Karniffel is an old German card game that was played with 48 cards until the early 19th century. However the only rules we have are based on a 36-card German-suited pack and the modern rules for Knüffeln using a 48-card, French-suited pack. So the following card ranking is based on a combination of 36-card Karniffel and 48-card Knüffeln.
| Card powers in chosen suits (trumps) (when, e.g., Hearts and Acorns are chosen) | |||
| Category | Ranks | Names | Powers |
|---|---|---|---|
| Permanent trumps |  8  8  9 |
Beasts (Thiere) | Top 3 cards (in order) |
| Beaters Stecher | |||
O  O |
Oberkarniffel or Landsknecht | ||
| U U |
Unterkarniffel or Büttel | ||
| 6 ♣6 |
Popes (Papst) | ||
| 3 3 |
Treys | ||
| 4 4 |
Wagons (Wagen) | ||
| Leaders (win only when led) | |||
| 7 7 |
Bad Sevens (böse Sieben) | Unbeatable when led | |
| 9 8 9 |
Free cards (Freikarten) | Beaten by O U and Thiere | |
| Worthless cards | |||
| D D |
Deuces (Däuse or possibly Kaiser) | ||
| K K |
Kings (Könige) | ||
| 10 10 |
Banners (Pannier) | ||
| 5 5 |
Dogs (Hunde) | May be exchanged for trump upcard | |