Garrafina
- Introduction
- Players and Equipment
- The Deal and Start
- The Play
- Scoring
- The Three-Player Game
- The Two-Player Game
- Variations
- Online Games
- Sources of Information
Introduction
This is a popular Spanish domino game which is somewhat similar to Mexican Train in that each player has their own train to build and the goal, as in many connecting domino games, is to be the first player to get rid of all your tiles or be the player with the lowest pip total in case of a blocked game.
Players and Equipment
The game is for four, three or two players using a double six domino set of 28 tiles. The direction of play is anticlockwise.
The four-player game is the most straightforward and will be described first, followed by the interesting and popular variant for three players in which a player may exchange their original tiles for the spare hand. It is also possible for two players to play, in which case two exchanges are possible.
The Deal and Start
The tiles are shuffled face down and each player draws a hand of seven tiles, the player who shuffled drawing last.
For the first hand, the player with the highest double (the 6-6 in the four-player game) is the starting player and must begin the play by leading the 6-6. In subsequent hands the turn to be the starting player rotates counterclockwise. The previous starting player shuffles and the next player to the right, the new starting player, begins by leading any double.
If the starting player has no double they must pass, and the next player to the right must lead a double, or if they also have none the next player in turn order, and so on. In this case it will still be the starting player, not the player who was eventually able to lead, who shuffles for the next hand, and the player to their right who becomes the new starting player.
The Play
Each player has their own 'train' of tiles beginning at the starting double, so that the layout forms a cross shape radiating outwards from this double. Players take turns in anticlockwise order and must play a tile to the layout if they can. Normally each player will use their turn to extend their own train: each train is initially private and players other that the owner cannot play there. Later, however, there may also be the possibility to play on another player's train if that player was unable to extend it at their turn - see below.
The first tile of each player's train must have one end that matches the staring double. Each subsequent tile must match the free end of the previous tile on its train. Further doubles are traditionally played across the line of the train, but no new branches are created.
A player who cannot play a tile on their turn passes, and the turn passes to the next player.
A player is always allowed to play a tile to extend their own train, if it fits. Alternatively they can play a tile on the end of the train belonging to any player who has passed, provided that the number at the end of that train has not changed since that player passed. If a player passed because they were unable to start their train, having no tile matching the central double, another player at their own turn may choose to start it for them, placing a tile in the appropriate position next to the starting double.
Once a non-double has been added to the end of a passing player's train, changing the number required to continue the train, the train becomes private. Only the owner can continue it unless and until its owner passes again.
Each player at their turn must play a tile if they can. If a player on their turn cannot legally place a tile from their hand anywhere on the layout - neither on their own train nor on a train where the end number has not changed since its owner last passed - then they must pass, and it is the next player's turn to play.
Although the rules about when trains are private or open to players other than their owners are different from those in Mexican Train, players may find it convenient to use a similar method of using small tokens such as coins to mark trains that are open to others, so that players can see at a glance where they are allowed to play. If this system is in use, a player who passes must place a token at the end of their train, and a player who plays anything other than a double on an opponent's train must remove the token to show that it is private again. However so far as we know Spanish players do not use this system but simply remember which trains are open and which are private.
The play ends when one player plays the last tile from their hand, or if the game is blocked because no one has a valid play. If a player can play a tile on a valid train, they are not allowed to pass.
Scoring
At the end of the play, the winner is the player who played all their tiles, or in the case of a blocked game the player with the smallest total number of spots on their unplayed tiles.
Each player counts the spots on their unplayed tiles. If the winner has no tiles left, each of the other players loses points equal to the number of spots on their remaining tiles. In a blocked game each loser loses the difference between their own spot total and that of the winner. In either case the winner scores the sum of the amounts lost by the losers so that the scores always add up to zero.
If two or more players tie for least spots on unplayed tiles in a blocked game then there is no winner and no one scores.
The game may be played for a fixed number of deals and may also be ended when a player reaches some agreed target score. For example the players may agree to play 12 deals or until some player's score reaches +100 or more at the end of a hand, whichever happens first.
If playing for money, at the end of the game each player pays or receives according to their final score, positive or negative.
The Three-Player Game
If there are three players each player takes 7 tiles as usual and the remaining 7 face down tiles form the heap or "montón". For the first player the starting player is whoever holds the highest double, and they must begin the play by leading this double. If no one has a double (they are all in the heap) the tiles are reshuffled and everyone takes a new hand.
