Briscola is an Italian trick-taking card game for two players using a 40-card deck. Each player is dealt three cards, and the next card is turned face-up as the briscola, whose suit becomes trump for the deal. Twenty tricks are played; after each trick the winner draws first from the pile, then the opponent. There is no obligation to follow suit — you may play any card. The first player to collect 61 of the 120 card points wins the deal, and 60:60 is a tie.
Play now — it's freeBriscola uses a 40-card Italian deck: four suits — denari (coins), coppe (cups), spade (swords) and bastoni (batons) — of ten cards each: Ace (1), 2–7, Jack (J), Queen (Q) and King (K).
Two players face each other with no teams. Each is dealt three cards; the remaining 34 cards form a shared draw pile whose last card is the face-up briscola.
After the deal, the next card of the deck is turned face-up, and its suit becomes trump for the whole deal. This card is called the briscola and stays visible until the pile runs out and it is drawn last.
Any card of the briscola suit beats every other card regardless of value — this is the heart of the game.
Card values are fixed regardless of suit, while strength within a suit ranks: Three, then Ace, King, Queen, Jack, then 7, 6, 5, 4, 2. Note the Three outranks the Ace in this game.
| Card | Points | Rank within a suit |
|---|---|---|
| Three (3) | 10 | Highest — 1st |
| Ace (A) | 11 | 2nd |
| King (K) | 4 | 3rd |
| Queen (Q) | 3 | 4th |
| Jack (J) | 2 | 5th |
| 7, 6, 5, 4, 2 | 0 | No rank |
The whole deck totals 120 points: four suits × (11 + 10 + 4 + 3 + 2).
The non-dealer leads the first trick. Briscola has no follow-suit rule: at any trick you may play any card from your hand.
The trick is won by a trump card over everything; if no trump is played, by the highest card of the suit that was led; if two different non-trump suits are played, the led card stays ahead.
The trick winner draws first from the top of the pile, then the opponent draws one, and the cycle repeats until the twentieth trick is played and the briscola card itself is drawn.
After the twenty tricks, each player adds up the points of the cards he captured out of the 120 in the deck.
Reaching 61 points or more wins the deal. A 60:60 split is possible and counts as a tie with no winner.
Don't spend a trump on a worthless trick; keep it to capture your opponent's Ace or Three.
Early in the deal, with the pile still full, it is fine to discard blank cards; in the closing tricks every point counts.
Your Ace (11) and Three (10) are your capital — don't expose them to a trick that isn't worth it.
Watch the face-up briscola card: if it carries points, you already know which card your opponent will claim at the very end.
40 cards — ten cards in each of the four Italian suits (denari, coppe, spade, bastoni).
Two players, head-to-head, with no teams.
The card turned face-up after the deal; its suit becomes trump for the deal, and it is the last card drawn from the pile.
No. In Briscola you may play any card from your hand at any trick.
Ace 11, Three 10, King 4, Queen 3, Jack 2; the 2, 4, 5, 6 and 7 score zero. The deck totals 120 points.
61 or more of the 120 points. A 60:60 tie counts as a draw.
The trick winner draws first from the pile, then the opponent, until the pile runs out at the end of the deal.
In this game the Three is strongest: within a suit the order runs 3, Ace, King, Queen, Jack.
Yes — you can play Briscola online free at briscola.yeeqia.com directly in your browser, no download or sign-up required to try a table.