(
Dutch?)
card game.
The deck is divided into pairs. The deck I used to own had pairs of animals in fancy clothing (it's a children's game), a male and a female of each: foxes, hedgehogs, ducks...
One card is the Zwarte Piet and that one has no partner.
At the start of the game every player gets the same number of cards. The goal is to collect as many complete pairs as possible, but to finish without the Zwarte Piet in your hands. To achieve this, you give one card to your neighbour every time it's your turn, and you lay out completed pairs on the table. When you get the Zwarte Piet from someone you immediately pass it on.
The term Zwarte Pieten is also used in politics, for situations where everybody tries to put the blame on someone else.