Cego is a Tarot card game for three or four players played mainly in and around the Black Forest region of Germany. It was probably derived from the three-player Badenese game of Dreierles when soldiers deployed from the Iberian Peninsula during the Napoleonic Wars and, based on a Spanish game they had encountered, introduced Cego's distinctive feature: a concealed hand, or blind (Portuguese: cego). Cego has experienced a revival in recent years, being seen as part of the culture of the Black Forest and surrounding region.Das alte badische Kartenspiel Cego feiert ein Comeback at badische-zeitung.de. Retrieved 10 January 2023. It has been called the national game of Baden and described as a "family classic".Cego Verbrüdert at hochschwarzwald.de. Retrieved 28 August 2022.
History and development Sometimes called Baden Tarock and, historically, also Zeco, Zego, Zigo, Caeco,Birlinger & Pfaff (1916), p. 31. CäcoBoerschel (1915), pp. 50 & 262 (as Cäcospiel). and CecoChronik der Röm. kathol. Pfarrei Eschbach bei St. Peter Landkapitel Breisach at stegendreisamtal.de. Retrieved 22 September 2022. (, meaning blind), Cego is seen as part of the cultural heritage of the Black Forest and Baden region.Cego - Regeln at cego.de. Retrieved 17 May 2020.
After the defeat of Further Austria, in 1805 much of its territory was allocated to the Grand Duchy of Baden. During the ensuing Napoleonic Wars, soldiers from Baden deployed with Napoleon's troops to Spain where, among other things, they learnt a new card game, Ombre. Recent research suggests that they took elements of this game back to Baden and modified the Tarot game of Dreierles which was played with Tarock playing cards that were then still in popular use in southern Germany.Vermutliche Herkunft at cego-online.de. Retrieved 17 May 2020. The result was the game of Cego which became sufficiently popular to develop into the national game of Baden and Hohenzollern and these are the only regions of Germany where Tarot or Tarock cards are still used for playing games.Cego at pagat.com. Retrieved 17 May 2020.
The military background to this is that, in 1808, the Grand Duchy of Baden was ordered by Napoleon to raise additional troops in the shape of a 1,733 strong regiment which was deployed for the following six years to the Iberian Peninsula under Major General Heinrich von Porbeck, where it fought at the Battles of Talavera and Vitoria as well as against Spanish guerrilleros. It suffered heavy casualties, only 500 soldiers returning to Baden by 1814.Harder (1987), p. 85.
The first known mention of dedicated packs comes in 1852 when used Zego (Tarrok) cards are offered for sale "at a cheap price" by a restaurateur in Karlsruhe.Karlsruhe Tagblatt, No. 288, Tuesday 19 October 1852, p. 1357. The earliest full description of Cego's rules appears in 1860 in a treatise on Zigo which includes details of rules for 3 and 4 players as well as a song.P.A. (1860) Even at that early stage there were two Solo, two Gegensolo and several Zigo contracts, but no special games such as Piccolo or Bettel. As Zego it appears in 1868 in a Rhenish-Swabian poem about the game called Die Begischten.Bielefeld (1868), p. 147. In 1901, Cego was reported to be one of the most popular penny ante games in the city of Pforzheim in Baden alongside Sixty-Six, Skat, Tapp and Tarrock (possibly Grosstarock or Dreierles).Stolz (1901), p. 592.
In 1907 there were both 42- and 54-card versions and it was described as "especially popular in Baden".Herders Konversations-Lexikon (1907), pp. 431 & 1780. In 1909, Cego was described as "the most popular card game in Baden."H.G. (1909). "Der Mühle-Xander: eine Geschichte aus dem Schwarzwald" in Der Volksfreund, No. 49. 17 June 1909. Karlsruhe. p. 1. In 1914, the Baden Landtag (government) banned the Gendarmerie from playing Cego "for disciplinary reasons".Proceedings of the Baden Landtag in Der Volksfreund. No. 26. 31 January 1914. p. 3.
