OBJECT OF MANIGLIA: The object of Maniglia is to be the first team to score the needed number of points to win.
NUMBER OF PLAYERS: 3 to 5 players
MATERIALS: A 40-card Latin deck, a way to keep score, and a flat surface.
TYPE OF GAME: Trick-Taking Card Game
AUDIENCE: Adult
OVERVIEW OF MANIGLIA
Maniglia is a trick-taking card game for 3 to 5 players. The goal of the game is to achieve the needed number of points to win before your opponents.
The number of points needed to win as well as the number of cards dealt to each player is determined by the number of players. A 4-player game can either be played with or without partners.
SETUP
The first dealer is chosen randomly and passes to the right for each new deal. The deck is shuffled and the player to the dealer’s left may cut the deck.
For a 3-player game, the 2s will be removed from the deck.
For a 4-player partnership game, the dealer deals each player a hand of 10 cards in 2 batches of 5 cards each. The last card, which is dealt to the dealer is dealt face up to determine the trump suit. If the card has a point value associated with it the dealer’s team scores that many game points when the card is revealed. This is only done if the dealer’s team has 29 or fewer points.
For a 3-player game, each player receives a hand of 12 cards. In a 4-player game without partnerships, each player still receives a 10-card hand. For a 5-player game, 8 cards are dealt to each player. There is not a card flipped for trumps.
Card Ranking and Values
The ranking for this game is 7 (high), Ace, King, Horse, Maid, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2 (low).
The cards have values associated with them for scoring. 7s are worth 5 points, aces are worth 4 points, kings are worth 3 points, horses are worth 2 points and maids are worth 1 point. All other points do not have a point value.
GAMEPLAY
For a 4-player game with partners, the game starts with the player to the right of the dealer. They may lead any card they wish to the trick. The following players must follow suit if possible, and if their opponent is winning, they must, if possible, beat them. If you cannot follow suit, you may play trumps, and if you are not required to play trumps to beat your opponent, or you cannot beat your opponent at all, then you may play any card.
The trick is won by the highest trump played, if applicable. If no trumps were played, the trick is won by the highest-ranking card of the suit of the originally led card. the trick is collected into a score pile and the winner leads to the next trick.
For 3,4, and 5 player games without partners the game starts with an auction. The auction starts with the player right of the dealer who may pass or bid a number of points. Then in order players may either pass or bid higher than all previous bids. The minimum bid is 20 and the highest bid is 72 for 3 players, 70 for 4 players, and 68 for 5 players.
The player who wins the auction may call the trump suit and will compete against all other players who form a team. the gameplay starts with the player to the dealer’s right and is played the same as above.
SCORING
Once all tricks have been played and won the points are scored.
For a 4-player partnership game, players will tally the value of all their won cards and also earn an extra point for each trick that was won. The team that scores more than 35 points will subtract their point total from 35. The remaining value is how many game points they earn for the round. The other team scores nothing.
For all other games, players still tally their scores, and if the player who won the auction earned as many or more points as they bid, they score as many points as they bid to their score. If they fail the other players score that many points.
END OF GAME
The game ends when a player or team reaches or exceeds the point total needed to win. They are the winner(s).
For a 4-player partnership game, the target score is 35. For all other games, players should discuss and determine a target score before the start of the game.
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