Welcome to Mambassa!

Hey there! I’m excited to tell you all about Mambassa, a super fun card game that you can play with 3 to 8 of your pals. The objective of the game is to outlast your opponents and be the last player standing. How cool is that?

Now, Mambassa is a game that usually involves some friendly competition and a little bit of betting. You know, just to make things interesting. In this game, each token represents a bet, and at the beginning, every player gets 4 tokens. It’s up to you and your buddies to decide how much each token is worth before you start playing. Keep in mind, you want to make it fun but also fair!

Getting Started

Alright, it’s time to set up the game. First things first, everyone gets 4 tokens. Cool? Cool. Now, before we begin, each player will put 1 token into the pot. Consider it like a little entrance fee to get this game rolling. The player who gets to be the first dealer is chosen randomly, and for the next rounds, the dealer passes the duty to the player on their right. Easy peasy!

Now, let’s talk about the cards. The dealer will shuffle the deck and let the player on their left cut the deck. Then, the dealer will deal each player 4 cards in a counterclockwise direction. Oh, and here’s a twist: the dealer can’t look at their cards just yet. Gotta keep everyone on their toes, you know?

So here’s what happens in this game. First, we take all the cards and split them up. Some go to me, the dealer, and the rest form a pile. I’ll draw the top 4 cards from the pile, and I get to peek at them secretly. Now, I have a choice. I can either keep those 4 cards for myself, or I can stick with the cards I was originally dealt.

If I decide to keep the cards, I’ll show my original hand to everyone by flipping it face up. The flipped cards become what we call the monte. And here’s the thing, if I choose this option, it also counts as a knock, and that means we only play one round.

But if I don’t want the 4 cards I drew, I’ll just flip them face up into the center play area. These flipped cards also become the monte.

Now, let’s talk about card rankings.

Ace is the highest card, followed by King, Horse, Jack, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, and 2.

And for the suits, we have Coins at the top, then swords, cups, and batons at the bottom.

The ranking of hands in the game goes as follows:

The highest-ranking hand is called Mambassa. It consists of all four aces.

Next is Quarantuna, which is made up of the Ace, King, Horse, and Jack of the same suit. If two Quarantuna hands are being compared, the one with the higher suit is considered better.

Quartina is a run of four cards of the same rank. The highest possible rank in Quartina is 2s, while the lowest is kings.

A long sequence is formed by four cards that are ranked in order and are of the same suit. When ranking long sequences, the highest card and then the suit are taken into consideration.

A tris is a run of three cards of the same suit. It is considered of the same rank as Quartinas.

A short sequence is made up of three cards in ranking order, all of the same suit. Short sequences are ranked similarly to long sequences.

When you have a 4-card hand, you add up the value of the cards of the same suit in your hand. There are different point values for different cards: Aces are worth 11 points, Kings through Jacks are worth 10 points, and all other cards are worth their numeric value. To determine the ranking of 4-card hands, the higher value wins.

How to Play

Let’s start with the player to the right of the dealer, and the gameplay goes counterclockwise. On your turn, you have a few options. You can choose not to exchange any cards from your hand with the monte. Alternatively, you can exchange 1, 2, or 3 cards from your hand with cards from the monte. Lastly, you can decide to exchange your entire hand for the monte and knock.

If you want to exchange cards from your hand with the monte, you can trade in 0 to 3 cards. If you do, you also have the option to discard a card from your hand and replace it with the top card of the stock. However, if you decide not to draw from the stock and you haven’t exchanged any cards, you must knock.

Knocking signals the end of the game. The remaining players have one more turn to exchange cards if they want.

If you manage to form a Mambassa or a Quarantuna, you must declare it, and the round ends right away.

SCORING

When a round ends, all players reveal their hands. The player with the lowest-ranked hand loses and has to discard a token into the pool. If there’s a tie for the lowest hand, all tied players discard a token.

If a player loses all their tokens, they are eliminated from the game.

When a Mambassa is declared, all players must discard one of their tokens to the pool.

If a Quarantuna is declared, the player(s) with the worst hand must pay a token to the pool, and the player who declared Quarantuna gains a token from the pool.

THE END OF THE GAME

The game ends when there is only one player left. That player is the winner. Sometimes, in the last round, all the remaining players get eliminated. In that case, the dealer of that round becomes the winner.

Hi, I’m Amber! I love playing games, and I’m an expert at it. I also love dogs, plants, and playing Dungeons & Dragons.

Hi, I’m Amber! I love playing games, and I’m an expert at it. I also love dogs, plants, and playing Dungeons & Dragons.