Card game

The present invention entails a card game comprising a deck of cards having a series of cards with numerical values and a plurality of special or wild cards. A selected value, for example, "ninety-nine" is chosen and forms a main or central part of the game. In playing the game, players in turn discard one card at a time. As the cards are discarded the cumulative value of the respective cards are continually added by the players. Once the cumulative value of the discarded cards approach the chosen value, "ninety-nine" in the example being discussed, no player may discard a numerical value card that would cause the cumulative value to exceed "ninety-nine". However, the special or wild cards may be played at any time. The object of the game is to always have a "play". When a player does not have a "play" he or she is required to leave the game. The last remaining player is declared the winner.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
The present invention relates to games and particularly card games. 
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
Card games have for a long time provided entertainment and amusemement for 
adults and children alike. Because card games are interesting, exciting, 
and even challenging, they are often able to hold and maintain the 
attention of players for hours at a time. Beyond simply the pure enjoyment 
of card games, card games provide an opportunity for people to join 
together in fun and fellowship. 
Although many well-known card games are played by great numbers of people 
today, one finds that many of the card games commercially available today 
are designed around like and similar concepts. Put simply, many 
commercially available card games are very much alike and do not provide 
for stimulating and entertaining gaming. 
There is an continues to be a need for more exciting, challenging and 
entertaining card games. 
SUMMARY AND OBJECTS OF THE INVENTION 
The present invention entails a card game that is exciting, suspenseful, 
and which requires skill and strategy to be successful. 
In particular, the present card game is designed and structured around a 
threshold game value. In the present card game, the selected threshold 
game value is "ninety-nine". The card game includes a deck of ninety-nine 
cards with a series of numerical value cards along with a series of 
special or wild cards. The game is designed to be played such that the 
respective players discard one card at a time as the play moves around the 
group of players. The cumulative value of the discarded cards is added by 
the players. Once the total cummulative value of these cards approach 
"ninety-nine" no player can discard a numerical value card that will 
exceed "ninety-nine". 
The special or wild cards provide a means of making a play in certain 
situations where a player's numerical cards he or she may be holding would 
cause the cummulative value of the discarded cards to exceed the selected 
game value of "ninety-nine". These special or wild cards include a series 
of "pass" cards, "reverse" cards, "-20" cards, "-10" cards, "no play 
joker" cards, "wild" cards, and "automatic ninety-nine" cards. 
The object of the game is to force each opponent into a situation where he 
or she has no play. That is when a player does not have a card in his or 
her hand that will keep the value of the discarded cards to "ninety-nine" 
or below, then that player departs from the game. 
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide an exciting, 
stimulating and challenging card game. 
Another object of the present invention resides in the provision of a card 
game and method of playing where success depends on a very unique blend of 
skill, strategy and luck. 
Another object of the present invention resides in the provision of a card 
game and method of playing that is designed and structured around 
discarding one card at a time from one's hand wherein the cards discarded 
are cummulatively added and wherein discarding is controlled by a 
threshold game value that cannot be exceeded. 
Another object of the present invention resides in the provision of a card 
game and method of playing that is relatively simple to understand and 
which can be played and enjoyed by people of all ages. 
Other objects and advantages of the present invention will become apparent 
and obvious from a study of the following description and the accompanying 
drawings which are merely illustrative of such invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
With further reference to the drawings, the present card game is 
illustrated therein and in particular the respective cards comprising the 
card deck of the present game is shown. In the present disclosure the game 
is referred to as "Ninety-Nine". This is because the threshold or selected 
game value chosen for the game is "ninety-nine". It will be understood and 
appreciated from this disclosure that other threshold values could be 
selected for the game of the present invention. 
Viewing the card deck and the respective cards therein, note in FIG. 2 that 
cards 1 through 6 are shown. In FIG. 2, numerical cards 7 through 10 are 
shown. Respective numerical cards 1 through 10 are indicated in the 
drawings by reference numeral 50. 
The deck of the present card game as structured includes six of each 
numerical card having a value of 1 to 10. 
Aside from the numerical cards, the card deck of the present invention 
includes a series of special or wild cards that are sometimes referred to 
as "trick" cards. These special cards include four cards with a "-10" 
value, referred to by numeral 62 in FIG. 3, and four cards with a "-20" 
value, referred to by numeral 64. 
Continuing to refer to the special or trick cards, in FIG. 4, there are 
five additional special or trick cards. These include eight "pass" cards 
52 and four "wild" cards 54. In addition, there are eight "reverse cards 
56 along with two "no play joker" cards 58. Finally, the special or trick 
cards include nine automatic "ninety-nine" cards indicated by the 
reference numeral 60. 
Considering all of the above cards, the deck includes a total of 99 cards. 
In playing the present card game "ninety-nine", any number of two or more 
players can play. Each player is dealt a hand of four cards and the 
remaining cards are turned facedown to form a draw pile indicated by the 
numeral 66 in FIG. 1. In FIG. 1 there is illustrated a four player game as 
there are four respective hands shown, again each hand including four 
cards. To start the game, the top card from the draw pile 66 is turned 
over. The player to the dealer's left begins play by discarding a selected 
card from his hand onto the initial card turned over from the draw pile 
66. The player discarding then draws a replacement card from the top of 
draw pile 66 so that he or she always maintains a hand of four cards. A 
player always draws a card after discarding a card. 
The players either individually or as a group add the numerical values of 
the initial card turned over from the draw pile 66 and the first card 
discarded by the first player. Thereafter play continues by the next 
player, that player to the left of the last player, discarding a card onto 
what is referred to as the discard pile 68. The value of that discarded 
card is added to the previous value of the cards lying in the discard pile 
68 to give what is referred to as a "count". The same player discarding a 
card now draws a new card from the draw pile 66. 
