Lost Heir card game

[thatm...@my-deja.com]

Hiya.

I just picked up a clearance-priced trick-taking game entitled "Lost
Heir" from Canada Games Company Limited. It could be a decent game,
but there are a lot of contradictions and ambiguities in the
instruction leaflet.

While this version of the game has a silly 'Canadian cities and their
law enforcement groups' theme tacked on, the game probably exists in
some other form as published in another country. The deck consists of
4 suits ranked 1 to 7 (0 to 7 in two of the suits to balance the deck
for 4-player use) and two colourless wild cards, the 'Wrong Boy' and
the 'Lost Heir'. Taking the former costs three points, the latter
earns five points, and otherwise players earn a point per trick. A
bidding scheme exists for the right to name trump, and dealer has a
choice of accepting any other player's bid (dealer scores bid value) or
rejecting and calling trump himself.

In any case, there are several things left unclear by the rules. What
happens in case of a 'Lost Heir' or 'Wrong Boy' lead? Does an
untrumped trick go to highest card played in led suit or highest
ranking card played regardless of suit (two rules lines contradict) ?
Can one opt not to trump if void in the led suit (another two lines
contradict)?

Anyone who has played a game by this description, could you tell me how
these issues are best resolved? Does anyone know how to get in
(preferably electronic) contact with the designer or publisher of this
game? Suggestions?

Thanks!

Mark

Sent via Deja.com http://www.deja.com/
Before you buy.

[John McLeod]

thatm...@my-deja.com wrote:
>I just picked up a clearance-priced trick-taking game entitled "Lost
>Heir" from Canada Games Company Limited. It could be a decent game,
>but there are a lot of contradictions and ambiguities in the
>instruction leaflet.
>
>While this version of the game has a silly 'Canadian cities and their
>law enforcement groups' theme tacked on, the game probably exists in
>some other form as published in another country.

From your description, this looks to me like a commercial version of the
traditional Canadian card game Kaiser. You can find rules for Kaiser
played with ordinary cards on my web site at
http://www,pagat.com/pointtrk/kaiser.html
and also a link to a computer version of it.

This may help you to judge what rules were intended in the commercial
game that you have.
--
John McLeod For information on card games visit
jo...@pagat.demon.co.uk http://www.pagat.com/

[thatm...@my-deja.com]

In article <RwX+6bBz...@pagat.demon.co.uk>,

John McLeod <jo...@pagat.demon.co.uk> wrote:
> From your description, this looks to me like a commercial version of
> the traditional Canadian card game Kaiser. You can find rules for
> Kaiser played with ordinary cards on my web site at
> http://www,pagat.com/pointtrk/kaiser.html
> and also a link to a computer version of it.
>
> This may help you to judge what rules were intended in the commercial
> game that you have.

Thanks, John! This is *just* what I was looking for. There were
several things in the rulesheet that made me wonder (like "the Lost
Heir and ... Wrong Boy ... are without rank or number, and the lowest
in the value of any of the same colour or suit" - that would make sense
if the Lost Heir and Wrong Boy weren't the only unsuited/uncoloured
cards in the pack!)

There are few other differences. There is no 'no trump' option listed
in these rules. This game claims to be primarily a solo game and the
partnership game is the 'variant',and for some bizarre reason, the
dealer scores the bid amount when he allows any nondealer to make a
bid. Very odd and beneficial to whoever deals most often.

I'm guessing these rules came from a very poor translation by a
Ukrainian Saskatchewanian.

Thanks again. Now I can toss out these cards and play the good game
that this "Lost Heir" deck should have been.

[schal...@gmail.com]

On Tuesday, November 30, 1999 at 3:00:00 AM UTC-5, thatm...@my-deja.com wrote:
> Hiya.

