Welcome to Mediatore!

Mediatore is an exciting card game that is played by 4 people. The goal of the game is simple: work together with your teammate to score more points than the other team and claim victory!

In Mediatore, each round is a battle for points. If you win a round, you earn points. But be careful! If you lose a round, you have to pay stakes to the winners. You and your teammates should decide beforehand how much each stake is worth. If you prefer not to play with money, you can keep track of scores instead.

Getting Started

Let’s go over the setup process:

To determine who goes first, choose a dealer randomly. The dealer will then pass the role to the player on their right for each subsequent deal.

The dealer shuffles the deck and the player to their left performs a cut. The dealer then deals 9 cards to each player, distributing them in batches of 3 cards each, moving counterclockwise.

When it’s time to play the game, there will be 5 cards face-up on the table. The player who wins the bidding round gets to pick these cards and add them to their hand. These extra cards are called the Monte.

Card Rankings and Values

In this game, there is no trump suit. The cards have a specific ranking and point value. The highest-ranking card is the 3, followed by the 2, the 1, the Re, the Cavallo, the Fante, the 7, the 6, the 5, and finally, the lowest-ranking card is the 4. Each card has a different point value. The 3s are worth 1/3 of a point, the 2s are also worth 1/3 of a point, the 1s are worth 1 point, the Res are worth 1/3 of a point, the Cavallos are worth 1/3 of a point, the Fantes are worth 1/3 of a point, and the remaining cards are worth 0 points. When players calculate their scores, they always round down any partial point values. So, for example, if a team scores 5 and 2/3 points, they round it down to 5 points.

Additionally, the last trick is worth 1 point. This means that each round has a total of 11 and 2/3 points that can be won.

Bidding

When it’s time to start the bidding in a game, I’m the first one to make a move. I can choose to pass or place a bid. If I decide to bid, I have to go higher than the person before me. This back-and-forth continues until three players in a row pass, signaling the end of the bidding round. But if nobody places a bid and everyone passes, we start over with new cards.

Now, let me explain the different types of bids we can make. We have Chiamo, which is the lowest bid. Then we have Mediatore, Solo, Solissimo, and finally Arcisolissimo, which is the highest bid we can make.

When you make a bid of Chiamo, you have the power to choose a card. Usually, it’s a three that you don’t already have in your hand. The person who holds the chosen card becomes your partner, but their identity remains a secret. Everyone will find out who your partner is during the game. As the bidder, you can also take the monte and add it to your hand without anyone knowing. Then, you get to decide which three cards to place facedown on the table to create a new monte. However, if the card you called was already in the monte, you won’t have a partner for that round.

When you make a bid in Mediatore, you choose a card and the person who has that card has to give it to you. Then, you get to take a look at the monte, which is a pile of cards, and show it to everyone before adding it to your own hand. After that, you select four cards from the monte to create a new pile, and you pass a card face-down to the player who gave you the card you named. The other three players team up against you, and you play by yourself.

If you make a bid in solo, you get to pick up the monte and show it to everyone. The dealer then takes the cards and creates a new pile, using any four cards. You play alone against the other three players.

In Solissimo, the dealer can secretly look at the monte, but they can’t take any of the cards. They play on their own, going up against all of the other players.

When you make a bid in Arcisolissimo, you play by yourself against the other three players.

GAMEPLAY

Let’s talk about how the game works. It all begins with the player sitting to the right of the dealer. That player gets to start by playing any card they want to the trick. Then, the other players must follow suit if they can. If they don’t have a card of that suit, they can play any card they want.

The player who plays the highest card of the suit led wins the trick and gets to collect all the cards. That player will then lead the next trick.

Now, let’s talk about signals. During the game, players can use certain signals to communicate with each other. For example, a player may say “I knock” to let their partner know that they want them to play the highest card they have of the suit led, and if they win the trick, they should lead the suit again.

There are a few more signals you should know. A player may say “I fly” to tell their partner that they don’t have any more cards of the suit led. And a player may say “I stroke” to let their partner know that besides the card they played, they only have one or two low cards of that suit left in their hand.

SCORING

When all the tricks have been won, it’s time to tally up the scores. The team that won the last trick gets to collect the monte and add it to their score pile. Once that’s done, each team counts up their cards and the team that scores 6 or more full points is declared the winner of the round.

The scoring in this game depends on the bid that was made. The bid determines the scores and payments that players receive.

If you’re playing Chiamo, the losers have to pay 4 stakes or points each. The bidder, on the other hand, receives 5 points or stakes, and their partner gets 3 points or stakes. If the bidder played alone, they get to take all the winnings. However, if the bidder’s team loses, the payments are reversed.

If you’re playing Mediatore, things work a little differently. In this case, the losers have to pay 8 stakes or points, unless they were the player who gave up a card to the bidder. In that special scenario, the player only has to pay 6 stakes or points. As for the bidder, they receive either 22 or 24 points or stakes, depending on the outcome. If the bidder loses, the payments are reversed, and they have to pay either 8 or 6 stakes/points.

If you’re playing Solo, and you lose, you have to pay the winner 12 points or stakes. And if you’re the winner, you get paid 12 points by each player.

If you’re playing Solissimo, and you lose, you have to pay the winner 16 points or stakes. Or if you’re the winner but lose, you have to pay each player the same amount.

If you’re playing Arcisolissimo, and you lose, you have to pay the winner 18 points or stakes. Or if you’re the winner but lose, you have to pay each player the same amount.

If a team manages to win all the tricks in a round, the points or stakes are increased by 2.

END OF GAME

The game ends when nobody wants to play anymore. The player with the most points or stakes is declared the winner.

Hi there! I’m Amber (They/Them), a writer and gaming enthusiast from Austin. I consider myself a gaming master and I have a great passion for dogs, plants, and D&D.