Cuarenta
EL MANUAL

How to play Cuarenta

Every rule, shown in motion. Scroll through — each section loops a small demo of the play it describes.
01 — DECK & DEAL

40 cards, no 8s, 9s, or 10s

Start from a standard 52-card deck and pull every 8, 9 and 10 — 40 cards remain. Ace is low. The sequence that matters for captures runs A, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, J, Q, K. Cards are dealt five at a time.
Two-player hands deal five cards, four times, through the whole 40-card deck each round; four-player team games deal five cards twice per player instead.
A
♦
A
7
♣
7
J
♥
J
4
♠
4
K
♦
K
5 cards dealt, 4 times per round
02 — MATCHING

Same rank, straight capture

Play a card that shares a rank with one already on the table, and you take it. A 7 captures a 7, a king captures a king — face cards match this way even though they hold no numeric value.
This move alone scores 0 points — only caída, limpia, ronda and cartón do. Captured cards still count toward cartón at round's end.
K
♣
K
7
♦
7
7
♥
7
MATCH
Captures the card — no points by itself
03 — ADDITION

Sum the table to your card's value

Any numeral card, ace through 7, can capture a combination of table cards whose values add up to it. Play a 7 and sweep a 2 and a 5 sitting together. Face cards carry no value, so they can never be captured this way.
This move alone scores 0 points — only caída, limpia, ronda and cartón do. Captured cards still count toward cartón at round's end.
Q
♥
Q
2
♠
2
5
♣
5
7
♥
7
2 + 5 = 7
Captures the cards — no points by itself
04 — SEQUENCE

Keep chaining upward

After a match or an addition capture, keep going: take the next card up in sequence order too, as long as it's sitting on the table. Play a 7 that matches a table 7, and if a jack is also there, it comes along — 7 is followed by J in Cuarenta's order.
This move alone scores 0 points — a bigger chain just banks more cards toward cartón.
K
♦
K
7
♠
7
J
♥
J
7
♦
7
7 → J CHAIN
Captures the cards — no points by itself
05 — CAÍDA

Catch the card that just landed

If an opponent plays a card and it's still sitting alone on the table, matching it immediately is worth an extra +2. It doesn't count if that card was left over from an earlier deal — only a card played this instant, by someone else, qualifies.
A
♦
A
Q
♥
Q
Q
♣
Q
CAÍDA +2
Matching a card the instant it's played
06 — LIMPIA

Sweep the whole table

Any capture that empties the table entirely is a limpia, worth +2 — whether it happens through a plain match, a sum, or a sequence chain. Land a caída and a limpia on the same play and both stack — +4 total.
2
♦
2
5
♣
5
6
♥
6
7
♠
7
LIMPIA +2
Table is clear — ¡limpia!
07 — RONDA & DOBLE RONDA

Three or four of a kind, dealt

Get dealt three cards of the same rank and you can claim a ronda for +2. Get dealt all four, and it's a doble ronda: an instant win, no further play needed.
Play40 auto-claims rondas the instant they're dealt — traditional table play instead calls for announcing one yourself before your first card of that hand.
6
♠
6
6
♥
6
6
♦
6
RONDA +2
Dealt, not played — claimed the moment the hand lands
08 — CARTÓN

Whoever banked more, scores

Once all 40 cards have been played, count captured piles. Holding more than 20 cards scores 6 points, plus 1 per card past 20 — rounded up to the next even number, so 21 or 22 cards is +8, 23 or 24 is +10. Tied at any count, the side about to deal next gets “dos por dar”, +2. If neither side reaches 20 (cards were left uncaptured on the table), whoever holds more still scores +2.
You
AI
22 CARDS = +8
09 — 38 QUE NO JUEGA

Stuck at 38? Only a caída finishes it

Land on exactly 38 points and the easy roads close: limpias, rondas and cartón stop scoring for you. The only way to reach 40 from there is a caída — landing the exact card your opponent just played.
0
40
LIMPIA BLOCKED — 38
CAÍDA +2 — 40, YOU WIN
Cuarenta — Ecuador's national card game, first to 40.