In order to clear up some confusion about our name, I thought I’d begin with an article devoted to our card playing pastime.

The Origins

Originally developed by peasants in the mid-1700s, Schafkopf was thought to played on barrels (the barrel’s “head). We know it was developed by peasants because of the way the cards are ranked: Kings are less powerful than Queens, Jacks, Aces… and even 10s. We know it is German because along with it’s name, two important Germanic terms are commonly used in-game. First, there is the minimum amount of points needed to lose less badly – “Schneider”* – and then the less than flattering term we Sheepsheaders use to describe someone with a perfectly fine hand who still refuses to pick up the blind – the “Mauer” or as it is literally translated, the “wall”.

The Similarities

If you’ve played Hearts or Euchre or Bridge or any other Wist family game – you’ll be less jolted by the seemingly random rules of the game. Chief among the confusion is the order of trump, the fact that your partner(s) changes every hand, and the fact that you may not reasonably know who your partner(s) are until the last card is played. It’s a point-trick game, which amounts to 5 people playing a glorified game of “war”, with some cards being worth more points… As far as casual card gaming is concerned… this would probably be your last option, unless your friends have patience for learning games with a lot of quirky rules.

'Sheepshead' is both the name of the game and this winning hand!

The Reason

So why sheepshead? It’s not the most recognizable word – it’s one of those german words that mashes words together into even longer words. If we’re honest – we don’t really play the game enough these days for it to be as relevant as it once was. Identity is important – being distinct, memorable, and meaningful. We needed a banner to rally behind and we chose something we could easily relate to, as I’m sure most people in our situation have done. I guess we mainly didn’t want to be branded as something like “VideoTech” or some other jargon that would limit the company’s ability to expand. But there are personal reasons – the card game reminds us of a rich legacy.

Sheepshead meant a time of unrivaled camaraderie. Between the lunch hours, there was a spoken pact: we had to get down to the lunchroom and get as many hands of this game in as we could. There wasn’t enough time to eat, let alone play sheepshead. If you had homework to do, but still had the chance to play sheepshead, you’d count yourself fortunate. It wasn’t just a game we played during lunch – it’s what we went to high school for…

*There was a guy at the Sheepshead table named Schneider. So occasionally, Schneider got schneider…