This page is a translated archive of the original Académie des jeux oubliés, created on July 1, 2026, from the French original at salondesjeux.fr.
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This page is a translated archive of the original Académie des jeux oubliés, created on July 1, 2026, from the French original at salondesjeux.fr.
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Twenty-Four
Twenty-Four is a very old card game, related to Piquet, which is more complex and less down to chance, whose rules were set out during the second half of the 17th century in La Maison académique and La Maison des jeux académique, but chiefly under the name of L'Impériale. From the very first edition of L'Académie universelle des jeux in 1718 the two games were separated and two different sets of rules are given there, that of Twenty-Four appearing simpler than that of L'Impériale. In the 19th century Twenty-Four would be presented as a simplification of L'Impériale, but on the contrary, it is reasonable to think that Twenty-Four could be its ancestor. The rules presented here follow those of L'Académie universelle des jeux of 1718, which are, however, rather imprecise.
See also: L'Impériale
1. Principle The aim of Twenty-Four is to be the first to score 24 points, hence the game's name. Points are scored four at a time, using 6 chips each worth 4 points. Several hands are generally needed to reach the total of 24 points. Each hand is divided into two phases, as in Piquet, to which it is compared for this reason. The first is a declaration phase and the second is the actual play of the cards, which consists of taking as many tricks as possible.
Twenty-Four is played by five with a full deck of 52 cards. Each player receives 10 cards from the dealer, chosen at random by the highest card drawn from the deck. The cards are dealt in batches of three, three, then four. Once the players have received their 10 cards, the dealer turns over the next card and places it face up on the remaining pile, which in this case is a single card and stays hidden. The two cards — of which the turn-up, also called the virade in this game, is one — make up the stock. The turn-up indicates the trump suit by its suit — spades, hearts, diamonds, or clubs. Twenty-Four can also be played by four players. In that case 12 cards will be dealt instead of 10, and the stock will consist of four cards, turn-up included, instead of two. With fewer than four players, either the stock would be too large, or cards would have to be removed from the 52, and this would then rule out the possibility of playing at the point, which is a major feature of the game (see chapter 3).
The order of the cards within each of the four suits is as follows, where the king is the highest and the ace the lowest: K, Q, J, 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, Ace The suit of the turn-up, designating the trump (formerly called triomphe), is thereby superior to the three other suits. In addition, five of the trumps are called the honors. By agreement between the players before starting the game, they can be either the lowest or the highest. As a reminder, if the five honors are the lowest trumps (Ace, 2, 3, 4, 5), the game is said to be played at the point, and if they are the highest (9, 10, J, Q, K) it is said to be played at the face cards. Playing at the point or at the face cards fundamentally changes the way the play of the cards is conducted. It is possible to agree that the hands or the games of 24 points will be played alternately at the point and then at the face cards, but also that it will always be at the point or always at the face cards.
There are 5 ways of scoring points toward twenty-four, each bringing four, represented by one chip: The turn-up The sequence The Point The honors The card
If the turn-up is an honor, the dealer immediately wins 4 points, or 1 chip.
A sequence is the presence, in a player's hand, of at least five cards of the same suit — spades, hearts, diamonds, clubs — that run in the following order: Ace, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, J, Q, K. A sequence of five cards is called a "quint," one of six a "sixième," one of seven a "septième," one of eight a "huitième," etc. The rank of a sequence is given by its highest card. For example: 8, 9, 10, jack, queen makes a quint to the queen, while 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 is a sixième to the seven. A sequence to the king is called major, while a sequence starting with an ace is called minor. Right after the deal and the possible scoring of the turn-up for the dealer, each player looks in his hand to see whether he holds at least one sequence and, if so, declares it in turn, starting with the leader seated to the dealer's right, then the next player always to the right, until the dealer, who ends the round of declarations. Only the strongest sequence — first by the number of cards making it up, then, if tied, by its rank, then, if still tied, by preference to the trump suit, or otherwise by precedence of declaration (the leader having the advantage here) — earns points for its holder. A sequence that wins in this way also causes the weaker ones in the same hand to score. Each sequence in the hand of the winner of the declaration earns him 4 points, or 1 chip. The rule in L'Académie universelle des jeux of 1718 is not very explicit on this point, calling this sequence of cards an impériale. However, since the game is said to be finished when a total of 24 points is reached, it seems logical to think that this "impériale" is worth no more than 4 points, and not 24 outright.
The Point is counted after the sequence, as in Piquet, except that the ace is worth only one point, whereas in Piquet it is worth eleven. To calculate the Point, one must first count the number of cards of the suit most represented in one's hand. It is this number that is declared in turn, as with the sequence. If two or more players have the same Point in number of cards, then each calculates the number of points these cards represent. For this, each card has its printed value (the ace is worth 1 point, the two 2 points, etc.), and the face cards count for 10 points. Whoever then declares the best total wins the Point, which is worth 4 scoring points or 1 chip. If the point totals are tied, precedence again decides, and the trump suit gives no advantage. Here too, the handling of the Point is not detailed in the rules of 1718 but implicitly refers to those of the game of L'Impériale.
Each of the 5 honors, whether defined at the point or at the face cards, earn 4 scoring points, or 1 chip, for whoever wins the trick, if one is found within it. Tricks are taken according to the rules of the play of the cards.
At the end of the play of the cards, whoever has taken the most tricks, and in the event of a tie whoever has precedence (the leader always has the advantage), wins 4 points, or 1 chip.
After the declaration phase, which ends with the Point, the play of the cards begins. The play of the cards follows the rules of the game of Triomphe: The first to play is called the leader and is the player seated to the dealer's right. For the following trick it is whoever won the trick, who is then said to hold the lead. Play always proceeds counter-clockwise. One is required to follow the suit led and, if possible, to head it by playing a higher card; If one does not hold a card of the suit led, one must ruff with a trump; If another player has already ruffed before, one is required to overruff by playing a higher trump; If one holds no trumps or cannot overruff, one may play any card from one's hand as one wishes. Whoever played the highest trump, or, failing any trumps, the highest card of the suit led by the leader, wins the trick, which he places face down in front of him. He holds the lead for the next trick if the game is not yet over.
Every time a player scores 4 points, he receives 1 chip, and the first who gets his sixth chip thereby totals 24 points and wins the game, which stops immediately. The order of precedence for winning the game is thus defined: The turn-up counts before the sequence, which counts before the Point, which counts before the honors in the tricks, which count, lastly, before the card. If after paying the chip for the card, the total of 24 points or 6 chips has not been reached, another hand is begun, and so on until a player reaches the 24 points that win him the game. For each new hand, the previous leader becomes the dealer.
By agreement before starting, one may play a single game to 24 points, or a set number of games, such as 5, for example.
References The various editions of La Maison académique and of La Maison des jeux académiques published during the second half of the 17th century, which make no distinction between the game of L'Impériale and that of Twenty-Four L'Académie
universelle des jeux, published by Legras, in Paris, 1718, which is the first
collection of game rules to distinguish that of L'Impériale
from Twenty-Four Information about this page Published
online on 2 January 2022 Author:
Philippe LALANNE
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