Rosanne: 28 card game
Rosanne is a program which plays the card game 28.
28 is a card game that is very popular in Kerala – many people I know play the game. The rules are simple, but the game is challenging and fun. For a year when I was doing college, I stayed with my folks in Mavelikara and commuted by train to my college in Kollam. One side of the commute takes about an hour, and I used to play 28 often with fellow-passengers. I have played many an exciting round of 28 during those days.
Playing Rosanne brings me memories of those days! It is distributed with a GPL license and is freely downloadable. Pre-compiled binaries for Windows and Linux are available. I have spend considerable time playing the game, and my rusty 28 skills have steadily improved since. Its a great way to spend time if you are stuck in a stupid meeting or training – go check it out! (Warning: Addictive) 🙂
Kudos to Vipin Cherian for bringing out this great game – malyalees around the world owe him a beer!!
Madaspeak 
If u can get 3 other people or 5 other people, call me!!!.
I am in for a night of IruvattiEttu!!!
Cardgame28.comis the network version….It still appears to be in beta, it appears functional.
Zenil,
As far as I know, Rosanne doesn’t yet play over the network.
Cheerio,
Binil
too good… I was a beginner in this game , but this S/W help me a lot….
Nair, IMHO, the computer still doesnt play as good as human players. I heard from the grapevine that someone in IISc is trying to write a better version.
Thanks dude..was searching for the computer based game of 28 ..searched hard on wikipedia but had not found this game details or the software. Found only 304 (which is very similar to this) but for that too the software is hardly one or two but none could be played with comp & freeware. (one is to be bought another is a online multiplayer game).
Your post is the bull’s eye hit.
Thanks.
Excellent!!!! I love 28, and have been suffering withdrawal symptoms in Chicago, so this is wonderful. Now, since I’ve stumbled upon this group of 28-fans, I have a theory questions about the game:
What is the reason / point / benefit for changing the order of the cards to J-9-A-10-K-Q-8-7?
I’m looking for a more intelligent answer than “That’s the rule!”.
To rephrase my question: Why can’t the order simply be A-K-Q-J-10-9-8-7, with A=3, K=2, Q=1 and J=1 point? It is not like that would affect game play in any way… right? So what’s the deal?
Just for contrast, look at Euchre. I’m not sure how many of you have played the game, but it’s similar to 28 (tricks, trump, partners) and also involves order-changing, which seems to actually have a point. Without going into details, in Euchre, the J of trump is the highest card and the J of the sister suit (the two reds and two blacks are considered sisters) is the second highest card. But – and this is key – in all other non-trump suits, the order still remains A-K-Q… By doing this, the trump suit gets to “pull” a card from another suit (the J) without actually taking the strongest card, because A is still the strongest in the sister suit.
Not sure if I’m being clear 🙂 — I am NOT trying to start a competition about two games, so please don’t go there. The point I am trying to illustrate is that when the order is changed only in trump suit (as in Euchre) it seems to have a logical purpose, but when it’s changed in ALL four suits (as in 28) it seems like an unnecessary complication. What am I missing?
Pallavi
Hi Pallavi,
Another name for this game is “Gulan Perise”.If you know malayalam you will understand the meaning,ie,Gulan or jack at the top.Since the maximum you can call is 28,people starts calling this game 28.
Cardgame28.com….It still appears to be in beta, it appears functional. Try it out
Hi Pallavi,
Thanks for dropping by to comment.
You ask an interesting question – which I am sure might have been asked by everyone learning 28. I did so too, but once I learned the rules, I pretty much forgot about it. Nonetheless, it would be interesting to find out why the rule is the way it is. As of now, I don’t know.
One possibility could be that the “wierd” ordering was invented in a game where it made sense (say, Euchre, as you mention). And when 28 was derived out of this game (maybe over many mutations), the game changed so much that the original reasons for having the ordering no longer apply but the ordering itself was carried over.
