Primiera
Primiera Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Summary
Primiera is played by four players and is divided into several rounds (special rules for playing with 2 or 3 players are printed at the end of the booklet). During each round players will play in partnerships, two against two, or individually, depending on the cards played. At the end of every round the players will score points and a new round is played until one of the players wins.
Game Components
- A deck of 40 cards
- Scoring tokens showing different values.
Game Set Up
Unpunch the tokens.
Randomly choose who will be the first dealer.
Give the deck of cards to the first dealer.
The Cards
A special deck of cards is used to play Primiera. The deck is divided in 4 suits: Swords, Clubs, Cups and Coins. Each suit has a different colour and symbol.
The cards in each suit are numbered from 1 (the lowest in value, but very important during the game, also called "Heralds") to 10 (the highest in value). This is the rank value of each card.
On the cards there is also a Primiera Value that's used in scoring the Primiera (see "The Scoring"). Please note that the Primiera Values don't follow the rank of the cards and that the Heralds have a special symbol printed in the place of the suit.
The Deal
The dealer shuffles the four Heralds and then deals them, face down, one to each player. The dealer then deals all the other cards face down, one at a time, to each player.
When all the cards have been dealt, all the players can look at their cards, choose one of them and then put it face down on the centre of the table. When all the players have made their choice, the four cards are turned face up. The 4 cards stay on the table.
The Play
The player on the dealer's right side plays first, and the turn to play passes counter clockwise, until all the cards have been played.
A turn consists of playing one card face up to the table, which may capture one or more table cards.
In the event of a capture then both the played card and the captured card(s) are taken and stored face down in front of the player who made the capture. If there is no capture, the played card remains face up on the table. In either case the turn then passes to the next player.
The capturing rules are as follows:
- If the value of the card played matches that of a table card, the table card is captured;
- If the card played matches more than one table card, then just one of the matching table cards is captured - the player chooses which one;
- If the card played does not match any table card, but its value is equal to the sum of the values of two or more table cards, then that set of table cards is captured - if there are several possible sets which add up to the value of the played card then the player of the capturing card has their choice of which to take;
- If the value of the card played does not match any table card or sum of table cards, then there is no capture and the played card remains face up on the table.
- If the played card does make a capture, the cards must be taken, even if the player would prefer to leave them on the table;
- If a card matches both a single card and a sum of cards on the table, the single card must must be captured, not the group.
(The words "must must" are as printed in the source.)
After all the cards from the players hands have been played, the last player who made the last capture takes any face up cards remaining on the table.
Example: Table cards 2, 6, 8 and 3 are on the table and the played card is an 8. Because there is an 8 on the table, the player can't choose to capture 2+6. He must capture the 8.
The Heralds
The four cards of lowest value (1) are the cards that determine if the round will be played in partnership or individually.
The first player to play on the table a Herald will determine the partnerships following these rules:
- 1 of Cups: the opposite players will play in partnership.
- 1 of Clubs: the partner of the player who played this card is the one sitting to his left. The other two will form the other team.
- 1 of Coins: the partner of the player who played the card is the one sitting to his right. The other two will form the other team.
- 1 of Swords: the four players will play individually.
NOTE: only the first Herald played will determine how to play the round, the following ones are considered as standard cards.
NOTE 2: the Heralds are facing different directions to help the players remember their impact on the rules of the game and they have an arrow printed at the place of the suit to make it even easier.
From left to right: the Herald of Clubs, Cups, Coins and Swords, note the "arrows" in place of the suit symbol.
The Scoring
If the round is played in partnership the cards captured by the members of the two teams are put together for the final scoring. There are four points available to be won on each round, plus the points for the "sweeps":
- The Cards. The point is won by whichever team takes the majority of the cards. In case of a draw, the point is not awarded.
- The Coins. The point is won by whichever team takes more cards of the Coins suit. If they split 5-5 the point is not awarded.
- The Seven of Coins. The point is won by whichever team takes the 7 of Coins.
- The Primiera. The point is won by the team with the best Primiera score. Every team must choose 4 cards (no more) from the ones captured, one (no more) for each suit, summing their Primiera value. The highest total determines the winner of this point.
The points won by the team are scored by both players. So if a team scores 3 points, both players of the team score 3 points.
If the round has been played individually, the scoring system is the same, but each player uses only the cards he has captured during the round and the points are doubled. So, in example, winning the 7 of Coins means scoring 2 points.
Example: This combination is worth 62 (21+16+10+15).
This one is worth 75 (18+18+18+21).
The Sweeps
In addition to the points mentioned above, players also win a point for each "sweep". A player scores a sweep when he plays a card which captures all the table cards, leaving the table empty. To remember this special score, the player who made the capture leaves the capturing card face up on his trick pile.
Any sweep is worth 1 point to be added to the total team score (both players score 1 point) or to the individual score (the player scores 1 point).
Taking the last cards from the table at the end of a hand never counts as a sweep, even if the last card played by the dealer does actually capture all the remaining table cards.
Winning the Game
The first player to have 21 or more points at the end of a round wins. If two or more players reach 21 in the same round an extra round is played. If no one has won the game a new round is played, with the player on the right of the last dealer becoming the new dealer.
(The source gives 21 points here; the classic-game and two- and three-player sections below give 11 points as the winning target. Both are transcribed as printed.)
Playing the Classic Game
Primiera is based on a classic Italian card game. If you want to play the classic game, simply follow these rules:
- Players will play in fixed partnership. You sit opposite your partner.
- The Heralds have no special powers and are not dealt separately.
- The cards are dealt in this way: a packet of three to each players, then two face down on the centre of the table, then a new packet of three, again two face down on the table and, finally, the last packet of three to the players. Now the four cards on the table can be turned face up.
- From this moment the rules are the same, but the players score points in partnership and not individually. The game ends when a team reaches 11 points.
Two Player Rules
Deal 3 cards to each player and 4 cards face up on the table. The players play in turn one card at a time, until they have played all the three cards in their hand, than three more cards are dealt from the deck. The Heralds have no special powers and are not dealt separately. The round ends when the last card has been played.
Points are scored individually, in the standard way, but they are not doubled.
The game is won by the first player reaching 11 points.
Three Player Rules
Deal 4 cards face up on the table and 6 cards to each player. The players play in turn one card at a time, until they have played all six cards in their hand, then six more cards are dealt.
The Heralds have no special powers and are not dealt separately. The round ends when the last card has been played.
Points are scored individually, in the standard way, but they are not doubled.
The game is won by the first player reaching 11 points.
Discovering New Ways to Play with the Primiera Deck
If you are a fan of card games, you can discover several new rules on the publisher's website: www.kaleidosgames.com