Karnöffel

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Karnöffel is a card game invented in Germany sometime in the 15th century -- although an exact date cannot be found, the earliest references to Karnöffel exist in text from 1426. This makes the game one of the earliest recorded card games in history.

Karnöffel is unique in that it had a trump suit of cards that is higher priority than any other suit in the deck -- a possible precursor to the trump cards of Tarot, as well as the Joker card found in modern card decks. In contrast to modern card games such as poker and gin rummy, Karnöffel utilizes a deck of 48 cards.