CICERA

OBJECTIVE OF CICERA: The objective of Cicera is to be the first team to reach 51 points.

NUMBER OF PLAYERS: 4 Players

MATERIALS: A 52-card deck, a way to keep score, and a flat surface.

TYPE OF GAME: Fishing Card Game

AUDIENCE: 10+

OVERVIEW OF CICERA

Cicera is a fishing card game for 4 players. These 4 players will split into two partnerships of 2 players and teammates will sit opposite of each other. 

The goal of the game is to reach 51 points at the end of a hand first. Teams can do this by earning points during the round by capturing points and completing certain in round objectives. 

SETUP

The first dealer is chosen randomly and passed to the right each round after that. The deck is shuffled and the player to the dealer’s left will cut the deck. Then the dealer will deal each player a hand of 12 cards each. These should be dealt one at a time. Then the dealer will deal four cards faceup onto the table. The game can then begin.

Card Rankings 

Cicera suits affect scoring but do not affect gameplay in any way. Ranking only maters to see which cards match other cards. Cards are captured by being added together to equal the value, or rank, of a card or by singly matching the value of a card. the rank includes Ace (which has a value of 1), 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, Jack, Queen, King. The Jack, Queen, and King have no value and are called face cards. They can only be captured by matching cards of rank. So a queen can capture another queen, but there is no other way for a queen to be captured.

GAMEPLAY

Cicera is played by players playing cards from their hands to capture cards on the table. The player to the dealer’s right will start the game and follow an anticlockwise order. 

When players take their turns, they will play out a single card from their hand. One of two things will happen from here, either no cards are captured, and the card remains faceup on the table to be captured later or that player captures cards. 

If cards are capturable you can choose not to capture them, sometimes this will be the better play. Cards can be captured singly or in sets. Cards played from hands that have numeric values of 1 through 10 can capture cards with those same values or two or more cards whose sum equals that played cards value. Face cards can only be captured by matching face cards. If there are multiple options for a capture, only one capture can be made, but the player may choose which to capture.

If cards are captured players will take the captured and played card and store them facedown in a pile near them for scoring. Once all cards from all hands have been played out then scoring can begin. The player to capture a card last will take all remaining faceup cards for scoring. 

SCORING

Once all cards have been played out of hand and the faceup cards remaining have been claimed players can begin to score. A cumulative score over several rounds will be kept for each team. Teams will combine their piles for scoring.

Points are awarded for completing certain tasks by the end of the round or completing objectives during the game. 

The team who captured the most cards score 2 points. If there is a tie between teams then no points are scored.

The team that captures the most spades scores one point. The team that scores specifically the 2 of spades gets one point, and if a team scores the Ace, 2, and 3 of the spades suit they score points equal to the highest spade in a consecutive sequence. So, if a team scored the Ace, 2, 3, 4, 5, 8, and 10 of spades they would score 7 points. One for having the most spades, one for having the 2 of spades and 5 points for having a consecutive sequence to the 5 of spades. 

The team with the 10 of diamonds scores one point, and the team with the Jack of hearts scores one point as well. 

Teams can also score points for plays made during the game these are typically shown by turning one card in the pile faceup when one of these objectives is completed. 

You score one point when you play a card that captures all faceup cards on the table. You score one point if you capture the card just played and left by the player left of you. You score one point by capturing cards of all the same suit. For example, if you played the 9 of spades and captured the 4 and 5 of spades. You score one point for capturing a set of three or more cards from the table. 

If a capture would complete more than one of the objectives at the same time all completed objectives are scored. The last capture can score points, but the player receiving the remaining cards from being the last to capture a card does not score them any points. 

END OF GAME

The game is won by the team who reaches 51 points at the end of a round first. If both teams reach 51 points at the end of a round the team with more points wins. If they have an equal amount of points another round is played until a team has a higher total than the other. 

Nakoa Davis
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