Filipino Fruit Market
Filipino Fruit Market Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Tindahan
Card trick-taking game for 3-5 players, ages 9 and up.
"Tindahan" is Tagalog (the language of the Philippines) and means "market stall," and market stalls are what this game is about: whoever is on turn either plays a fruit card, to make tricks, or places a seller on a market stall, to gain the majority there. Both can bring points later. Cards not played count as minus points at the end.
Components
- 50 fruit cards, each in values 1-10: Banana, Lanzones, Mango, Pineapple, Durian
- 5 market stalls (playing cards)
- 45 seller pieces: 9 sellers of one color for each player
- 1 donkey cart, to mark the trump suit
Additionally, paper and a pencil are needed to note the scores.
Setup
With five players, all cards are in play. With four players, the cards of one fruit type are removed from the game. With three players, the cards of two fruit types are removed. The bananas, however, are always in play.
The market stalls of the fruit types being used are placed next to each other in the middle of the table. The donkey cart comes onto the banana stall and thereby shows that bananas are trump at the start of the game.
The fruit cards are shuffled and dealt evenly to the players (10 cards each). Each player also receives 9 sellers of one color.
Gameplay
The player to the left of the dealer is starting player for the first round.
The starting player has the following choice: either they play a card, or they move the donkey cart to a different market stall. The fruit type there becomes the new trump suit (replacing the previous one). If the starting player moves the donkey cart, their left-hand neighbor MUST play a card.
The other players have the following choice: in turn, each player either plays a card OR sends a seller to the market stall. Once all players have had the chance to play a card, the trick goes to the player who played the highest card.
Playing a Card
When playing cards, the usual trick-taking rules apply: the led suit (fruit type) must be followed. Whoever cannot follow suit, because they do not hold that fruit type, may play any other card (either trumping to win the trick, or discarding a card of a different suit). Trump is always the fruit type whose market stall the donkey cart is standing on. If at least one trump card was played, the trick goes to the player who played the highest trump card. If no one trumped, the trick goes to the player who played the highest card of the required suit.
Each player lays their own tricks separately (side by side), face-down, in front of themselves. The player who won a trick becomes the new starting player.
Placing Sellers
Regardless of whether they can follow suit or not, a player may forgo playing a card and instead place a seller on the market stall of the led fruit type. The starting player, however, may not do this. If the starting player moves the donkey cart, their left-hand neighbor also may not place a seller and instead MUST play a card (see "The starting player has the following choice" above).
Round End and Scoring
As soon as, after a trick has been awarded, at least one player has no cards left, scoring takes place.
The cards score as follows:
- Each trick won counts 2 points.
- Each unplayed hand card counts as 1 minus point.
The market stalls are then scored, in turn:
- Whoever has the most sellers at a market stall receives 5 points.
- The player with the second-most sellers receives 2 points.
The majority holder in the current trump suit (the market stall with the donkey cart) additionally counts 1 point more there.
In the event of a tie for first place, the points for first and second place are divided between the tied players. In the event of a tie for second place, only the points for second place are divided. Round down where necessary.
If there is no player in second place, the points for second place are not awarded.
Empty round: if a player has neither placed a seller nor won a trick, they receive as many points as the best-scoring player of that round.
Recommendation: score the tricks (+2) and the hand cards (-1) first, and only then the majorities on the market stalls.
Example: A is starting player. They decide to move the donkey cart onto the mango stall.
B must now play a card (because the starting player moved the donkey cart). B plays the banana-10.
C places a seller on the banana stall (the required fruit type).
D follows suit and plays the banana-3.
E has no banana card and takes the trick with the mango-2 (mango is now trump). E takes the trick, lays it face-down in front of themselves, and becomes the new starting player.
Example of a scoring:
A has made 3 tricks and still has 5 unplayed cards: 3x2-5 = 1 point for A
B has played all of their cards and made 4 tricks: 4x2 = 8 points for B
C has made 2 tricks and still has 7 hand cards: 2x2-7 = 3 minus points for C
On the banana stall stand 3 sellers of A and 2 sellers of C: 5 points for A and 2 points for C.
On the durian stall stand only sellers of C. Durian is also trump: 6 points for C.
On the mango stall stand 2 sellers each of A and C: 3 points for A and 3 points for C.
Total: 9 points for A, 8 points for B, 8 points for C.
The next round follows. The dealer (and with it the first starting player) passes clockwise.
Game End and Winner
Once every player has been dealer once, the points are added up. The player with the most points wins.
In the event of a tie, the designer of the game wins, even if he is not present. :-)
Bastos!
Card trick-taking game for 3-4 players, ages 9 and up.
Game Goal
Unlike in Tindahan, in the trick-taking game Bastos! the "prices," i.e. the point values of the individual cards, change during play. In addition, every player has a personal Achilles' heel: their "Bastos!" color.
