1998 · Card Game

Jalape-NO!

Players play a trick-taking hand of spicy cards aiming to score as few points as possible. Each round players hold a 12-card hand and immediately place any pepper cards face-up in front of them; peppers act as persistent penalty markers that remain available to play later. Tricks are led by any card or a pepper, and subsequent players must follow suit if able, with special rules allowing pepper management but restricting cross-color pepper plays. Highest card in the suit led takes the trick; captured peppers are added to the taker’s penalties and can be played in later tricks. Rounds end when a player runs out of hand cards; scoring awards 2 points per pepper and 1 point for every card matching a pepper’s suit. Play repeats for five rounds and the lowest total wins.

groupPlayers

3–9 best 4

schedulePlaying time

45 min

cakeAge

10+

psychologyComplexity

1.4 / 5