A different kind of fifth suit: Motleys

We have already covered 5-suit bridge, Yankee Notions, and the historical Liechtenstein Patten. Now we present a different kind of fifth suit, our Motley Deck, wherein each card can match either black or red:

On with the motley....

It uses as a pip design the Mephisto image from our recreation of the 19th century Game of Red and Black by Martin Gall, which explored the probability space of Roulette in cards. It uses a redrawn joker as Jack, Queen and King of Motley.

We will discuss the inspiration for the cards below, but if you want to jump ahead to the games you can play, here is the adapted rulebook

Motley games.pdf

Download PDF • 305KB

If you want to buy a pack of Motleys, they are available printed on demand at Make Playing Cards here.

But we hope that youwill read on.

A new Rule for Matching

There is an implicit otherness in the 5th suits added to sets of cards. Generally this otherness is minimised, and the extra suit is presented as a means of extending the probability space to make the play more interesting. Some instances make the 5th suit permanently trumps, in emulation of Tarock packs.

But what if the new suit had special connectivity to both red and black colours, so the rules of colour matching were extended?

One set of card, copyrighted in 1975 in Italiy and the US, did just that. The Amici deck, invented by Maurizio Martelli of Trieste proposed the "Fifth Sign" (Il Quinto Seme) that had a relation to either red or black. This is a scan of the top 5 cards. The king has been given a scimitar in imitation of the swords suit. The Queen has a globe sceptre.

The pack came with a booklet that expounded the principle of the sign, and provided the rules for the games the inventory had designed. Here is the translation (original in the footnote*)

Dearest Friend,

Congratulations on your new cards, whether you bought them or received them as a gift.

Each of these decks consists of a normal deck (4 traditional suits) plus 13 cards of the "5th Suit" the "Friends". In addition you will find 3 Jokers instead of the normal 2. [...]

By 'inventing' the 5th Suit (the 'Friends'), I realised that I was revolutionising the traditional game systems a little, but I wanted to refresh my interest in card games; an interest that had waned somewhat due precisely to the 'systems' that were decades old and, in some cases, several centuries old.

The "5th Suit" (the "Friends") is two-coloured because in some games it acts as a wild card of a specific colour. (For example: a Friend 7 can, if necessary, substitute a 7 of one of the other traditional suits. The 5th Suit will help you out just like a real "Friend".)

Of course, before proposing them to others, I played with my cards myself and had fun inventing new games and modifying some of the familiar ones to make them more interesting and more up to date.

Read the rules calmly, don't give up at the first difficulties, persevere and you will spend pleasant, fun and more satisfying hours with your family and friends with 'Friends'.

Enjoy.

Unlike Frederick Crompton's Fifth American Suit cards, which links both sign and colour, this sign can perhaps be seen as imitating the club and heart, but otherwise is more or less colour only. He doesn't seem particulary wedded to the design, the front of the booklet has several other designs,

and in the rules themselves he says:

Per ClNKOLA - SCOPONE 5 ACCADEMICO - TRESSETTE 5 SPECIALE - SCOPA SPECIALE, produrremo carte regionali con il Quinto Seme: «Le BANDIERE» - Ma non in un immediato futuro. (For CINKOLA - ACADEMIC BROOMSTICK 5 - TRESSETTE 5 SPECIAL - SPECIAL BROOM, we will produce regional cards with the 5th Suit: 'THE FLAGS' - but not in the foreseeable future.)

We can't tell you any more about Sg Martelli, and would be grateful for any more information. Was he perhaps the chess writer who wrote on Capabianca? If you know, do let us know.

The rules themselves for the game are described in a conversational manner, in a sideway opening A6 booklet.

The Games adapted to Motleys

We made a new design to enable you play these intriguing games, and indeed any others that might take advantage of the two-colour matching rule. These are adapted from Maurizio Martelli's rules for the Motley deck. We have included all of the details in a PDF you can download at will.

1. Classic Italian and European games, carefully re‑balanced for five suits.

·       Mister Seven — a shedding game built around the power of sevens.

·       High Tide — sequences that rise and flood the table.

·       Reame (Realm) — a regulated trick‑taking game of hierarchy.

·       Bridge‑16, Special Friend Bridge — experiments in partnership play.

·       Briscola, Tressette, Scopa, Scopone, Sette e Mezzo — each given “special” five‑suit variants.

·       Chemin de Fer & Baccarat — casino classics adapted to the new deck.

·       Quadris Amichevole, Amiscala — Rummy and Scala 40 re‑imagined.

2. The Poker Family Adapted

·       Cinkyam — five‑card draw with new hands like “Cinkyam” and “Cinker.”

·       Arlecchino (Harlequin) — rainbow hands across all suits.

·       Special 6 Harlequin — a variant emphasizing six‑card play.

·       Poker a 6, 7, 8, 9, 10 — escalating forms, each unlocking new combinations (double full houses, quadruple pairs, five pairs, etc.).

If you would like to see the rules, or print them for yourself, here they are.

Motley games.pdf

Download PDF • 305KB

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* ”AMICI”

 Carissimo Amico, Carissima Amica,

Ti prego di accettare i miei complimenti per le tue nuove carte, sia che tu le abbia acquistate, sia che tu le abbia ricevute in regalo.

Ognuno di questi mazzi è costituito da un mazzo normale (4 semi tradizionali) più 13 carte del «QUINTO SEME» gli «AMICI». Inoltre troverai 3 Jolly invece dei normali 2.

Ognuno di questi mazzi è composto quindi da 68 carte invece che di sole 54, più due Tabelle: una nera ed una bleu.

«Inventando» il QUINTO SEME (gli «AMICI») mi sono reso conto di rivoluzionare un po’ i tradizionali sistemi di gioco, ma, molto egoisticamente, ho cercato di esaudire un mio desiderio di rinnovamento e di maggiore interesse nei giochi di carte; interesse che si era alquanto affievolito a causa appunto dei «sistemi» ormai vecchi di decine di anni ed, in alcuni casi, di qualche secolo.

Il «QUINTO SEME» (gli «AMICI») è bicolore perché in alcuni giochi ha la funzione di Jolly di colore. (Es.: un 7 AMICO può, all’occorrenza, sostituire un 7 di uno degli altri semi tradizionali. Il QUINTO SEME ti darà una mano, ti aiuterà proprio come un vero «AMICO»).

Naturalmente, prima di proporle agli altri, ho giocato io stesso con le mie carte e mi sono divertito ad inventare nuovi giochi ed a modificarne alcuni di

quelli arcinoti per renderli più interessanti e più ...all’altezza dei tempi.

Leggi con calma le regole, non arrenderti alle prime difficoltà, insisti e ...passerai delle orette piacevoli, divertenti e di maggiore soddisfazione in famiglia e con i tuoi amici con gli «AMICI».

Buon divertimento.