How to Play

North Africa's signature fishing game, played on a 40-card Spanish deck. Match ranks to capture table cards, sweep unbroken ascending runs, and race to 41 points through ronda and tringa declarations plus majority-card scoring.

Ronda (the Moroccan spelling; also called Runda or Chkobba Maghribiya) is North Africa's signature fishing card game, played with a 40-card Spanish-suited deck. Each turn, a player lays one card from a 3-card hand onto a shared table; matching the rank of a table card captures it, and if the matching pair starts an unbroken ascending run of ranks on the table, every card in that run is captured too. Holding a pair or triple of the same rank in hand earns immediate bonus points (ronda = 1 point, tringa = 5 points) when declared before the first card is played. At the end of the deck, whichever side collected more than the neutral share of cards scores 1 point per excess card, and the match is played up to 41 points. The game is short, tactical, and full of small calculations about which rank to expose on the table versus which to hold for a ronda or an ascending-run sweep.

Players

Two, three, or four players. Two- and four-player games are best; four plays in fixed partnerships of two (partners sit across the table). Three plays for oneself and is cutthroat. Play runs anticlockwise (to the right) and the deal rotates after each round.

Card Deck

• A 40-card Spanish-suited pack: clubs (bastos), cups (copas), swords (espadas), coins (oros), each ranked 1 (As), 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 10 (Sota / Jack), 11 (Caballo / Knight), 12 (Rey / King).K♠J♠
• There are NO 8s or 9s in a Spanish deck. A substitute 40-card deck from a French-suited pack is made by removing all 8s, 9s, and 10s; the French Jack stands in for the 10, the Queen for the 11, and the King for the 12.K♠Q♠J♠
• Rank ordering for captures (low to high): 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 10, 11, 12. Note that 7 is immediately adjacent to 10 because 8 and 9 do not exist; a 7 and a 10 on the table sit in consecutive-rank order for sweep purposes.2♠3♠4♠5♠6♠7♠10♠
• Suits are only relevant for matching exact rank; no suit has special value.

Objective

Score 41 points first. Points come from three sources: card-majority at the end of each deal (1 point per card over the neutral share), ronda and tringa declarations in hand (1 and 5 points), and play bonuses such as caida (immediate recapture), b'khamsa and b'achra (stacked matches), and mesa (clearing the table).

Setup and Deal

1. Cut for first dealer. The deal rotates one seat to the right (anticlockwise) each round.
2. The dealer shuffles, the player to the dealer's left cuts, and then the dealer distributes 3 cards face down to each player, one at a time anticlockwise starting with the player on the dealer's right.
3. Four cards are then laid face up on the table as the initial layout.
4. Layout restrictions: no two of the 4 table cards may share a rank, and the 4 cards may not contain an unbroken 4-rank run (for example, 3-4-5-6 is forbidden). If either condition is violated, the offending extra card (the one that completes the pattern) is slipped back into the middle of the undealt pack and replaced with the next card; re-check until the layout is legal.
5. The remaining pack sits face down as the stock for later redeals.
6. Before the first card is played, each player in turn (starting at the dealer's right) may declare a ronda or tringa they hold in hand for bonus points (see Declarations).

Declarations: Ronda and Tringa

• Ronda: Holding two cards of the same rank in your hand. Score 1 point, announced out loud and shown before play begins.
• Tringa: Holding three cards of the same rank in your hand. Score 5 points, announced and shown before play begins.
• Only the highest-ranking ronda or tringa in the round scores; lower declarations are overridden and pay nothing. A tringa always beats a ronda.
• If two players tie on the same rank, the one who announced first (closer to the dealer in anticlockwise order) wins.
• Failing to announce a ronda or tringa you hold is penalised if caught: your opponents score the points instead.