A sketchy description of apparently simpler rules for Cego-Tarock, with just three contracts, is given by Robert Hülsemann in 1930.Hülsemann (1930), pp. 205–206. However, the first special contracts appear in print in 1950: Pikkolo, where the declarer must take exactly 1 trick, and Bettel, in which the declarer must not take any tricks.Schlager (1950), p. 296. By 1960, however, the game had declined in popularity to such an extent that it was only found in "remote off-the-beaten-path localities" in Baden and Hohenzollern and played mainly by the elderly."Playing Cards Currently in Popular Use in Germany" in Chicago Playing Card Collectors Inc, Vol. 7, December 1960, p. 8.
In 1967, a Ramsch contract appears; played when all pass, it is simply Räuber under a different name. No tariffs are given.Gööck (1967), p. 128.Grupp (1979), p. 97. The Cego bid of Half (Ein Halbe) only appears in online sources within the last decade and is not universal. The Ultimo contract, in which the sole aim is to take the last trick with the lowest trump and which is a constant feature of Tarot games since the earliest rules, does not appear in print until 2005 and is clearly a borrowing.Kastner & Folkvord (2005), p. 228.For example, Ultimo is not mentioned in the 1860 rules, nor by Schlager (1951) or Dummett (1980). John McLeod records the contract as Ulti in 1997 being played in Bräunlingen.
Cego's decline has been reversed in recent years as it has become seen as a traditional part of Baden and Black Forest culture. The game has grown organically and there are many regional variations but in recent years, the establishment of a Cego Black Forest Championship has led to official tournament rules being defined. In addition, regular courses and local tournaments are held and it is a permanent feature of Alemannic Week, held annually in the Black Forest at the end of September.Cego - ein altes Kartenspiel, das eine Renaissance erlebt at schwarzwaldregion-freiburg.de. Retrieved 12 September 2022.
The noted German economist Gerold Blümle has researched, lectured, taught and written on the subject of "Baden's national game of Cego""Cego soll wieder salonfähig werden" in Badische Zeitung, 27 Apr 2011. Retrieved 30 May 2020.Das badische Nationalspiel Cego at swv-schopfheim.de. Retrieved 30 May 2020. and has done much to promote the game. Today, Cego is played mainly in the Upper Rhine valley, the Black Forest, the adjacent Baar lowland and around Lake Constance in Switzerland and Austria. A project to revive and promote the game and run live and online courses is being supported by Black Forest actor and cabaret artist, Martin Wangler.Schauspieler Martin Wangler spielt ein vom Aussterben bedrohtes Kartenspiel at bnn.de. Retrieved 10 August 2022.Cego, ein schwarzwälder Kartenspiel at martin-wangler.de. Retrieved 8 August 2022. Cego courses are run in the autumn by the Dreisamtal and High Black Forest Colleges (Volkshochschule Dreisamtal and Volkshochschule Hochschwarzwald), regional folk high schools.Cego-Kurse at vhs-hochschwarzwald.de. Retrieved 17 August 2022.
Cego was also recorded as being played in Switzerland on the border with Baden in the late 20th century.Hoffmann (1972), p. 85.
Pack
Cego traditionally uses a French-suited tarot pack of German design; two distinct patterns being still in use. In each case, the remaining cards (court and pip cards) are of the suits: Clubs, Spades, Hearts and Diamonds. In addition to the King, Queen, and Jack, there is also a Knight or Cavalier. Court cards cannot beat trumps, but are important because of their card value with respect to the total of points and their ability to win a suit trick. Pip cards have neither high card value nor are they very useful in winning tricks. Like the Austrian Industrie und Glück deck, the red pip cards are numbered from one to four (one being the highest card) and the black pip cards are numbered from ten to seven, with no corner indices.
