Aluette or Vache ("Cow") is an old, plain trick-taking card game that is played on the west coast of France. It is played by two teams, usually of four people, but sometimes also of six. It is unusual in using a unique pack of 48 Spanish playing cards and a system of signalling between playing partners. The French colloquial names for the game, jeu de la Vache or Vache, refer to the cow depicted on one of the cards.
Aluette or Vache ("Cow") is an old, plain trick-taking card game that is played on the west coast of France. It is played by two teams, usually of four people, but sometimes also of six. It is unusual in using a unique pack of 48 Spanish playing cards and a system of signalling between playing partners. The French colloquial names for the game, jeu de la Vache or Vache, refer to the cow depicted on one of the cards.
== History == The game is very old, with references to the game of "luettes" by François Rabelais in the early 16th century. As the cards use Spanish suits, Aluette may even predate the invention of French playing cards around 1480. "La luette" means uvula in French and may refer to the fact that it is played with codified signs that allow team members to provide information on their cards during the game. The game is also called "la vache" (the cow) because of the illustration on the 2 of cups card. Due to similarities it has with the game of truc, aluette may have been imported by Spanish merchants. The cow had appeared on Spanish-suited cards made in France by around 1500 as evinced by a surviving pack made by Antoine de Logiriera of Toulouse dating to the period 1484–1512. The cow was portrayed on the 2 of Cups and, later, also on the 2 of Coins; one 18th century pack depict it on the Ace of Swords. By the early 19th century, it had settled on the 2 of Cups.
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