Piquet is an old French card game, as complicated as that description would lead you to expect, and allegedly still somewhat popular today.
I don't know how true that last part is because I've never met anyone who knew how to play... nor anyone inclined to learn.
Travelling Piquet, now, is another matter entirely. For one thing, despite the name, it's not a card game...
Rather, it's a game that dates to 1785 or so, played by two passengers in a carriage. Or motor-carriage, or rail carriage, one supposes. Each looks out their own side of the vehicle, and scores points for things they spot, according to the following rules:
A pedestrian - 1 point
A horseman - 2 points
A postchaise - 5 points
A flock of geese - 10 points
A flock of sheep - 20 points
A man with a woman behind him - 30 points
A man, a woman, and a child in a buggy - 40 points
A cat looking out of a window - 60 points
An old woman under a hedge - game
A parson riding on a grey horse, with blue tack - game
Details are otherwise scarce, and a certain amount of extrapolation is likely required.
For instance, the game was likely played to 100 or 101 points, like the card game. A "postchaise" is a type of fast carriage, which I assume must have been fairly common, given their low score.
I have to assume that "A man with a woman behind him" means two people sharing a horse.
I similarly assume that "a child in a buggy" means in a stroller or pram.
How playable this game is today is of course up for debate, and likely depends on where one is playing. The "third cat wins" nature of the scoring makes this a fairly short game on suburban city streets, though probably a bit more challenging on the expressway.
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