Cucumber (Ogórek)
How to play Cucumber (Ogórek / Gúrka)
Cucumber is a fast, cut-throat trick-avoidance card game played all over northern Europe under a basketful of names — Ogórek in Poland, Gúrka in Iceland, Agurk in Denmark and Gurka in Sweden and Norway. The twist is delicious: you spend the whole deal trying not to win the very last trick. Whoever does is "the cucumber", collects a fat pile of penalty points, and edges closer to being knocked out. Play against 2 to 6 seats of bots, and switch between the country rule sets in Settings.
Goal
Do not take the last trick of a deal. Only that final trick scores, and its winner is penalised by the value of the highest card in it. Penalties pile up across deals; the moment your total climbs past the losing score you drop out, and the last player left standing wins the game.
The play
Suits are irrelevant — only rank matters. The player to the dealer's left leads a card; going round the table, each player must either play a card at least as high as the highest one so far, or, if they can't or won't, throw away their lowest card. The highest card wins the trick (the later of equally high cards wins), and that winner leads the next one. Keep shedding until hands run out; the winner of the last trick takes the hit.
Scoring
Only the last trick counts. Card values are King 13, Queen 12, Jack 11, and number cards at face value. The Ace is worth 21 in the Polish game (14 in the others), and in the Icelandic Gúrka the six of clubs becomes the highest card of all and stings for 21. Reach the losing score (21) and you are eliminated — though in the Icelandic variant, landing on it exactly resets you to zero and keeps you alive.
Variants
Pick your country in Settings. Poland (Ogórek) — the default — deals six cards, Aces worth 21, single-card leads. Iceland (Gúrka) adds the top-ranking six of clubs, lets you lead several equal cards at once, deals ten and shrinks the hand each round, and grants the exact-score reprieve. Denmark (Agurk) and Sweden/Norway (Gurka) keep it lean with seven-card hands and Aces at 14.
Strategy
Bleed your dangerous high cards early, while other players are still forced to beat them and you are safely not last. Hoard a couple of very low cards to duck the closing tricks — that lone 2 is worth its weight in gold when the last trick looms. Watch who is short of cards, count the Aces and Kings still out, and remember that once you can no longer beat the pile you must dump your lowest. Tap a card to play it; legal cards are highlighted. Press N for a new game.