The Blueberry Score 2026

The Blueberry Score is a breezy trick-taking game for 2 players where the goal is very simple: be the player who scores the closest to 20 points. Of course, it isn’t as easy as it seems when trumping in is always an option, plus there is a large amount of information that is unknown to both players, making mind games a big part of the play. Also, both players get the chance to improve their hands, albeit blindly.

Each hand of The Blueberry Score is played over nine tricks where players take turns playing one card each into tricks. The hand will always start with the Deal followed by Improvement. Play follows, and once all the tricks are played, the round is Scored. The player that captured cards totalling closest to 20 wins the hand and scores 1 VP. The first player to earn 3 VP wins the game. The trick play is must follow, may trump, meaning your opponent might always be holding back a strategic blueberry just to beat you at the perfect time. The game was designed for use with Sean Ross’s Trifle deck, but is playable with a standard deck as well. Additionally, this game borrows heavily from a Jass variant called Schaggi-Jass. The Blueberry Score is the third of four games in Fruit Salad, a series of games that pare down some of my recent favorites in order to make them more teachable and accessible to my family. Each game also features one suit as a fixed trump, which can be found in their titles.

—description from the designer