"Bastos!" is the expression Filipinos use when a game has once again not gone the way they had hoped...
Components
- 45 playing cards, with values 1 to 9 in five colors (= fruit types)
- 1 table, formed from the 5 table cards (the reverse side of the market stalls)
- 5 lilac game pieces, used as markers on the table
- 1 donkey cart, to indicate the trump suit
Additionally, paper and a pencil are needed to note the scores.
Setup
Only 45 cards are needed - the tens are sorted out and put back in the box. In a game with three players, one of the five fruit types is also removed completely and put back in the box - here only 36 cards are needed (and only 4 markers).
The 5 table cards are assembled at the edge of the table to form the table. On each table field showing a fruit, a lilac game piece is placed as a value marker.
The donkey cart is placed ready to hand.
Gameplay
Bastos! is played over several rounds. In the first round, the youngest player deals. The role of dealer then passes to the left-hand neighbor at the start of each new round.
The game ends once every player has been dealer twice. With three players there are therefore 6 rounds in total; with four players, 8 rounds.
Start of the Round
The cards are shuffled and dealt evenly. With four players, one card is left over. It is placed face-up next to the table and takes no part in the round.
At the same time, each player chooses one card from their hand. All players reveal their card at the same time and lay it down in front of themselves. This card stays face-up for the whole round - the suit of this card is, for the current round, that player's personal Bastos! color. It is not unusual for several players to have the same Bastos! color in a round.
For each fruit card revealed as a Bastos! color, the corresponding marker on the table is moved up by 1.
Example: if two players have revealed banana and two others mango, then banana and mango are each worth two points at the start of the game. All other fruit types remain at a value of 0 at the start of the round.
The value of a fruit type may rise to a maximum of +3 and fall to a minimum of -2. Should all four players choose the same Bastos! color, that fruit type therefore starts at a value of +3.
Playing, Following Suit, and Trumping
Play proceeds clockwise. The player to the left of the dealer plays first. The following players must, as far as possible, follow the led suit. Whoever cannot do so discards a card.
The Trump Suit: as long as it has not yet been established which suit is trump, a player who cannot follow the led suit may declare the suit of their discarded card as trump - provided it is not a Bastos! color. A Bastos! color can never become trump.
To indicate the trump suit, the player places the donkey cart over the column of the corresponding fruit type. At the same time, they lower the value of that fruit type by 2 points. That fruit type is trump for the rest of the round.
The chosen trump suit counts immediately, i.e. the player who discarded a card and thereby determined its suit as trump has, by doing so, already played the first trump card.
Once a trump suit is established, a player who cannot follow the led card may choose either to discard a card of a different suit, or to trump with a trump card.
Example: A leads mango. B has no mango and discards banana. C also has no mango and plays durian, thereby declaring durian as trump. The value of durian drops by two points and C wins the trick.
B could also have made banana trump (provided banana is not a player's Bastos! color).
The Trick
If a trump was played, the trick goes to the player who played the highest trump. If no trump was played, the trick goes to the player who played the highest card of the led suit (fruit type). Exception: whoever plays a card of their own Bastos! color never wins the trick with it (see "The Bastos! Color" below).
The trick winner takes the cards and lays them face-down in front of themselves. Tricks that have been won may not be looked at again until the current round is over. Whoever wins a trick immediately leads the next card.
The Bastos! Color
If a player plays their personal Bastos! color, they never win the trick with it - regardless of whether they lead it or discard it. Their card still goes into the trick. If a player leads their Bastos! color, it must still be followed as usual (but that player cannot win the trick with their Bastos! color in this case).
If a player plays their Bastos! color, they must, immediately afterward (before another player leads), change the value of any one fruit type up or down by 1.
If a Bastos! color is led, the leading player therefore cannot win the trick - so the trick is determined as usual (with a higher card of the same suit, or with a trump). Should all players discard, the trick goes to the player who led first (regardless of the value of their card). Should all players follow suit, the trick goes to the player who followed with the highest card (even if this card is lower than the one led).
Should it actually happen that every player plays their own Bastos! color (in this case, every player would in turn change the value of one suit each), the trick is set aside entirely. The player who led plays a new card.
Round End and Game End
When all players have played their cards, the round ends and a scoring takes place. The value of a card in a trick is determined by the value currently shown on the table. The players add up the point values of the cards in the tricks they made, and note them down.
The donkey cart is removed from the value display, and all other markers are reset to 0. The cards are shuffled again and dealt anew. The next round begins. The new dealer is the player sitting to the left of the previous dealer.
Once 6 rounds have been played with 3 players, or 8 rounds with 4 players, the players add up their points from all rounds. The player with the most points wins.