The heap can be taken unseen in exchange for a player's hand as follows:
- In the second and subsequent deals, if the starting player has no double to lead they can either pass, allowing the player to their right to lead, or they can discard their whole hand, pick up the heap in its place, and then lead a double to start the play. A starting player who initially has no double and finds no double in the heap must pass, and the next player leads a double (or may exchange if they also have no double).
- The player who leads the initial double may, immediately after playing it, discard their other 6 tiles and take the heap in their place. So in addition to their opening lead they now have seven new ones from the heap to get rid of. They must wait for their next turn before playing a tile that they acquired from the heap.
- If the heap has not already been taken by the player who led the initial double, a subsequent player can discard their initial hand of 7 tiles and pick up the heap in exchange immediately before their first turn, and then play one of the tiles from the heap or pass if it contains no playable tile.
Notes:
- The heap can only be exchanged once per deal. The tiles discarded by the exchanger are out of play: they cannot be taken back and cannot be exchanged by another player.
- If the starting player has no double and chooses just to pass without exchanging, then the next player to the right inherits the starting player's options to exchange if holding no double or to exchange after leading a double.
- A player can only exchange at their first turn. If the starting player has no double and passes without exchanging, this counts as a turn, and from the moment that the turn comes back to the starting player no further exchanges are possible even if another player has led a double and no one has yet exchanged.
If a player picks up the heap but a different player wins, the amount lost by player who took the heap is doubled and these extra points are added to the winner's score so that the scores still add up to zero. If the player who took the heap wins there is no doubling - the scores are calculated as usual.
On the online Ludoteka site the 3-player game is played for 9 deals or until a player reaches +100 or more.
The Two-Player Game
The mechanism is similar to the three-player game but there are two 7-tile heaps, each of which can be picked up by a player who wishes to exchange. It is possible for a player to exchange twice in succession if both heaps are still available. Also the player who leads could exchange to get a double, lead the double, and then exchange their other 6 tiles for the second heap.
As in the three-player game if the losing player has exchanged the score for the hand is doubled. If the loser exchanged twice it is quadrupled. If the loser did not exchange the hand is scored singly irrespective of whether or how many times the winner exchanged.
If both players pass initially, all the doubles being in the heap and neither player wishing to exchange for the heap, the tiles are shuffled and redealt.
Variations
In the online version of Garrafina at Ludoteka, it seems that in the case of a tied blocked game the players with the lowest spot total all win, sharing equally the amounts lost by the players with higher spot totals. Fractional scores are rounded up. The excat mechanism is not quite clear but we think that in a three player tied game where A and B have 5 spots each and C 12, A and B each win 4 points (3.5 rounded upwards) and therefore C loses 8. In a four-player tied game with spot counts of A:5, B:5, C:8, D:11 A and B would each win 5, C would lose 4 and D would lose 6. If the spot counts were A:5, B:5, C:8, D:12 A and B would still each win 5, C would pay 3 and D would pay 7.
This Mexican web page on Correlativa and Garrafina gives the alternative rule that the winner of each deal is the starting player for the next, and the tiles are shuffled by the player to the left of the previous winner. In case of a tied blocked game the winner is whichever of the tied players had the earlier first turn to play.
The conditions for ending the game may vary.
- Some play a fixed number of deals, but there is no target score. For example according to the OnlineDominoGames site a game consists of 10 deals.
- Some play to a target score without a limit on the number of deals. For example the Mexican Correlativa and Garrafina page suggests setting a target of 100 or 200. Note that since the sum of the players' scores is always zero a game played this way could go on for an indefinite length of the time, with the scores oscillating back and forth without reaching the target.
Correlativa
Correlativa is a Mexican variant of Garrafina, where the three- and two-player versions are played without the possibility for a player to exchange their whole hand for the heap. Instead the undealt tiles form a boneyard. A player who is unable to play must draw tiles one at a time from the boneyard until a playable tile is drawn or the boneyard is empty. When there are no tiles left in the boneyard a player who cannot play must pass.
Online Games
Online Garrafina games are available at
Sources of Information
This page began as a contribution from Róbert Kovács based on the rules at https://www.ludoteka.com/juegos/garrafina
Other variants are described at