Cirulla
Cirulla is a typical game from the Italian city of Genoa and the Liguria region. It is a variation of the well known Italian game of Scopa, with many more rules to make it far more fast and furious (even if a bit slower to learn - it helps if you already know Scopa).
Many friends from all over the world played Cirulla with me and keep on asking me the rules. Well, now you have them: here we are!
The typical Italian "regional" deck has 40 cards: an Ace (value 1), from 2 to 7, a Jack (value 8), a Horse (or sometimes a Queen, value 9), a King (value 10). Most of the decks have Denari (Coins), Coppe (Cups), Bastoni (Clubs) and Spade (Swords) instead of the more international suits. In Genoa, Cuori Quadri Fiori e Picche (Hearts Diamonds Clubs and Spades) are used. Anyway, for Scopa and Cirulla you can use a traditonal 54 cards "French" deck taking out 8s, 9s, 10s and Jokers. Many Italians do it too.

Cirulla is traditionally meant for 2 or 4 people; in the latter case, the two people sitting in front of each other form a team and add their score together. Anyway, you can play it in 3 too, without any change to the rules.

The dealer put 4 cards on the table and gives 3 to each player, including himself. If there are 2 or more Aces on the table, the dealer shuffles and deals again.
The player on his left start playing a card: then the turn passes clockwise. At his turn, the player can take one or more of the cards on the table, but if he cannot he has to drop one there.
There are several ways to take:
- a card can take another of the same value: a 7 can take a 7, a King can take a King.
- a card can take others adding up to the same value: a 7 can take a 4 and a 3, a King (value 10) can take a 6 and two 2s.
- a card can take one or more cards if the total of them is 15: a 7 can take a Jack (value 8), a King can take a 2 and a 3.
- an Ace can take all the cards on the table at the moment, with an exception: if there is one or more Aces already on the table, the Ace cannot take in this way but only in the ways above (both the first one - take an Ace with an Ace - and the third one - take for example a 5 a 6 and a 3 with an Ace). You can always choose freely in which way to take, if there are several, and you can even choose to drop your card on the table even if you could take.

The cards you take are put face down in a small deck in front of you. Nobody can see them later, not even yourself. When you take all the cards on the table, you put a card face up sticking out from one side of your deck: it is called a "Scopa" and it scores 1 point. If you do it with the last card of the match, you do not score.
Since low cards are not so good, when it is your turn and you still have 3 cards in your hand, you can "bussare" ("knock" - and you do it loudly on the table!) if your cards add up to 9 or less: for example if you have a 4, a 3 and a 2, or two 3s and an Ace. You put your cards face up on the table, showing them to everybody, and you score immediately 3 "Scope". Then you play normally with your cards. If you have 3 identical cards (three 2s, three 7s, three Jacks) you "knock" scoring 10 instead. If you don't have enough cards for your "Scope", you try to remember them or you mark them on a piece of paper: but you score them anyway! The 7 of Cups/hearts is a Joker, if it helps to "knock". So if you have it with a 5 and a 2, you can "name" it a 2 or an Ace and score 3 "Scope"; if you have it with two 3s you can name it a 3 and score 10. The 7 will be used as the card it is "named" after: so if you name it as an Ace you can take all the cards on the table with it, and so on.
Even the dealer can score: if the 4 cards he puts on the table at the beginning adds up exactly to 15, he takes them immediately and marks a "Scopa". If the sum is exactly 30, he takes them and scores 2 "Scope". The 7 of Cups/hearts is a Joker in this case too.

When everybody is out of cards, the dealer deals another 3 cards and the game continues. This is repeated until there are no more cards left in the hands of the players: if there are still cards on the table they are given tho the last player who took anything, then scores are calculated. A new matches begins and so on; the game ends when, at the end of a match, a player or a team reaches a fixed amount of points (traditionally 26 for a quick game, 51 or 101 for a longer one).

Scores are:
- 1 point for each "Scopa" made.
- 1 point to the player who has taken more cards (if even, no score).
- 1 point to the player who has taken more Denari/diamonds (if even, no score).
- 1 point to the player who has taken the 7 of Denari/diamonds, that is called the "Sette bello" or "Nice seven".
- 1 point for the best Primiera: take the best card you have for each suite (for this purpose only the value of the card is: 7 - 21, 6 - 18, Ace - 16, 5 - 15, 4 - 14, 3 - 13, 2 - 12, figures 10) and the highest value is the winner (example: Andrea 7 of diamonds, Ace of clubs, 6 of hearts and 6 of swords against Dan with 6 of diamonds, 7 of clubs, 7 of hearts and 7 of swords - the Primiera is scored by Dan); if even, no score.
- 5 points for the "Scala grande", or "Big stair", or "Cirulla grande", or "Big Cirulla", if you have taken the Jack, Horse and King of Denari/diamonds.
- 3 points for the "Scala piccola", or "Little stair", or "Cirulla piccola", or "Little Cirulla", if you have taken the Ace, 2 and 3 of Denari/diamonds - if you have up to the 4 score 4, if up to the 5 score 5, if up to the 6 score 6.
If you take all the Denari/diamonds, you win the game no matter of the scores.
The "Primiera" seems a bit difficult to calculate, but you soon learn to "see" who is the scorer. The trick is that of course you do not have to calculate so much when cards are similar: if a player has two 7s a 6 and a 5, and the other has two 7 a 6 and an Ace, you only have to compare the 5 with the Ace.

Just a last advice: check the rules with your friends before starting the game! Card games, as many games, circulate mainly by oral tradition and have some local evolution from now to then, so there can be some differences. For example, somebody prefers the Queen of Cups/Hearts as a Joker, instead of the 7. Somebody counts the "Little stair" up to the 7 instead than up to the 6 (I don't like it: you already score a point for the 7 of Diamonds as "Nice seven").

Have a nice game!