(You sure have heard the monkeys & coldwater story, haven’t you? 🙂
Thanks again,
Binil
‘Theoretically’, I don’t see a point in changing the *normal* order. Also, since the order is changed in all four suits, I think we can reasonably assume that, ‘technically’, order has nothing to do with the 28 game except that there should be an order. I think its very obvious too.
I grew up in Kerala and started playing 28 since my college days. In Kerala (I know for a fact that in many places in Tamil Nadu too) this game is more often called ‘Gulan Perissu’. I’ve never heard the veterans of this game calling it as 28! If you understand it, ‘Gulan Perissu’ means ‘Gulan (J) is the highest valued card. About order of rest of the cards – 9/A/10/K/Q/8/7/6, I don’t know why its creator(I just know s/he is/was GREAT!) decided to do so. And there is more to it – A and 10 has same points, but still A is higher and K/Q/8/7/6 doesn’t carry any points but still there is an order!
For the very obvious reason that all suits follow the same hierarchy, I guess there is no specific reason why the order is different in ‘Gulan Perissu’. Its just a different game and it has won a special place in the hearts of millions! 🙂
is rosanne downloadable? if so… how?
Puja,
The latest Windows version of Rosanne is downloadable from here. Binaries for other OS’s are available from the project homepage.
Cheerio,
Binil
Hey Mada,
Thanks for the link. Its been a long since played it. Lemme polish my 28 playing skills.
Pradosh
hello everybody..
i think u know there is an advanced form of 28 called 56….with 6 players, 3 vs 3…does anyone know where i can get a network game of it?!
Thanks Buddies for giving this valuable information regarding the software “Rosanne”. I downloaded the same and having lots of fun… It’s really giving me nostalgia and driving me back to my college day’s way back in 1998 at Cochin University. Last night I called up my old dudes and shared my thoughts. We used to play day and night in the hostels irrespective of the tight schedule of internals, externals, assignments and projects. I would like to say that it really simulated our brains along with “Kaja bedi” and now I am proud to see all my colleagues decorated with glorified positions. Thanks to 28 for intellectual simulation!
By the way, in “Rosanne”, I could see some drawbacks without forgetting and saluting the fact that how much pain and effort that the developers had taken to realize this software. Any way, here I am listing it out so that somebody can work on it for the betterment. They are as follows:
It (“Rosanne”) doesn’t allow the dealer to call for “Cot” to have a full hand.
It doesn’t allow the dealer to play “Thani” in which the partner won’t play.
It can be further improved by giving provision to change the names of the players.
Likewise, in my opinion, it should allow the “player” to through the lead card than the computer on behalf, if he/she is left with only that card/no other option.
It will be better, in a thinking perspective, to pause at least 2 seconds before throwing the card for the three intellectual computers!
Cheers!
Prasanth.
Cardgame28.com…….It still appears to be in beta, it appears functional
is there a program that can play 28 online with live members ? like ace2three do for Indian rummy..
Cardgame28.com…….It still appears to be in beta
when can we start playing
i really want to play this game to improve
my skills at this game
hope 2 play soon!!!!!!!!!!
Kudos to the developers!!..btw is there a online forum to [play this game… as in 4 people playing over a network ..some thing of that sort??
Cardgame28.com…….It still apperas to be in beta
Hi,
I would like to know whether there is any online 56 game site ….similar to POGO site for Bridge…
Nanda
Hey guys,
there is a NEW site about Card Game 28, Check it out at http://www.JackTrump.com/Blog
also come talk to us on our 28 FanPage on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Card-Game-28/126087160768916
Happy Onam to All!
Hey would anyone be up to collectively develop an online game for 28? Could host it on facebook? Anybody?
There is a multiplayer vesion of 28 online, cardgame28.com. Plays upto four, still in beta. Fun times
I tried to download the software; unsuccessful. can someone help me. I am using windows 7. Thanks, Abe.
Woooh !! Nice to see a blog related to this . I used to play 28 with friends in Cochin , where I studey when we hav off time . That z real fun
can any 1 tell me were can i play 28 online and for free…????????????? kindly help