Gameplay

1. Play order: The player to the dealer's right plays first; turns continue anticlockwise.
2. Play a card: On your turn you must play one card from your hand, face up, either capturing a table card or adding to the layout.
3. Capture by rank: If your played card matches the rank of a table card, you capture both cards and stack them face down in front of you (or your partnership in the 4-player game).
4. Ascending-run sweep: After a rank match, if the next-higher rank is also on the table, and the rank above that, and so on in an unbroken sequence, you capture every card in that run as well. Example: you play the 6; the table shows 6, 7, 10, and 12. You capture the 6 (your match), the 7 (next rank up), and the 10 (next after 7 because 8 and 9 are absent). The 12 is NOT captured because the 11 is missing, breaking the run.
5. No match: If your played card does not match any table card, place it face up on the table as a new addition; your turn ends without capture.
6. Caida (immediate recapture): If you capture the card the previous player just played onto the table, score 1 bonus point.
7. B'khamsa (five): Immediately playing the third matching card of a rank after a capture scores 5 bonus points; you also capture the card you just played.
8. B'achra (ten): Immediately playing the fourth matching card of a rank after a capture scores 10 bonus points. With only 4 cards per rank, this clears every card of that rank from play.
9. Mesa (clear table): If your play captures every card on the table so that no cards remain face up, score 1 bonus point for mesa.

Redealing and End of Deck

1. When every player's hand is empty, the dealer deals each player another 3-card hand from the stock without laying any new cards to the table.
2. No new declarations are made in follow-on hands; rondas and tringas are only recognised from the initial 3-card hands.
3. Continue dealing in sets of 3 until the stock is exhausted.
4. After the final cards are played, any cards still on the table belong to the player (or partnership) who made the LAST capture of the deal.

Scoring the Round

• Each player (or partnership) counts the cards they have captured during the round.
• 2-player and 4-player partnership: Neutral share is 20 cards. The side with more than 20 scores 1 point for each card above 20 (for example, 23 captured cards = 3 points). If the cards split 20-20, no majority points are scored.
• 3-player cutthroat: Neutral share is 13-14 cards (40 divided by 3). Each player with 14 or more cards scores 1 point for each card above 13.
• Add any declaration (ronda or tringa) and play bonuses (caida, b'khamsa, b'achra, mesa) earned during the round to the majority-card total.
• Record scores and deal the next round.

Winning

The first player or partnership to reach 41 points wins the match. If two sides would cross 41 in the same round, majority-card points are counted first, then declarations, then in-play bonuses in the order they occurred. If still tied, play one more round as a tiebreaker.

Common Variations

• Ronda-Tringa scoring: Some Moroccan groups score ronda as 5 and tringa as 20; others reserve a 1-point ronda only for Kings (12s) and award higher totals for higher ranks.
• Regional Runda: Some Algerian and Libyan variants play without the ascending-run sweep; only exact-rank matches capture, which shortens games and reduces table calculation.
• Six-card hands: In a faster social version, deal 6 cards from a partially used pack; no redeals are needed.
• Partnership table talk: In four-player Morocco-style play, subtle hand signals between partners are tolerated; stricter tournaments ban any communication.
• Target score: Some groups play to 31 for a quick game or 51 for a long session rather than the classic 41.

Tips and Strategy

• If you hold a ronda or tringa, announce it as early as possible. It does not cost anything beyond revealing what you hold, and the points are immediate.
• Watch for ascending-run sweeps when you lay a card on the table. Dropping a 6 next to an existing 7 invites any opponent holding the 6 to capture both 6 and 7 on their next turn.
• Keep the fourth card of a popular rank for a b'achra if possible; 10 points is often more than a whole deal's card-majority score.
• Count the 12s, 11s, and 10s as the deck empties; controlling the high ranks at the endgame maximises your last-capture claim on table leftovers.
• Avoid playing singletons in ranks where opponents have already captured once; you are more likely to set up their caida or b'khamsa.

Glossary

• Ronda: A pair of the same rank held in your initial 3-card hand; scores 1 point when declared.
• Tringa: Three of the same rank held in your initial hand; scores 5 points when declared.
• Caida: Capturing the card that the previous player just placed on the table; 1 bonus point.
• B'khamsa: The third matching capture of a rank within one round; 5 bonus points.
• B'achra: The fourth (final) matching capture of a rank within one round; 10 bonus points.
• Mesa: Capturing every card on the table in one play; 1 bonus point.
• Oros / Copas / Espadas / Bastos: The four Spanish suits (coins, cups, swords, clubs); decorative only in Ronda.