Baza

About Baza

Baza is a browser version of La Cuatrola, a trick-taking card game from the Tute family played in Extremadura, Murcia and Castile, made by Blugart and published on itch.io. It keeps the traditional rules, such as having to beat the trick when you can, marriages worth 20 or 40 and ten points for the last trick, but each card shows its strength and its point value so you do not have to learn the ranking first. Cards you are not allowed to play are dimmed with the reason, and your first hand works as the tutorial.

A hand is five tricks and takes about a minute. You play with a partner against two rivals, all three run by the computer, and each sees only what a player in that seat could see. Before the hand you can declare Solo, Cuatrola or Quintola to play alone against both rivals. Matches run to 11 or, in the classic form, to 21 points, and can be resumed later.

The Daily Hand is the part that is the same for everyone. All players get the same deal, and the game works through every possible line of play to score you from 0 to 100 on how well you played it, not on the luck of the cards. When you lose points it names the trick that cost them, and the menu keeps a daily streak.

It suits players who like short card games, solitaire players who want a deal to measure themselves against, and anyone curious about Spanish card games. It can be played in English, Spanish, French, German, Portuguese and Italian, with no ads and no network calls.

How to play Baza

1. Open Baza and choose Daily Hand from the menu to get the day's deal.
2. Look at your cards: each shows its strength and its point value.
3. Decide whether to declare Solo, Cuatrola or Quintola and play alone, or play with your partner.
4. Play a card to each of the five tricks; cards you may not play are dimmed and say why.
5. Hold the King and Queen of a suit to sing a marriage for 20 points, or 40 in trumps.
6. At the end, read your score out of 100 and which trick cost you points.

Screenshots

Tips

• You must beat the trick when you can, so keep a strong card back for the tricks that carry points.
• Watch for your marriage: playing the King or Queen before you can sing it throws the bonus away.
• The last trick is worth ten points, so plan which card will win it.
• The daily score is about your play, not your cards: a weak hand played well can still score high.

Questions