Kent – the most popular variations of the iconic card game

Kent is one of the most beloved and therefore widespread card games. One of the reasons for the success of this inconspicuous game is the variety of its variations.

Kent is a social card game for which we need a group of at least four people. It is the team format of the card game that originated in the Iberian Peninsula, whose original name was “Cuadrado” it’s the team format of the Iberian Peninsula card game, originally called “Cuadrado” (Spanish for “Kent”), that makes it loved by thousands of people all over the world. Kent will be perfect both for a house party and a quiet evening spent with family. We can be sure that each time it will provide a lot of entertainment and will strengthen the bonds with loved ones.

Depending on their number, players are divided into two, three or four two-person teams. You can of course play in a larger group, but it definitely makes the game more complicated, as you’ll find out at the very beginning. As usual everything begins with the distribution of cards. The shuffler hands out 3 cards to each player, and takes 4 cards himself. Then he hands a chosen card from his deck to the person sitting next to him, i.e. to the player from the opposite team (clockwise). Each player does the same.

The object of the game is to gather the “kent”, that is three cards of the same suit, or three identical figures, or the so called “sequence”, that is three ascending cards (though not necessarily of the same suit). When one of the players manages to do this, he/she has to pass the information to his/her teammate using a mutually agreed secret sign. He or she should do it in such a way as not to raise the slightest suspicion among the other players. Determining an effective signal is important because when a person from our team correctly reads the sign and loudly says the word “kent!”, we get a point. Usually the game is played up to a certain number of “eyes”.

The game is long enough that it is a good idea to keep a close eye on the other players as well in order to decipher their secret sign. If we think that the opposing pair has a kent, we can say the phrase “Stop kent!”. In case we were right, the point goes to our team. The risk is that if you misread your opponents’ signal and they don’t have three cards of the same suit or three of the same face, your team is penalized with a negative point. Therefore, you have to be constantly vigilant not to get lured into traps eagerly set by your rivals.

It is impossible not to mention jokers, whose role in the game of kenta can be invaluable. There are three of different colors in the standard deck, and their functions are as follows:

–red j oker can replace any card of diamonds and hearts;
–Black joker can replace any card from clubs and spades;
–blue wild can replace any card of all suits.

The rules of the game of kenta are not ironclad, however, and depending on the preferences of the participants it is possible to introduce a multitude of modifications. One of the most common is to give up negative points in favor of points for the opposing team. Such a change will be useful especially if we want the game to run smoothly and quickly. You can also introduce a doublekent

into the game, which occurs when both players of the same team are holding a kent. In return for the doublekent, double the points are awarded.

At the very end it is also worth mentioning a very close “cousin” of kent, a game with a slightly grotesque name kuku

, which is nothing but a modified version of kent. The main difference between kent and kuku is that in the latter card game everyone plays on his own account. The person who first collects three cards “from the same family” wins the hand, too. This is an excellent choice especially for those who are not comfortable with team activities and prefer to play solo.

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