Game Rules
DurakLast one with cards loses

Russia's most popular card game. Attack, defend, or pick up the pile — whoever's left is the fool.

Players2 – 6
Duration10 – 20 min
Deck36 cards · 1 deck
LevelEasy to medium
I · The idea

Defend
or pick up

I

Durak is Russian for “fool” — and that's exactly what the last player left holding cards becomes. One player attacks, the next defends with a higher card or a trump.

If the defender can't or won't defend, they pick up all the attacking cards. The goal is to be the first to get rid of all your cards.

II · Preparation

Before the
game begins

II
1
Trim the deck
Use a 36-card deck (6 to Ace) — no 2 through 5.
2
Deal the cards
6 cards per player. The remaining cards form the draw pile.
3
Determine the trump
The bottom card of the pile is shown — its suit is trump for the whole round.
Before you start

Hold back low trump cards — they defend cheaply against high attack cards without wasting your valuable ones.

III · Card Values
How attack and
defence work
III
↑
Attack
Play a card
Attacker plays a card. Defender must respond with a higher card of the same suit or a trump.
T
Trump
Beats everything
Any trump card beats any non-trump card, regardless of value.
↓
Pick up
No defence
If the defender can't respond, they pick up all attack cards into their hand.
6
Lowest card
Value 6
The 6 is the lowest card in the reduced deck — still strong when it's a trump.
IV · Gameplay

Round by
round

IV
1
Attack
The first player plays a card against the next player in turn.
2
Defence
The defender beats it with a higher card of the same suit or with a trump.
3
Additional attacks
Other players may throw in matching cards of the same rank, as long as the defender still has cards.
4
Pick up or beat them off
All cards successfully beaten: pile discarded, new round. Not beaten: the defender picks up everything.
5
End of the game
Whoever gets rid of all their cards first (once the draw pile is empty) drops out successfully. The last player left holding cards is the Durak.
V · Variants
Variants
V

Durak is played across Russia and Eastern Europe with local rules.

P
Perevodnoy
The defender may pass the attack on to the next player.
52
52-card deck
With a full deck instead of the reduced one — longer game.
T
Team Durak
Teams of two: partners may defend for each other.
∅
No throw-ins
Stricter variant: only the original attacker may throw in more cards.
VI · Tips & Tricks

What really
matters

VI
Strategy tips
+

Hold back low trump cards for defence — they beat any non-trump card cheaply without wasting your high cards.

+

Attack with low non-trump cards to force the opponent to use their trump before you risk your own high cards.

+

Keep track of how many trump cards have been played — toward the end you'll know who still has trump reserves.

+

When you're nearly out of cards, play especially defensively — a single successful defence can decide the game for you.

Common mistakes
–

Wasting trump cards too early and carelessly instead of saving them for critical defence situations.

–

Forgetting that other players may throw in during an attack — this can suddenly make defence much harder.

–

Misjudging the draw pile — once it's empty, the whole endgame strategy shifts.

–

Attacking too aggressively when your own hand is objectively weak — sometimes patience is the better strategy.

Berlin Hold'em · Matching decks
Get the right deck

Durak is Russia's number-one folk card game — playable instantly with a solid deck.

View all designs →
20s Playing Cards – Double Pack For larger groups and long game nights. View product Viking Playing Cards – Double Pack Two decks, ideal for 5+ players. View product
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