Escoba

Description

Objective

How the game goes on

play by yourself

play by yourself

Description

This is a Spanish card game.

The Spanish pack has 40 or 48 cards distributed in four suits: oros (golden coins), copas (glasses), espadas (swords) and bastos (sticks); the picture cards are sota (jack,10), caballo (horse,11), and rey (king,12). Most games are played with the 40 cards pack (pictures and cards from ace to seven), but some of them need also eights and nines.

Two or more players may take part individually at Escoba.

The version that we offer is valid for 2, 3 or 4 players

Objective

The objective is to get a determinated number of points, fixed before starting the game. There must be played as many hands as necessary until some of the players reaches that score.

The dynamic of the game entails joining groups of cards whose sum is 15

When making the sums players should take into account the puntuation of each card: ace, two, three, four, five, six and seven counts like their index (1,2,..7); sota(10), knight(11) and king(12) count repectively 8, 9 and 10.

How the game goes on

Start

The first dealer is randomly selected.

The dealer shuffles the cards, gives the pack to the player in his left to cut it, hands 3 cards to each player starting by his right and finally puts 4 cards face up in the center of the gaming table.

Play the cards

The leader makes the first move; every move entails in choosing one card from the hand and, if possible, sum 15 with one or several of the uncovered cards on the table. If the card used makes possible this kind of action, the player collects the used cards in a little pack that may be increased in following turns; if not, the card from the hand will remain on the table face up among the uncovered cards.

If it´s not possible to add 15 using the card to play, the player has to place it faced up on the gaming table, next to the other uncovered cards.

When one of the players takes in his turn all the uncovered cards on the table it´s said to make an escoba (broom); this is pointed out by crossing up face one of the cards in his own pack.

Exceptionally, when the four cards that the dealer puts uncovered on the table make one or two groups of 15 (one or two escobas), the dealer takes them in his pack and count the escobas for him.

Turn goes counterclockwise, each player uses one of his cards in his turn, and movements are repeated until they discard. Then, the dealer gives again 3 cards to each of the players, and the cycle is repeated until the pack is finished.

Every hand the dealing changes to the next player to the right.

When the hand finishes (all the cards of the pack are been dealt and moved), the last player who has joined 15 points takes the remainding cards in the center of the table.

Score count

When the hand is finished, the players proceed to count the obtained cards in order to update the scoreboard, using the following rules:

One point for each escoba obtained bay each player.
The player with the 7 of oros (coins) will sum one point.
The player with the most number of sevens (included the 7 of oros) sums one point. If two or more players draw each of them sums one point.
The player with the most number of oros will sum one point. If two or more players draw each of them sums one point.
The player with the most number of cards will sum one point. If two or more players draw each of them sums one point.

When one of the hands is finished and one or more of the players reaches the required amount of points to finish the game, the player with the highest score wins the game. If there is a draw, new hands are played until the draw is broken.

Compulsory option

Sometimes there is any option to sum 15 points with the used card, but the player throws it because he have not seen the option, or maybe because he is trying to avoid the opponent to get an escoba.
There is not a very clear rule about it: sometimes it is accepted, some other times it is not, or even the opponent has the option to take the cards for him.

Playing in Ludoteka, it is possible to open the game with the option take cards compulsory; if so, the program forces to sum 15 and take the cards when it is possible with the played card.
If the option is not used, all the cards to take must be selected before playing the own card.

Playing by pairs

When 4 players take part in the game, it is possible to play by pairs. In this case, the players of both pairs are placed in alternate positions.

The rules are the same; the only aspect that has to be taken into account is that, in order to determine the score in every hand, the cards got by both players of the each pair are count together.

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