Streak
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Best
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The Spanish trick-taking classic, played heads-up against the computer with the 40-card Spanish deck of coins, cups, swords and clubs. Grab aces and threes, sing 20 or 40 with a king and knight of one suit, survive the strict arrastre once the stock runs out, and win match after match.
Tap a card in your hand to play it. When you win a trick while the stock lasts, a panel offers what you may declare — sing a king and knight, swap your 7 of trumps for the face-up card — and a Draw button. The line above your hand always says what you must play; in the arrastre the cards you may not play go dark.
The deck has 40 cards: four suits of 1–7 plus the Sota (10), Caballo (11) and Rey (12). From strongest to weakest a suit runs 1 (As), 3, 12, 11, 10, 7, 6, 5, 4, 2. Card points are As 11, 3 10, Rey 4, Caballo 3 and Sota 2; the rest are worth nothing. That is 120 in the deck, and the last trick adds 10 more.
Each player gets 8 cards and the next card is turned face up beside the stock: its suit is trump for the whole deal and it is the last card anyone draws. While the stock lasts you may play any card — you never have to follow suit. A trick goes to the highest trump, otherwise to the highest card of the suit led. The winner draws first, then the loser, and the winner leads next. The computer deals the first match, so you lead the first trick; after that the deal alternates.
If you win a trick while the stock lasts you may, before drawing, swap the 7 of trumps for the face-up card when it is an As, 3, Rey, Caballo or Sota (the 2 of trumps takes a face-up 4, 5, 6 or 7), and sing one cante: Rey and Caballo of the same suit in your hand are worth 20, or 40 in trumps. Each suit can be sung once. Holding all four Reyes or all four Caballos is a tute and wins the deal on the spot.
When the stock is gone the last 8 tricks are the arrastre, with strict rules: follow the suit led and play higher if you can; with none of that suit you must trump; only with neither may you play anything. No more cantes. The higher total of card points, cantes and the 10 for the last trick wins the match.
Every match you win adds one to your streak and the rival climbs a level: level 1 plays at random, level 2 follows simple rules of thumb, level 3 counts every card, protects its kings and knights and plays the arrastre perfectly, and level 4, from your fourth match on, also plays out dozens of possible deals in its head before each card. A loss or a draw ends the run, and so does pressing New. Your saved score is streak × 10,000 plus your margin: your total minus the rival's in each match you won (a tute counts 130), added up to at most 9,999.
Aces and threes carry 84 of the 120 card points, and while the stock lasts nobody has to follow suit — so a bare As or 3 led in a side suit is a gift to anyone holding a small trump. Lead low, pointless cards early (a 2, 4 or 5 of a side suit) and keep your aces for taking the rival's leads: when the rival throws a 3 or a Rey, capturing it with the As of that suit wins 21 or 15 points without spending a trump.
Cantes are where deals are decided. Forty points in trumps is a third of the deck, and you can only sing after winning a trick, so a Rey and Caballo in hand are a reason to win a cheap trick soon — trump a pointless lead with your lowest trump, then sing before drawing. Never lead one half of an unsung pair, and watch the rival's: a Rey or Caballo the rival has already played tells you that suit can no longer be sung against you.
The 7 of trumps is worth more than it looks. Swapping it for a face-up As, 3 or Rey of trumps hands you a top trump for the arrastre and denies the rival the last draw; the computer always takes this swap, so when it wins a trick with a high card face up, expect the 7 to disappear from its hand.
The arrastre is pure counting. Once the stock is empty every card you cannot see is in the rival's hand, and the rules force both of you to follow, beat and trump. Before the last draw, count trumps: whoever holds more of them in the final 8 tricks usually takes the 10 for the last trick too. In the last stock tricks, think about which card the loser will receive — the face-up trump goes to whoever loses the final draw trick, so losing that trick on purpose can be the way to grab a big trump.