Ombre – The First Card Game with Bids
In the late 16th century, Spain introduced a new concept to trick-taking games – bidding that you could win. Ombre is a 3-player trick-taking game so popular that triangular tables were in fashion for a time.
Card games are pretty obvious – games played with cards, right? Of course, there are many types of card decks, from tarot and hanafuda, to the common 54-card deck we’re used to today.
I’m also including games played with dominoes and mahjong tiles in this category, because the gameplay tends to be similar. You’re dealt a hand, which you keep hidden, and play or meld them according to the rules. Many card games actually evolved from tile games.
In the late 16th century, Spain introduced a new concept to trick-taking games – bidding that you could win. Ombre is a 3-player trick-taking game so popular that triangular tables were in fashion for a time.
Tien Gow began as a dice game in China, but it quickly adapted to dominoes around the same time they were invented, as a trick-taking game!