Game Classification

La escoba (Broom) is an electronic version of known Spanish card game of the same name.

This variant of La escoba is made for two players and 40 card Spanish deck is used. It has suits of Coins, Cups, Batons and Swords, the cards of each suit being 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, "la sota" (Jack), "el caballo" (Horse) and "el rey" (King). Each card has their face values, except "la sota" (8), "el caballo" (9) and "el rey" (10), for the purpose of capturing.

During opening deal three cards are dealt face down to each player, and after everyone has their three cards, four additional cards are dealt face-up on the table. The remaining cards are placed in a face down stack by the dealer ready to be dealt later.

The gameplay is flown in turns. A turn consists of playing one card face up to the table, which may capture one or more table cards. In case of a capture, both the played card and the captured card(s) are taken and stored face down in front of player that made the capture, like a trick. If there is no capture the played card remains face up on the table. Once all the players have played all three of their cards, the dealer deals three new cards to each player (but none to the table) and the play continues. This procedure is repeated until the pack is exhausted. When everyone has played their last three cards, any cards remaining face up on the table are taken by the last player that made a capture. This does not count as an escoba. The points scored by both sides are then totalled and the pack is reshuffled and passed to the next dealer for a new round of play, beginning with the opening deal.

An escoba occurs when you play a card which captures all the table cards, leaving the table empty. This is worth an extra point to the player who makes the capture. If the values of the four cards that were dealt face-up on the table in the opening deal add up to exactly 15, the dealer immediately captures them as an escoba, and opposite player then plays the first card to an empty table. If the cards in the initial four card layout add up to 30, the lucky dealer takes them and scores two escobas.

The game ends when one of the players reaches the number of escobas predetermined at the beginning of the game. If the goal is not reached, the game will be played until some player wins. Generally, the game will be won by the player with more escobas.

The game was made in Spanish, has 4 difficulty levels and several predetermined number of escobas. [source:mobygames]

Distribution : Retail - Commercial
Platform(s) : PC (Dos)

Links

• http://www.mobygames.com/game/la-escoba/