Musta Maija is a Finnish card game. It is primarily a children's game, but due to tactical possibilities, it can be enjoyed by adults as well.
The game suits to 3-5 players, and it uses the standard deck of 52 cards. Ace is the highest. Everyone is dealt five cards, and the rest of the cards forms a face-down stock. The top card of the stock is placed face up under the stock, and it determines the trumps. If it is spades, the card is returned into the middle of the stock, and a new card is turned to determine the trumps.
The queen of spades is a special card, and it is called Maija (Black Maria).
Whenever, during the play, a player has less than five cards in his hand and there are cards left in the stock, the player must take cards from the stock so that he has five cards.
In each turn the player in turn plays one or more cards from his hand onto the table with the following restrictions: The cards must all be of a same suit (in this purpose, Maija counts as a spade). Their...
