It may sound like sacrilege, but I’ve never liked trick-taking. I grew up around Bridge and Euchre and Hearts, but they never really did anything for me. As a result, I’ve ignored all the “modern” trick-taking games like Wizard, Skull King, and The Crew. Something changed the other day when I watched a video of Cat In The Box, and suddenly I realized that there were interesting things happening in this space and I should pay more attention.
Now I’m on a quest to buy up all the greatest trick-taking games out there! My only caveat is that they should work with 2 or 3, as I’m not really a fan of team play and I don’t often have 4 available.
My family always played a variation of “oh hell” that we named “oh blueberry” because no one ever saw grandma say a negative word. Basically same rules but instead of going 1 up to 7, back down to 1, we went 1 up until we ran out of cards, which varied depending on players. If the table was large we would add a deck which altered the rules, I think first played was higher for ties.
Rook
I actually usually feel the same way as you about most trick-taking games, so I usually avoid them.
I did play “Scout” with my group a couple months ago, and found it to be pretty good, so you could give that one a try.
Another vote for the crew being excellent, and with a completely different puzzle feel than other trick taking games I’ve played. It’s as much about the other people as the card strategy.
The Dutch version of Black Lady, a hearts type game with some trick avoiding elements.