Ronda

Here’s what you need to know about Ronda: You’re trying to collect cards that match the ones you have in your hand.

It’s a game for: 2 or 4 players

You’ll need: 40-card Spanish deck

The cards: In Ronda, the ranks of the cards are as follows: 1 (Low), 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 10, 11, 12

The type of game: Fishing

Who can play: People of all ages

Let me introduce you to Ronda

Ronda is a game that’s really popular in Morocco. It’s not just played in places like Rabat and Marrakesh, but all over this super diverse country. Because of this, you can find versions of the game in French, Spanish, and Arabic too.

I’m using a deck of 40 cards called Ronda, which is originally from Spain. The deck has four suits: clubs, cups, swords, and coins. Each suit has cards numbered from 1 to 7, and then 10 to 12, where the jack, horse, and king represent 10, 11, and 12, respectively. Some versions of the Spanish deck include 8s and 9s, but they aren’t used in this game. If you don’t have a Spanish deck, you can remove the 8s, 9s, and 10s from a standard Anglo-American deck since the suits don’t matter in the gameplay.

This is a game for either two or four players. In the four-player version, there are two sets of partners.

Now, let’s talk about how the cards are dealt.

When we play a card game called, I’m the dealer. First, I shuffle the deck, and then you, the player to my left, cut the cards. Next, I start dealing the cards, giving each player three cards. I begin with the player to my right and go counterclockwise until I reach myself again.

After everyone has their three cards, I deal four more cards, face-up, in the middle of the table. It’s important that these cards have different ranks, but they can’t be in a sequence, like 2, 3, 4, 5. If I accidentally place a pair on the table, I have to shuffle one of them back into the deck and deal a new card in its place. And if I make a mistake and create a sequence, I have to shuffle the last card back into the deck and deal a replacement.

Now, Let’s Play!

When you start playing the game, the person to the right of the dealer goes first, and we go counterclockwise. On your turn, you need to play one card face-up on the table. If you can, you can also capture some other cards. Any cards you capture are kept in a pile in front of you, facedown. In a game with partners, one player from each team keeps all the captured cards in front of them.

Once everyone has played all 3 cards in their hand, the dealer gives each player 3 more cards, just like before. No more cards are dealt to the table. The dealer will tell you that this is the last round. After playing these hands, the game is over. We count up all the cards that were captured and whoever has the highest score wins. Then, we move the dealer position to the right for the next game.

RONDA & TRINGA

So, here’s the deal: after we’re done handing out the cards, it’s time to take a good look at what we’ve got. Now, if you’re lucky enough to have a pair of cards that are the same, congratulations! You can go ahead and call it Ronda. But wait, there’s more! If you’ve got three cards that are all the same, that’s even better. It’s called Tringa.

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Now, let’s talk points. If you have a Ronda, you get 1 point. If you have a Tringa, guess what? You get 5 points! Not too shabby, right? Oh, and by the way, we keep the rank of the cards a secret unless more than one player has a Ronda or a Tringa. Then, and only then, do we announce it.

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Alright, now let’s get to the good stuff. The player with the higher-ranking combination of either two Tringas or two Rondas gets all the points. But, let’s say there’s a tie. Well, in that case, we split the points right down the middle. Fair is fair, after all. And just so you know, we always round down when it comes to half points.

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TIME TO CAPTURE

When you’re playing the game, if you play a card that has the same rank as a card on the table, you take that matching card and put it in your pile. You can also take cards that have a higher rank but are in sequence with the pair. For example, if you have two 5s, you can also take a 6, 7, 10, 11, and 12, in that order. Remember, you can only play one card during your turn. If that card matches any cards, you need to take all of them. If the card you play doesn’t match anything, it stays on the table face-up.

If you take a card that was just played by the player before you, you earn 1 point. You have to say “one” when you take the card. In a game with more than 2 players, the next player can say “five” if they play a third card of the same rank. They earn 5 points. And, if the fourth player also plays a card of the same rank, they say “ten” and earn 10 points.

Number French Arabic Spanish

In French, the number 5 is called “cinq”. In Arabic, it is called “khamsa”. And in Spanish, it is called “cinco”.

In French, the number 10 is called “dix”. In Arabic, it is called “achra”. And in Spanish, it is called “diez”.

But here’s an important rule to remember: you don’t score if you match the last card played by the dealer right after a new deal.

If a card played can capture all the cards on the table, you or your team wins 1 point. In French, this is called “missa”. In Spanish, it’s called “mesa”. And in Arabic, it’s called “Iahsa”. However, there are no points awarded for clearing the table with the last card played by the dealer in the final round, although it can match cards.

After the last card is played and all the deals have been given out, the person who made the last capture takes the remaining cards on the table.

SCORING

When the game is over, the cards in the capture pile are counted. The team or player that captures the most cards earns 1 point for each extra card captured, up to a maximum of 20 cards. If a team reaches 41 points, they win automatically and the game ends. This can happen at any time, during play or while tallying the scores.