Play is continued in clockwise fashion with each card discarded onto 
discard pile 68 being added to the previous count. 
In the present disclosure, the game threshold or preselected value in which 
the entire game is structured around is "ninety-nine". Therefore as a 
basic and fundamental rule of the game, the count can never exceed 
"ninety-nine". 
For example, assume the count has reached "ninety-six" and play advances to 
a player that holds a six, seven, eight, and a nine. This particular 
player cannot make a discard or play because either of these four cards 
would cause the count to exceed "ninety-nine". This means that that player 
has to leave the game since he or she does not have a play. After that, 
the game continues in the same fashion and sequence described above. 
As the count approaches the threshold count, then the benefit of the 
special or trick cards becomes apparent. Viewing the special cards as 
shown in the drawings, note pass card 52. Pass card 52 in the possession 
of any player enables that player to discard the same and pass the play to 
the next player in turn. Therefore, if a player holding a pass card 52 is 
faced with a situation where he or she does not have a play because any 
numerical value card would push the count above "ninety-nine" then that 
player can discard the pass card 52 and play is transferred to the next 
player in turn. 
Next, attention is directed to reverse card 56. Reverse card 56 enables a 
player holding the same to reverse play and shift the next play to his or 
her right. Thus, by playing reverse card 56 this reverses the direction of 
play. 
The reverse card 56 is a powerful card, even more powerful than pass card 
52. For example, if the preceding player has moved the count to 
"ninety-nine" then with the play of a reverse card 56 that count is placed 
back on that same player. 
Next, references made to the "-10" and "-20" cards referred to by numerals 
62 and 64 respectfully. These cards are effective in altering the count. 
For example, a player holding either one of these cards can at any time 
reduce the count, a "-10" or "-20". 
As pointed out above, there are two "no play joker" cards 56. If a player 
draws one of these cards he or she is stuck with that card throughout the 
game as that card cannot be played. This effectively reduces the playable 
cards in one's hand and therefore decreases the number of cards to choose 
from on each and every play after acquiring the "no play joker". 
Another special or trick card is the "automatic ninety-nine" card referred 
to by numeral 60. This is also a very powerful card that when played 
automatically moves the count to the threshold value of "ninety-nine". It 
is very powerful because if the next player in turn does not have a 
special or trick card then this means the end of the game for that 
particular player. 
Finally, there is the wild cards 54 which are the most powerful and 
flexible cards of the deck. A player may wish to make the count 
"ninety-nine" if he or she has what is deemed a good hand. If the player 
has what is deemed a poor hand he or she may make the count a "-150", for 
example. By making the count a relatively large minus number a player with 
a poor hand has the opportunity through time to discard high numerical 
value cards in the hope that his or her draws will replenish the hand with 
special and low valued cards. 
With respect to special rules, if the top card of the draw pile 66 is a 
"ninety-nine", "wild", or "no play joker", then the game starts with a 
count of ninety-nine for the first player to the dealer's left. 
If the top card of the draw pile 66 is a "pass" card then the player to the 
dealer's left does not play. He passes his play to the player to his left 
with the count starting on zero. 
If the top card of the draw pile 66 is a "reverse" then the player to the 
dealer's right begins with a count on zero and the game proceeds in a 
counterclockwise playing order. 
From the forgoing discussion with respect to the present card game and the 
various game rules and procedures, it is seen that once the count reaches 
"ninety-nine" in order for a player to proceed and remain in the game, he 
or she must have a special or trick card available for discard. 
If the count reaches "ninety-nine" and there is a play called for by a 
player and that player does not have a special or trick card then he or 
she is automatically eliminated from the game. Thereafter, as pointed out 
above, the game continues to proceed. Special or trick cards of the type 
referred to by numerals 52 through 64 can be played at any time in the 
game depending upon the strategy being employed by a particular player. 
For example, a player may feel somewhat lucky and that he has a superior 
hand at the beginning and decide at an outset of a game to play a special 
card and put the count on "ninety-nine". This may have the effect of 
forcing some or even all of the players out of the game early. Obviously, 
this strategy has risks as other players may have an ample supply of 
special or trick cards in their hands and the count of "ninety-nine" may 
be passed back to the instigator of this early strategy. 
It is therefore appreciated that the low value cards, for example, a "1" or 
"2" is more valuable than a high value card such as a "9" or "10". This is 
because as a count is approaching "ninety-nine", then a player can play a 
low value card without exceeding the threshold value, thereby avoiding the 
requirement of having to play a special card if in fact the player has a 
special card in his or her hand. 
It is further appreciated that a "9" or "10" may also prove to be valuable. 
For example, consider the count being "99" and the next player playing a 
"-10", making the count "89". A player holding a "10" can then play the 
same bringing the count back to "99" and forcing the next player to play a 
special or trick card. 
From the foregoing, it is appreciated that the last player remaining in the 
game is declared the winner. It is also appreciated that with the special 
or trick cards distributed throughout the deck that this makes for an 
exciting and suspenseful card playing game. Because of the selected 
distribution of these special cards, the card game is designed for 
interest and excitement. In various game situations, one player may even 
have the feeling that other players are teaming against him or her. In 
fact that very well may be the case. The present game through this special 
mix of numerical cards and special or trick cards is designed to reward 
skill and strategy but at the same time incorporate an appropriate factor 
of luck that gives the entire game a tremendous amount of appeal for a 
wide range of players including small children, teenagers and adults. It 
is this appeal that makes the game quite a addictive. 
The present invention may, of course, be carried out in other specific ways 
than those herein set forth without parting from the spirit and essential 
characteristics of the invention. The present embodiments are, therefore, 
to be considered in all respects as illustrative and not restrictive, and 
all changes coming within the meaning and equivalency range of the 
appended claims are intended to be embraced therein.