Lost Ranks

Terminology & glossary

• Army: The two-player partnerships: Red Army versus Black Army.
• Infantry (Aces through 2s): Standard ranked combat cards used to contest tricks and control the field.
• Lost Soldiers (the four Jacks): Trapped officers stranded on the battlefield. They follow suit when played, but are unranked and cannot win tricks on their own.
• Active Jack: A Jack whose suit color matches the Trump Card. Rescuing your own Active Jack awards +2 points.
• Inactive Jack: A Jack whose suit color opposes the Trump Card. Inactive Jacks award 0 points to either army.
• The Spy (the Joker): A suitless double-agent. It cannot win tricks and can only be sluffed when void in the led suit.
• No-Man’s-Land (Void Trick): A trick with no valid winner—for example, only Jacks, off-suit cards, or the Spy without a Trump card. All cards in a void trick are discarded from play.

Setup & armies

• Seating & teams: Players sit where they like, with partners directly across from one another. One partnership represents the Red Army and the other represents the Black Army.
• Optional Ace Draw: For strict random assignment, draw face-down Aces before sitting: Red Aces form the Red Army and Black Aces form the Black Army.
• The Battlefield (Card 1 Reveal): Before dealing, the dealer flips the top card of the shuffled 53-card deck face-up into the center of the table. This is the Trump Card . Trump Suit: The Trump Card’s suit is Trump for the round.
• Active vs. Inactive Jacks: The Trump Card’s color determines the high-value Jacks (+2 points); Jacks of the opposite color are Inactive (+0).
• Invalid Trump: If the flipped card is a Jack or the Joker, return it to the deck, reshuffle, and flip again.
• The Deal: Once a valid Trump Card is established, deal 13 cards face-down to each player.

Operations phase (card passing)

After hands are dealt, generals assess battlefield conditions and adjust their force posture through a mandatory intelligence transfer before any tricks are played.

The 3-card pass protocol

Every general simultaneously selects three cards from their hand and passes them face-down:

• Ally Intel: Pass 2 cards to your partner seated across from you.
• Enemy Disinformation: Pass 1 card to the enemy on your flank.
• Odd-numbered rounds (1, 3, 5, and 7): Pass to the enemy on your left.
• Even-numbered rounds (2, 4, and 6): Pass to the enemy on your right.

Operations protocol: Place all three pass cards face-down on the table before any player picks up incoming cards. Generals may pass any cards, including Jacks and the Spy. Once placed, cards cannot be recalled, and no table talk is permitted during this phase.

Gameplay & trick resolution

The opening strike (first lead)

The player holding the lowest Trump card in hand—starting with the 2 of Trump—must lead the first trick. If the 2 of Trump was revealed as Card 1 in the center, the holder of the 3 of Trump leads. After Trick 1, the winner of each trick leads the next.

Card-playing restrictions

• Must follow suit: You must play a card of the led suit if you hold one.
• Deploying Lost Soldiers (Jacks): If a Jack of the led suit is in your hand, you may play it at any time you follow suit. Jacks cannot win tricks.
• Void in led suit: If you have no cards of the led suit, you may play any card: Trump, off-suit Infantry, a Jack, or the Spy.

Field intel: the Spy

• Has no suit.
• May only be played when you are void in the led suit.
• May never lead a trick unless it is your absolute last card.
• May never win a trick.

Resolving a trick

• Remove Lost Soldiers: Set aside all Jacks and the Spy. They cannot win tricks regardless of when or how they were played.
• Determine the winner: The highest Trump card played wins the trick.
• If no Trump was played, the highest card of the led suit wins.
• Off-suit, non-Trump cards never win.
• Capture: The winner takes all cards played, including Jacks and the Spy, and places them in their army’s capture pile.
• The Void Trick (No-Man’s-Land): If a trick contains only Jacks, the Spy, or off-suit cards with no Trump played, there is no valid winner. Discard all four cards to a void pile and remove them from play. The player who led the void trick leads the next trick.

Example of play: Trick 1 walkthrough

• Trump Card: 7♠. Spades are Trump and the Black Jacks are Active for +2.
• Lead: General A holds 2♠, the lowest Trump, and leads it.
• Follow: General B plays 5♠. General C, A’s partner, plays J♠ (an Active Jack). General D plays K♠.
• Result: General D wins with K♠. The enemy army captures J♠ for +0 points, denying its owner the +2. General D leads Trick 2.

Scoring & round end

After all 13 tricks, both armies tally points from their combined capture piles.

Core scoring rules

• Active Status: Jacks matching the Trump Card’s color are Active (+2 points to their matching army when rescued). Jacks opposite the Trump Card’s color are Inactive (+0 points to anyone).
• The Neutral Spy: The Spy is an opportunistic double-agent worth +2 points to whichever army captures it in its trick pile.
• Maximum round points: Both armies can score up to +6 points per round: +2 for each of their own Active Jacks and +2 for capturing the Spy.

End of game & victory

Check total scores after each round.

• Victory Threshold: The first team to reach 18 points wins immediately.
• Hard Round Cap: Play a maximum of 6 rounds. If no team reaches 18 points after 6 full rounds, the team with the higher cumulative score wins.
• Tiebreaker: If both teams reach or exceed 18 points in the same round, the team with the higher total score wins.
• If tied at or above 18 points, or tied at the end of Round 6, play one additional tiebreaker round. The higher score after that round wins.

Advanced tactical variants

For experienced generals looking to customize battlefield conditions, choose one modular variant before the game.

Master of Spies (Asymmetric Offense)

• Rule: The Spy assumes the color alignment of the Trump Card for that round.
• Scoring: Only the army matching the Trump Card’s color may score +2 points for capturing the Spy. If the non-Trump army captures it, it yields +0 points—pure denial.
• Tactical Shift: This creates a distinct offensive team with a maximum +6 ceiling and a containment/defensive team with a maximum +4 ceiling each round.

Turncoat (Counter-Intel Bonus)

• Rule: The Spy assumes the color alignment of the Trump Card for the round, but can be turned by enemy forces.
• Scoring: Matching Trump Army captures the Spy: +2 points (Standard Extraction).
• Opposing Army captures the Spy: +1 point (Counter-Intel Interception).
• Tactical Shift: This preserves asymmetric pressure while allowing the non-Trump army to advance its score (+1) rather than play pure 0-point defense.

Player quick-reference aid

Asset scoring summary

Frequently asked questions

Questions and clarifications