>
> I just picked up a clearance-priced trick-taking game entitled "Lost
> Heir" from Canada Games Company Limited. It could be a decent game,
> but there are a lot of contradictions and ambiguities in the
> instruction leaflet.
>
> While this version of the game has a silly 'Canadian cities and their
> law enforcement groups' theme tacked on, the game probably exists in

> some other form as published in another country. The deck consists of
> 4 suits ranked 1 to 7 (0 to 7 in two of the suits to balance the deck
> for 4-player use) and two colourless wild cards, the 'Wrong Boy' and
> the 'Lost Heir'. Taking the former costs three points, the latter
> earns five points, and otherwise players earn a point per trick. A
> bidding scheme exists for the right to name trump, and dealer has a
> choice of accepting any other player's bid (dealer scores bid value) or
> rejecting and calling trump himself.
>
> In any case, there are several things left unclear by the rules. What
> happens in case of a 'Lost Heir' or 'Wrong Boy' lead? Does an
> untrumped trick go to highest card played in led suit or highest
> ranking card played regardless of suit (two rules lines contradict) ?
> Can one opt not to trump if void in the led suit (another two lines
> contradict)?
>
> Anyone who has played a game by this description, could you tell me how
> these issues are best resolved? Does anyone know how to get in
> (preferably electronic) contact with the designer or publisher of this
> game? Suggestions?
>
> Thanks!
>

> Mark
>
>
> Sent via Deja.com http://www.deja.com/
> Before you buy.

We play this game all the time - the object is to bid - you can bid from one to 12 - the lost heir is worth an extra five points in the trick it is taken with. The wrong boy subtracts 3 points in the trick it is taken with. You bid and and the person that gets the highest bid makes the colour of his choice trump. The cards go from 7 to 0 the blank cards are the lowest - this includes the lost heir and the wrong boy so any number will take either one of these cards. You play with a partner so it is a game for 4 people to play. If you bid 12, you have to get every trick except the wrong boy - it is a must to miss this trick if you are to get your 12. If you bid 10, you need to get all the tricks if you take the wrong boy. We have several friends that we play this game with. It seems it is a region game - some people look at you rather strange when you say you play lost heir. Hope this is of some help.

[ellenab...@gmail.com]

On Thursday, December 2, 1999 at 3:00:00 AM UTC-5, John McLeod wrote:

> thatm...@my-deja.com wrote:
> >I just picked up a clearance-priced trick-taking game entitled "Lost
> >Heir" from Canada Games Company Limited. It could be a decent game,
> >but there are a lot of contradictions and ambiguities in the
> >instruction leaflet.
> >
> >While this version of the game has a silly 'Canadian cities and their
> >law enforcement groups' theme tacked on, the game probably exists in
> >some other form as published in another country.
>

> From your description, this looks to me like a commercial version of the
> traditional Canadian card game Kaiser. You can find rules for Kaiser
> played with ordinary cards on my web site at
> http://www,pagat.com/pointtrk/kaiser.html
> and also a link to a computer version of it.
>
> This may help you to judge what rules were intended in the commercial
> game that you have.

> --
> John McLeod For information on card games visit
> jo...@pagat.demon.co.uk http://www.pagat.com/

Hi John
I was taught to play Lost Heir by my grandparents when I was young - probably about 50 years ago - it's an old game and is a. It was always a family favourite - and I can help you with these rules.
First question - the Wrong Boy belongs to the blue suit of Toronto, and the Lost Heir belongs to the green suit of Winnipeg. The 'boy' cards are the lowest ranked cards in their suit, correlating to the blanks in the Halifax and Montreal suits. So when played as a lead, any other card of their suit will take the trick. NOW if they are trump, of course, they will take the trick - only if there is no other higher trump played by another player.
For an un-trumped trick, the players must follow the suit of the person who's lead it is (ie the one who took the last trick). The one who plays the card with the highest number value gets the trick - and remember the 'boys' have the lowest value.

If you do not have any cards of the suit led, you can opt to trump or not to trump - it's up to you. (and that's a good time to give up the Bad boy if you have him in your hand!)

Have fun with your game!
Ellen

[heyi...@gmail.com]

One more thing about the game. If a blank is played on the good boy or bad boy, it negates their positive or negative effect.

Also, in the rules, it talks about the person who calls trump and wins the bid needing to lead with trump. We didn't play that way. The player who wins the bidding can lead anything they want.

[Mitchell Kelley]

On Thursday, 28 February 2019 at 11:11:34 UTC-5, heyi...@gmail.com wrote:
> One more thing about the game. If a blank is played on the good boy or bad boy, it negates their positive or negative effect.
>
> Also, in the rules, it talks about the person who calls trump and wins the bid needing to lead with trump. We didn't play that way. The player who wins the bidding can lead anything they want.

Does anyone know where I can get the game? I have been trying for weeks and can't find it anywhere

[D Gunby]

There are a few on eBay st this time.