It means "broom" and is one of the most famous traditionnal card games from Italy, like Briscola.
It is also played in many other countries, and while nobody really knows where the rules came from, it is usually played with a Napoletane card deck.
We do not often release such classic games, but this one is so popular that we wanted to shout about it.
Want some more details about it?
All players arrange themselves around the playing surface. If playing in teams, team members should be opposite each other. One player is chosen to be the dealer.
Each player receives three cards. The dealer deals them out one card at a time, in a counter-clockwise direction, beginning with the player to their right. During this deal, the dealer will also place four cards face up on the table. A table card may be dealt before the deal begins, immediately after dealing a card to themselves but before dealing to the next player, or after dealing all players all three cards.
As it is impossible to sweep in a game where the initial table cards include three or four kings, such a deal is considered invalid. The cards are re-shuffled, and the dealer deals again.
The player to the dealer's right begins play. This player has two options: Either place a card on the table or play a card to capture one or more cards. A capture is made by matching a card in the player's hand to a card of the same value on the table, or if that is not possible, by matching a card in the player's hand to the sum of the values of two or more cards on the table. In both cases, both the card from the player's hand and the captured card(s) are removed and placed face down in a pile in front of the player. These cards are now out of play until scores are calculated at the end of the round. If by capturing all cards were removed from the table, it is called a scopa, and an additional point is awarded at the end of the round (unless this happened with the final card played by the last player of the last hand of a round, in which case cards are still captured but no additional point is awarded).
After all players have played all three cards, the dealer deals out three more cards to each player, again beginning with the player to their right. That player then begins play again. No additional cards are dealt to the table. This process is repeated until no cards remain in the deck.
After the dealer has played the final card of the final hand of the round, the player who most recently captured is awarded any remaining cards on the table, and points are calculated for each player or team. If no team has yet won the game, the deal moves to the right. The new dealer shuffles and deals the cards as described above.
You can discover this game by clicking here:
https://boardgamearena.com/gamepanel?game=scopa
This classic game from the public domain has been developed by PiratJack and we invite you to send him your thanks!
That's it for today, but don't forget that Wednesday is time for another release!
Keep safe and play well!
