STEKIUS
Biriba online at STEKIUS: rules, biribas and points
Play nowBiriba is one of the best-loved card games for groups. It is played with two decks and jokers, and the aim is to build runs on the table, make biribas and collect points before your opponents. It is a game for long evenings with friends, full of twists.
At STEKIUS you play Biriba online for free, with two, three or four players, in teams or each for themselves, with friends or with AI players. Below you will find all the rules, how the biribaki works, when you go out and how the points are counted.
The cards and the players
Biriba is played with two decks and four jokers, 108 cards in all. 2, 3 or 4 players play; with four you play in two teams, with partners sitting opposite each other.
In every hand each player gets 11 cards, and each side has its own biribaki: another 11 cards waiting at the side.
Your turn
On your turn you draw a card from the deck or take the whole discard pile. Then you lay down whatever you can on the table and finally you discard a card. If the table plays it that way, you can take the pile only when its top card goes straight down onto the table.
To lay down, you tap your cards to select them and then “Lay down” for a new run, or you tap a run of your side to add them there. To discard a card you drag it onto the pile.
Runs and wild cards
A run is three or more cards in order, in the same suit. The Ace goes low, A-2-3, or high, Queen-King-Ace. If the table plays sets, three or more cards of the same rank count too.
The jokers and the twos play as wild cards and take the place of any card. A run has at most one wild card. A two in its own place, in its own suit, is a normal card. You add cards only to the runs of your own side.
Biriba, biribaki and going out
A run of seven cards or more is a biriba: clean, if it has no wild card, or dirty, if it has one. Biribas bring the big bonuses of the game.
When your hand is empty for the first time, you take your side’s biribaki and carry on. To go out, your side needs its biribaki and, if the table chose it, a clean biriba; then you play your last card. The hand also ends when the deck runs out.
The points
At the end of every hand the cards on the table and the bonuses count, and the cards left in the hand are taken off. The joker is worth 20, the Ace 15, the two 10, the cards from 8 to King 10 and from 3 to 7 five. The bonuses:
- Clean biriba +200, dirty +100.
- A whole suit, clean +1000, dirty +500.
- A biriba of a set, clean +300, dirty +150.
- A biriba in the trump suit counts double.
- Going out +100; the side that did not take its biribaki −100.
Winning, chips and leaving
The first side to reach the points target chosen at the start wins. The winner wins virtual chips and the losers lose, according to the number of players. After the first turns, whoever leaves pays a leave penalty, never together with the loss. With four players the game ends there and the other team wins. When there is a winner, you leave freely.
Tips
- Do not discard cards that fit the opponent’s runs; you hand them the pile.
- Keep the wild cards to finish a biriba, not for a simple run.
- Take the biribaki early: without it you cannot go out and you lose points.
- In the team game, watch what your partner lays down and build on it.
Questions
How many play Biriba?
Two, three or four. With four you play in two teams, with partners sitting opposite each other.
What is the biribaki?
A packet of 11 cards for each side. You take it when your hand is empty for the first time, and without it you cannot go out.
How many wild cards can a run have?
At most one. A two in its own place and its own suit counts as a normal card.
What is the difference between a clean and a dirty biriba?
A clean one has no wild card at all and is worth twice as much as a dirty one.