Adler Cego pattern
The most common type of Cego pack still in production is an Animal Tarot deck that dates to the early 19th century. Although originally comprising 78 cards, it was shortened to 54 cards to play Cego. The name "Adler Cego" (Eagle Cego) was coined when shortened packs for the game were manufactured by Lennhoff & Heuser in 1879–1882 and referred to a small eagle printed on the , the eagle being the symbol of the city of Frankfurt where the cards were made. The firm was sold to V.A.S.S. in 1882, who have continued to produce it, without the eagle, until the present day. Packs for Cego had been produced since at least 1852, but it is not known whether they were of the Animal Tarot type or another pattern that preceded the Encyclopaedic Tarot also used for Cego.
The shortened Animal Tarot pack comprises 22 trumps, 16 face cards (images) and 16 pip cards (empty cards). Trump 1 shows the Kleiner Mann ("Little Man", based on Hanswurst) but is typically called the Geiss ("nanny goat"), while trump 2 has mythological hybrids. Trumps 3 to 21 depict real animals. The highest trump lacks the pink panels that the other trumps have on both ends of the cards depicting its rank in Arabic numerals. Instead, it shows a gleeman and is called the Stiess, G'stiess or Geiger (fiddler or violinist, see also The Fool). Despite the name Adler, the former eagle symbol does not appear on any of the cards today. The last manufacturer of this deck is ASS Altenburger.
Bourgeois Tarot pattern
The second type of pack in current use is one originally produced by F.X. Schmid, again dating to the 19th century. This is a variant of the Bourgeois Tarot with genre scenes of rural and town life based on woodcuts by Ludwig Richter.Alte Spielkarten, Cego Kartenspiel von F.X. Schmid. at picclick.de. Retrieved 10 September 2022. The same pack was produced by Bielefelder Spielkarten from 1955 to 1974 and the pattern was also manufactured by A.S.S. In the 1970s, this was the most common pattern used for playing Cego, but more recently ASS have only released it through a couple of outlets. It is sometimes called the Black Forest Cego pattern.
Another variant of Bourgeois Tarot, the French Tarot Nouveau deck, was also sometimes used, particularly in Alsace. When using a 78-card Tarot Nouveau deck, the Aces to sixes are removed from the blacks suits (Spades and Clubs) and the fives to tens are extracted from the red suits (Hearts and Diamonds). This then conforms to the 54-card pack needed for four-handed Cego.
Black Forest design In late 2023, a new design was released. Designed by local graphics design artist, Anita Schwörer ("Fox"), it follows the Adler Cego concept, but replaces the court figures with images of people in local costume and the domestic and wild animals of the Adler Cego pack with animals native to the Black Forest, such as grouse, deer, badger, wild boar and squirrel.Heimat ist Trumpf at Hoch Schwarzvald. Retrieved 9 August 2025.
Card names and values Cards - names and values Rank Regional names Point value King König, Kenig or Hanor 5 points Queen Dame or Gouvernante 4 points Cavalier, Knight or Rider Reiter or CavallSchmid, F.X. . ZEGO, Cego od. Ceco. Rules. 3 points Jack Bube or Bueve 2 points Fool or Excuse Stiess, Gstiess, Giegemärti, or Geiger (fiddler, violinist) 5 points Trump 21 Mund, Mun or Mond (moon); Gack (rooster) or Monde (world) 5 points Trump 1 Pagat, Geiss (nanny goat), Kleiner Mann (little man), Kleiner Ma, Pfeif (pipe), Babber, Babberl, Babberle, Bäbberle,Cego-Spielregeln Freiamt. 2016. Babberli,_ (1916). "D'Veef" in Offenburger Zeitung, 30 April 1916. Bagätli Batleur or BachquakliKramer, Martin (1993). Cego. Rules as played in Unadingen. 5 points Remainder Trucks, Drucks or Trocks (trumps or tarocks); Leere (empties i.e. pip cards) 1 point
The three high value trumps are known as the Trull from the French tous les trois (all three). The blind is variously known as the Blinde, Leger or Cego.
Rules Overview