Description

Spoker is a game with random elements for the Series: Shibumi game system. SHIBUMI MEETS POKER!

Equipment: the 4x4 Shibumi board and 10 balls of each color (white, black and red). Two players.

Rules

The board starts empty. Players take turns taking a ball at random, for example from an opaque bag, and placing it either on empty board holes or stacking on 2x2 platforms of existing balls.

When a player, with the ball just placed, has formed a visible winning group of balls (see below) he shows it and challenges the opponent, so also the other player takes at random a ball and places it trying to do a group of higher ranking.

The player with the higher ranking group wins the challenge and scores one point. If the two groups have the same ranking, each player scores one point. Obviously if the other player is not able to form a winning group he loses the challenge.
Winning groups can be in any level and also composed by balls placed in different levels. Between two groups of the same ranking, the winner (if exists) is the group with at least a ball at a higher level than the other group.

The game ends when the 30 balls pyramid is complete and the winner is the player with the highest score at the end of the game.
Apex ball can be used only to respond to a challenge, or to form a “straight flush”.

If the placement of a ball creates two or more winning groups, you must always consider the highest ranking group.

When a player has formed a “straight flush”, he wins immediately the game, regardless of the score.

WINNING GROUPS in ASCENDING RANKING ORDER

Three of three kinds: a straight line of three touching balls of different colors, in any order, orthogonal or one on top of the other (when they are in different levels);
Flush three: a straight line of three touching balls of the same color, orthogonal or one on top of the other (when they are in different levels);
Full house: a five balls pyramid formed by two touching balls of the same color and two touching balls of another color in the platform, and a ball of one of that two colors on the top;
Flush four: a straight line of four touching balls of the same color, orthogonal or one on top of the other (when they are in different levels);
Straight flush: a five balls pyramid of the same color.