History of 304 Game

304 (Pronounced 'three nought four') is a card game popular in Sri Lanka. It is a four-player partnership point-trick game with bidding. (There are also versions for six or eight players, which are described in the variants section.) From the rank and value of the cards, with the Jack and Nine promoted above the Ace, it is clear that it belongs to the Jass family, which originated in the Netherlands. It is probable that 304 is derived from a game brought to Sri Lanka by Dutch traders in the 17th or 18th century.

A key difference from Dutch Jass is that in Sri Lanka the Jack and Nine are high not only in the trump suit, but in all four suits. This same feature is found in the Indian games 28 and 29, and it is certain that those games, with their simplified card value system, are descendants of 304. Another closely related descendant of 304 is Thunee, which is played by the South Asian community in South Africa.

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