Scopone Scientifico

The rules, in full

Scopone scientifico is played by four, in two pairs: partners sit opposite each other. Here you are partnered with the computer seat across from you, and the other two seats are your opponents, played by the computer as well. A match goes to 11 points.

It uses the 40-card Italian pack, and every card is dealt: ten each, and the table starts empty. That is what makes it scientifico: there is no deck to draw from, every card is already in somebody's hand, and a player who keeps count can know nearly everything.

The captures are the captures of Scopa:

• A card takes the table card of the same value, or several cards that add up to its value. The Jack is worth 8, the Knight 9, the King 10.
• If a card of the same value is on the table, you must take that one rather than a sum.
• If you can take, you must. Only a card that takes nothing stays on the table.
• Clearing the table is a scopa, a sweep worth a point — except with the last card of the hand.
• Partners' captures are added together: the count is made for each pair.
• Whatever is left on the table at the end goes to the pair that captured last.

Play goes anticlockwise: after you comes the opponent on your right, then your partner, then the opponent on your left.

How the points are counted

As in Scopa, for each pair:

The primiera adds up the best card in each suit: 7 = 21, 6 = 18, Ace = 16, 5 = 15, 4 = 14, 3 = 13, 2 = 12, court cards = 10.

The Napola button adds napola: the pair that takes the Ace, 2 and 3 of coins scores 3 points, plus one for each further coin that continues the run. Napola is common in scopone but not universal, which is why it is a choice.

The first pair to 11 wins; if both pass 11 the higher score wins, and a tie means another hand.

Against the computer, and with it

Three levels, which apply to all three computer seats, your partner included:

• Easy often plays at random and does not look at what it leaves on the table.
• Normal values captures the way a player does and does not leave easy sweeps.
• Hard keeps track of every card that has gone, imagines how the unseen ones are held, and plays each move out to the end of the hand.

No seat sees any other seat's cards, your partner included: each one plays the way a person sitting there would.

Strategy that actually helps

Count the cards: here it really works. All forty cards are in play from the first trick. Knowing how many Sevens have gone, or whether the settebello is still out, is the difference between scopone and scopa.

Do not leave a sweep for the opponent who plays after you. The player straight after you is always an opponent. Whatever you leave on the table, you leave to them, not to your partner.

Let your partner play. Your partner plays two seats after you: a card that is no use to you may be useful to them, and the points are shared.

The first card matters. With an empty table the first card played sits there alone, and anyone holding its match makes a scopa. That is why players usually open with a card they hold a pair of, or with a court card.

Keep the settebello safe. Putting it down on the table is almost always giving it away.

Controls

• Touch or mouse: tap a card in your hand to play it. If it can take in more than one way, the table cards it can take light up: tap the ones you want.
• Keyboard: 1 to 9, and 0 for the tenth, choose a card; the arrows change the capture and Enter confirms it. N starts a new match, L changes the level, D changes the cards.

A little history

Scopone is Scopa played by four, and scopone scientifico is its strictest form, with every card dealt at once. Its rules are traditionally tied to Chitarrella, a Neapolitan author about whom very little is known, and to a short treatise that has circulated under his name for centuries. It is played mostly in central and southern Italy, and has a reputation as a game of memory and of understanding between partners more than of luck. For the same captures with two players, try Scopa.

Common questions

Is it free? Yes. It runs in your browser, with no signup and nothing to download.

Can I play scopone scientifico against the computer? Yes: you play with a computer partner against two computer opponents.

What is the difference between scopa and scopone? Scopone is played by four in pairs, and in scopone scientifico all forty cards are dealt at once, ten each, with an empty table. Scopa is played by two, with three cards each and four on the table.

How many cards does each player hold in scopone? Ten, all dealt at the start.

Can my partner see my cards? No. Each computer seat knows only its own hand and what has already been played.

Is napola included? If you want it. The Napola button adds it to the count and starts a new match.

Does it work on a phone? Yes. The ten cards overlap a little; tap the one you want to play.