Durak

Durak is played here by two players with a 36-card deck: the sixes up to the aces, with aces high. Each player gets six cards. The bottom card of the stock is turned face up, and its suit is trump for the whole game. That card is the last one drawn.

The player holding the lowest trump attacks first by playing any card face up. The defender must beat it with a higher card of the same suit, or with any trump. A trump can only be beaten by a higher trump.

After the first card, the attacker may throw in more cards, but only of a rank already on the table, whether it was played in attack or defence. A bout can hold at most six attacking cards, and never more than the defender had at the start.

• If the defender beats every card and the attacker stops, the cards are discarded and the defender attacks next.
• If the defender can't beat a card, or chooses not to, they take the pile. The attacker may still throw in matching cards to be taken too, and then attacks again.
• After every bout, the attacker and then the defender draw back up to six cards while the stock lasts.
• Once the stock is empty, the first player to get rid of all their cards wins. The one left holding cards is the durak.

• Desktop: click a highlighted card to attack or defend. Use Take to pick up the pile, and Done when you've finished attacking or throwing in.
• Phone & tablet: tap cards and buttons. Only the cards you can legally play are highlighted, and the card you must beat is outlined.
• Your trumps are outlined in gold, and the trump card sits face up beside the stock.

• Daily: everyone gets the same shuffle each day.
• New Game: a fresh random deal against the CPU. Your wins and losses are tallied for the session.

• Save your trumps. A high trump is worth far more at the end of the game than it is early on, when you could simply take the cards and draw new ones.
• Taking isn't always a defeat. While the stock is full, taking a pile of low cards can be better than spending a trump.
• Attack with a rank you hold twice. The second card makes a ready-made throw-in.
• Remember which cards have been discarded. By the endgame you can often work out what your opponent is holding.
• When the stock runs out the game changes: every card matters, and throwing in as many cards as possible is how you empty your hand.

Durak takes its name from the Russian word дурак, 'fool', which is what the loser is called. It is a traditional Russian card game.

The game is attributed to the late 18th-century Russian Empire, and it was popularised by Imperial Army conscripts during the 1812 war with France. At first it was a pastime of peasants and industrial workers. After the October Revolution it spread through every level of society, and by the mid-20th century it had become the most popular card game in the Soviet Union.

It is now Russia's most popular card game, having displaced Preferans, and it remains popular in many post-Soviet states. The version here is the throw-in game, podkidnoy durak. A well-known variant, perevodnoy durak, lets a defender pass the attack on to the next player with a card of the same rank.

Durak is a free browser version of the traditional Russian card game, with a CPU opponent, a new daily deal every day and online leaderboards. There's nothing to download and no sign-up.

A free, original browser game on PlayPendium. No download, no install.