Baloot

About the game

The Saudi favourite in 3D: bid Hokm or Sun, declare projects, double the points and take tricks with an animal partner in a lantern-lit majlis, against four levels of computer players. Arabic by default.

Baloot (بلوت) is the trick-taking card game of Saudi Arabia: four players in two partnerships, a 32-card deck from 7 to Ace, eight cards each. You sit opposite your animal partner and play against the other pair in a majlis with brass lanterns, a coffee dallah, dates and a woven rug. Bid for the buy card: Hokm makes its suit trump, Sun plays without trump, Ashkal passes the card to your partner, and a second round lets you name another suit.

The rules follow the usual Saudi table: the trump order J, 9, A, 10, K, Q, 8, 7; must-follow, must-cut and must-over-trump in Hokm; projects (Sira, Fifty, Hundred, four aces in Sun, and the Baloot of king and queen of trump); the doubling ladder Double, Three, Four and Gahwa; Khasara when the buyers fall short; Kaboot for a sweep; a match to 152. The Rules screen has a switch for every point where tables differ. Four computer levels that infer from the play, hints that say why, a score pad in the Us / Them style, a card counter, a nine-lesson tutorial on real deals, and a twelve-city ladder. Your hand is always fully on screen: one big row on a wide screen, two rows of four on a phone held upright. Orbit and zoom freely or jump to the full table in one tap. Thirteen languages with right-to-left layout done properly (Arabic by default on Arabic devices), touch, keyboard and controller, no network. Points only: no money, no stakes.

How to play

1. Four players, two teams: you and the animal across from you against the other two. Each gets eight cards from a 32-card deck, 7 to Ace. Win tricks and card points; the first team to the match goal wins.
2. The player after the dealer speaks first. Say Hokm (the buy card's suit becomes trump), Sun (no trump), Ashkal, or pass. If all pass, a second round lets you name another trump suit. The buyer takes the buy card.
3. Follow the suit led. In Hokm, a player without the suit must play a trump (unless the partner is winning), higher than any trump on the table if possible. The highest card of the led suit wins; any trump beats it.
4. Sun and plain suits: A 11, 10 10, K 4, Q 3, J 2. Trump suit: J 20, 9 14, A 11, 10 10, K 4, Q 3. The last trick adds 10. A Hokm deal is worth 16 game points, a Sun deal 26.
5. Declare with your first card: Sira (3 in a row), Fifty (4), Hundred (5, or four 10s, Js, Qs or Ks); four aces in Sun are Four hundred. Only the team with the best project scores. King and queen of trump make the Baloot (2 points).

Controls