Albastini Card Game

Albastini is a competitive trick-taking multiplayer card game which is originally from Tanzania, East Africa. It can be played with 2 to 8 players individually or in teams of 2, 3, or 4 players (i.e. 2v2, 3v3, 2v2v2, 4v4, or 2v2v2v2). There are 72 cards per deck (8 suits with 9 cards per suit) A=11pts; 7=10pts; K=4pts; J=3pts; Q=2pts; 3-6=0pts. It typically takes 15+ mins to play but players can opt to play with only 4 of the suits for faster game play (this is typically only encouraged if 2 - 4 players are playing). It is played clockwise with one card per hand. Players start off with five cards and pick a card from the deck every time a hand is played starting with the winner of the last hand. The game ends after all cards within the deck have been played. The objective of the game is to get the highest number of points. A trump suit is randomly selected at the beginning of each game which can be used to dominate all other cards regardless of their point value. The first card played within each round determines the suit that is in play for that round. It can only be beaten if a higher value card within the same suit is played or any trump card. Players do not have to follow suit during each round. The player (or team) with the highest number of points at the end of the game is declared the winner.