A trick-taking game is a card or tile-based game in which play of a hand centers on a series of finite rounds or units of play, called tricks, which are each evaluated to determine a winner or taker of that trick. The object of such games then may be closely tied to the number of tricks taken, as in plain-trick games such as contract bridge, whist, and spades, or to the value of the cards contained in taken tricks, as in point-trick games such as pinochle, the tarot family, briscola, and most evasion games like hearts. Trick-and-draw games are trick-taking games in which the players can fill up their hands after each trick. In most variants, players are free to play any card into a trick in the first phase of the game, but must follow suit as soon as the stock is depleted. Trick-avoidance games like reversis or polignac are those in which the aim is to avoid taking some or all tricks. The domino game Texas 42 is an example of a trick-taking game that is not a card game. History The earliest card games were trick-taking games (as evidenced by the rank-and-suit structure) originating from China and spreading westwards during the early part of the second millennium. Michael Dummett noted that these games share various features. They were played without trumps, following suit was not required but only the highest card of the suit led wins, rotation was counter-clockwise, they were plain-trick games, and that the pip cards of one or more suit are in reverse order so that the lower cards beat the higher ones. Two revolutions occurred in European trick-taking games that would lead to the development of ever more sophisticated card games. The first is the invention of trumps (and following suit to contain their power) in the 15th century. The second was bidding in the 17th century. According to card game researcher David Parlett, the oldest known European trick-taking game, Karnöffel, was mentioned in 1426 in the Bavarian town Nördlingen – roughly half a century after the introduction of playing cards to Europe, which were first mentioned in Spain in 1371. The oldest known "trumps" appear in Karnöffel, where specific ranks of one suit were named Karnöffel, Devil, Pope etc. and subject to an elaborate system of trumping powers. Around 1440 in Italy, special cards called trionfi were introduced with a similar function.