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Karnoffel and Kaiserspiel belong to the group of the trick-taking card games, specifically the Trump group. These are plain trick games in which a small number of cards (often five) is dealt, there is a trump suit, and the objective is to win tricks, one of the earliest games of this type is called Triomfi.

Karnöffel belongs to a very old group of trick taking games - the earliest reference to it (where the name Karnöffel comes from is a riddle) is from 1426 in the Bavarian town Nördlingen – roughly half a century after the introduction of playing cards to Europe, which were first mentioned in Spain in 1371. Karnöffel was one of the first games to introduce a kind of trump suit - a suit whose cards had increased power, and were able to beat cards of other suits. It is possible that Karnöffel predated the invention of tarot, though it was from tarot, not Karnöffel, that the idea of a trump suit spread to the majority of European trick-taking games. In Karnöffel games the "trump" suit is properly called the chosen suit. Instead of designating a whole suit as trumps and having it rank in the same order internally as the other suits, the power to beat cards of the other suits was assigned only to certain cards of the chosen suit, and the ranking among these cards was quite different from the ranking in the unchosen suits. Karnöffel was the subject of a many sermons and satirical writings in the following centuries. It may appear that most of its dreadfulness lies in the level of anarchy of the play - you can play any card you like to each trick, and can talk as much as you like about what cards you have and what you want your partner to do. In the 15th century what was apparently more shocking was the anarchic card order, taken as symbolising a disruption of the status quo, with the king being beaten by low cards, the Pope (6) beaten by the Under-knave, and special privileges given to the Devil (7). In 1496 Kaiserberg, Germany a sermon by Bishop Johann Geiler compared the order of cards in the game of Karnöffel or Kaiserspiel (using both names) to the social order, lamenting that "everything is turned upside down" in Karnöffel.

Descendents of this game are still played in Switzerland and in Scandinavia. They can be recognised by the wildly disturbed card order, and the special property of the seven of a chosen suit. A chosen seven cannot win a trick unless it is led, but if a chosen seven is led it cannot be beaten, or can only be beaten by a limited number of specific cards.

The closest modern game to the original Karnöffel is the Swiss Kaiserspiel, also known as Kaiserjass though it is unrelated to Jass games proper.

The special cards are: Trump Jack (Karnöffel): Beats all other cards. Trump 7 (Devil): Beats all cards except Karnöffel, but only if it is led. Otherwise, it's just a Seven and not the Devil. The Devil cannot be led to the first trick. Trump 6 (Pope): Beats all cards (except the two above). Trump 2 (Kaiser): Beats all cards (except the three above). Trump 3 (Oberstecher): Doesn't beat a King (or the above trumps). Trump 4 (Unterstecher): Doesn't beat a King or Queen (or the above trumps). Trump 5 (Farbenstecher): Doesn't beat King, Queen, or Jack (or the above trumps).

Kasierspiel (Ludus Caesarum, that is Emperors' game) is a direct descendant of Karnöffel, one of the oldest card games known. The modern game of Kaiserspiel (often known as Kaiserjass, though it is not really has nothing to do with Jass games) is played in a small area around Stans and in the Engelberg valley, in Canton Nidwalden, south of Luzern in Switzerland. Of the surviving members of the Karnöffel family, this is the closest to the original game. The cards used are similar to the standard Swiss Jass pack, but the suits contain 3, 4, and 5 and not 8 or 9 (all the 8's and 9's should be removed from the pack before playing). There are 4 suits: Shields, Flowers, Bells and Acorns, each containing 10 cards: King, Ober, Unter, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, Banner. The four banners normally become part of the trump suit, and are referred to as Kaisers. There is a system of communication to enable partners to plan their play and decide when it is appropriate to bet. Most of the important cards have signals associated with them, and players are allowed to use these signals to try to tell their partner which cards they hold when the opponents are not looking.

It is legal to signal cards you do not hold in order to confuse the opposition, but you are not allowed to depart from the code of recognised signals. It would be illegal to have secret arrangements with your partner about other unofficial signals or about which of your signals are going to be lies.

The allowed signals are: Mugg (banner of bells)-puff up one cheek; Five of trumps-wink; Joos (under of trumps)-put out your tongue; Other king-beater -shrug your shoulder; Low trump (ober-beater, unter-beater)-make sign with finger; Seven of the trump suit-Silently mouth the word "seven"; King of flowers-wrinkle your nose; King of shields-look to the side; King of acorns-look up; King of bells-look down.

http://www.karten-haus.ch/SpieldesMonats/Monat_2011_05.htm

http://forum.tarothistory.com/viewtopic.php?f=11&t=345&p=10331

http://forum.tarothistory.com/viewtopic.php?f=11&t=585

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trick-taking_game

http://trionfi.com/0/c/03/index.php

http://trionfi.com/0/c/

http://www.wopc.co.uk/germany/flottner.html

http://www.larsdatter.com/games-card.htm

http://www.pagat.com/karnoeff/kaiserja.html