Jeux de hocs

The jeux de hocs were a family of French card games in which the aim was to be first to shed all one's hand cards to sequences laid out in rows on the table. They all featured cards known as 'stops' or hocs: cards that ended a sequence and gave the one who played it the advantage of being able to start a new sequence. In some games, hocs attracted bonuses. The best known of the hoc games is Nain Jaune or Yellow Dwarf, which is a classic French family game still played today.[1]

A game of Nain Jaune in the museum at Colmar

History

The first game known to feature hocs was Hoc itself, a multi-stake, vying game sometimes called Hoc Mazarin or Hoc de Mazarin and named after Cardinal Mazarin who was known to greatly favour it when at the court of Versailles in the mid-1600s. Another variant was Hoc de Lion.[2] The concept spread to other 17th and 18th century games including Poque, Comete, Manille, Nain Jaune and Lindor.[3][1] Manille and Nain Jaune/Lindor are still played.

Types of hoc

Four types of 'stop' card or hoc are distinguished:[1]

  • End-of-run hoc. The end-of-run hoc (hoc de fin de suite) is the highest card in a run, typically a King. It completes the row of cards. The player playing it calls "hoc!" and starts a new sequence with a card of his choice.
  • Incidental hoc. An incidental hoc (hoc accidentel) is one that occurs because the next card in the sequence is not held by any player, e.g. because it is concealed within the talon or stock of cards left face down on the table. The player of the last card of the run calls "hoc!" and starts a new sequence as before.
  • Permanent hoc. Within a particular game, certain cards may be designated as permanent hocs, for example, the ♠Q, ♣J and ♦10 in Nain Jaune. When such a card is played, the player announces "hoc!" and begins a new sequence.
  • Chief Hoc. In some games a 'Chief Hoc' is designated. This has special powers: it may be used as a wild card in place of any other card in the pack and the holder may be allowed to withhold it even if it is the next card of a sequence. In Nain Jaune, the ♦7 is the Chief Hoc; in Hoc Mazarin there are six chief hocs.

References
  1. Les jeux de hocs on the Academy of Forgotten Games website. Retrieved 2 Jun 2019.
  2. Frisch 1746, p. 1113.
  3. Parlett 1991, pp. 88/89.

Literature
  • Frisch, Johann-Leonhard (1746). Nouveau dictionnaire des passagers francois-allemand et allemand-francois. Leipzig: Johann Friedrich Gleditschen.
  • Parlett, David (1991). A History of Card Games, OUP, Oxford. ISBN 0-19-282905-X
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