became publicly knowable.
From household tables to network play
Durak became one of the most recognizable card games across Russia and neighbouring countries, then adapted naturally to computer and mobile tables. Software made several house-rule forks more visible, especially differences over transfer timing, the first defender’s limit and exchanging the trump six. Supporting named modes is clearer than silently combining incompatible customs.
- The game uses the compact 36-card pack common to many games in the region: ranks 6 through ace in all four suits.
- Podkidnoy (‘throw-in’) and Perevodnoy (‘transfer’) are related mainstream forms, not difficulty levels.
- Published descriptions vary in small table customs, so a digital release needs an explicit rules freeze for attack limits, refill order and transfer timing.
Complete Rules
Start with what a turn allows and how the game is won.
- Table
- 4 individual players · 36 cards (6 through A)
- Hand
- 6 cards initially · refill to 6 after each bout
- Modes
- Throw-in or Transfer · one visible trump
- Each player receives six cards. The next undealt card is turned face up to establish trump and remains the bottom card of the talon. The holder of the lowest trump attacks first; equal impossible physical cards are resolved by seat order.
- The principal attacker may open with one card or several cards of the same rank. The attack can never grow beyond six cards or the number of cards the current defender held at the start of that defense, whichever is lower.
- Cover an attack with a higher card of the same suit, or with any trump when the attack is not a trump. A trump attack can be covered only by a higher trump. Each defending card covers one specific attack card.
- After all current attacks are covered, attackers in priority order may add a card whose rank already appears among any attack or defense cards on the table. The principal attacker gets first chance; other eligible attackers follow clockwise from the defender’s left. Each may add or pass.
- The defender may choose Take instead of covering. The attackers still receive one ordered chance each to add legal ranks up to the frozen attack limit; the defender then takes every table card into hand.
- If every attack is covered and all attackers pass, the table cards are discarded face down. A successful defender becomes the next principal attacker. After a take, the next active player clockwise from the defender attacks.
- After the table is resolved, refill in order: the original principal attacker first, then the other players clockwise, and the final defender last. Each draws to six while cards remain. The face-up trump is the final talon card drawn.
- When the talon is empty, a player with no cards exits after the bout. Empty seats are skipped in later attack order. If exactly one player remains with cards, that player loses; if everyone empties in the same bout, the game is a draw.
Your First Game
Use this order of thought to get through a complete game quickly.
- Attack low early. While the talon remains, spending an ace or trump usually replaces it with an unknown card and wastes a scarce defensive resource.
- When defending, tap a card and read the numbered Cover buttons: a single card can sometimes cover more than one attack, but you must choose the exact pair.
- Before taking, count the frozen limit. Once you choose Take, attackers can still add matching ranks, so the final pickup may be larger than the cards currently uncovered.
- Watch every rank on the table, including defense cards. Either side of a covered pair creates a rank that attackers may use for later throw-ins.
- Once the talon reaches zero, hand count is the whole race. Low cards and duplicate ranks become useful for shedding several cards across attack opportunities.
Practical Strategy
Move from knowing the rules to playing with a plan.
- Preserve trumps when an ordinary higher card can cover. A trump is flexible against three non-trump suits and becomes especially valuable in the no-draw endgame.
- A multi-card opening sheds quickly but gives the defender several chances to expose new ranks. Use it when the defender is short or when the chosen rank is awkward to cover.
- Throw in cards that pressure the defender without donating useful low covers. Publicly known cards picked up in an earlier bout can reveal which ranks are safe or dangerous to repeat.
- In Transfer mode, keep duplicates of plausible attack ranks. A legal transfer changes who must defend and adds your matching card to the same attack, but only before you cover anything.
- Near the end, attack the player whose small hand is easiest to overload while avoiding ranks that let another attacker empty before you. Durak is individual: temporary cooperation ends as soon as the survivor race changes.
Winning and Special Rules
Details that are easy to miss but can change the result.
- Throw-in (Podkidnoy) is the default: the defender must cover or take. Transfer (Perevodnoy) adds one option before any cover is played: add one or more actual cards of the attack rank and pass the whole attack to the next active player.
- A transfer is legal only if the new defender has at least as many cards as the resulting number of attacks, and the universal six-card ceiling still applies. Showing a trump without playing it is not supported.
- This implementation uses the standard six-card limit from the first bout. The local five-card protection sometimes granted to the first defender is not part of either mode.
- There is no exchange of the face-up trump for the six of trump, no partnership scoring, no late transfer after a cover, and no reversal of play direction.
- The refill lead remains the original principal attacker even after a chain of transfers; the final defender always draws last.
Common Mistakes
The traps new players fall into most often.
- Throwing a card whose rank appears only in your hand. Every later attack rank must already be visible on the table.
- Trying to transfer after covering one card. In this ruleset the first defense card permanently closes the transfer window for that bout.
- Assuming Take ends the bout instantly. Attackers still get their ordered legal throw-in opportunities before the defender collects.
- Counting the talon as only the face-down stack. The visible trump is part of the talon and is drawn last.
- Leaving the game immediately when your hand hits zero during an attack. Exit is checked only after the entire bout and any refills finish.