Įlfern, formerly also called Eilfern, is German for 'playing Elevens'. It was described in 1855 as 'played in many parts of Germany, albeit not very commonly' and, in 1862, as 'the simplest drinking game', the winner of the majority of honours, earning the 'right of drinking from the glasses of his opponents.' Although Parlett only knew the game from 19th century sources he suggests that its non-trump nature points to its being much older and possibly ancestral to Marriage family of card games.

History and Etymology Įlfern is a primitive German game, similar to Bohemian Schneider, that is mentioned as early as 1759 in a letter by Christian Fürchtegott Gellert its rules appearing in Hammer's Taschenbuch in 1811 and in the Neuester Spielalmanach published in Berlin in 1820. Elfern is at least 250 years old and a possible ancestor to the Marriage family of card games, yet it is still played by German children. The object is to win the majority of the 20 honours: the Ace, King, Queen, Jack and Ten in a Piquet pack or the Ace, King, Ober, Unter and Ten in a Skat pack. Elfern or Elfmandeln, is a very old, German and Austrian 6-card, no-trump, trick-and-draw game for two players using a 32-card, French-suited Piquet pack or German-suited Skat pack.

Best card game for two players