CaídaThe Venezuelan card game
Up for a game of Caída?
The same Caída people play at family get-togethers in Venezuela, with the table deal and the cantos. Play against the computer or set up a room with your friends, wherever they are.
Free in your browser, on your phone too.
On Android? Get it on Google Play.
What is Caída?
The game somebody always brings out at a party.
All it takes is one person pulling out a deck at a birthday or on a Sunday afternoon. And whoever loses always wants a rematch.
Caída (say “ka-EE-da”, Spanish for “fall”) is played with the 40-card Spanish deck, the one with no eights or nines, by two, three or four people. Everyone plays for themselves, or in teams of two when there are four, and the first to reach 24 points wins.
On your turn you play a card. If there’s a card of the same value on the table, you take it, and if the player right before you just played it, you’ve made a caída and you score. So watch what you put down, because the next player can do the same to you.
The dealer scores with the table deal, and anyone can score with a canto, a combination made with the three cards of each hand. When the deck runs out, everyone counts the cards they took and scores one point for each card over their quota.
And if your friends are scattered around the world, they can still sit at the same table.
Your first hand
The basics, quickly.
That’s enough to sit down and play. You’ll pick up the rest at the table, like everybody does.
With a 4 you take the 4, the 5 and the 6 from the table.
You get three cards
The dealer gives everyone three cards and lays four on the table, calling out “1, 2, 3, 4” or “4, 3, 2, 1”. When a card matches the number being called, the dealer scores that many points.
Play, capture, make a caída
You play a card and take any card of the same value, along with the run that follows it on the table. If you take the card the previous player just played, that’s a caída: 1 point for an ace through 7, 2 for a 10, 3 for an 11 and 4 for a 12.
Score a canto, clear the table
Your three cards may form a canto, which scores on its own. And if you leave the table empty you get 4 points for a Clean Table, as long as there are cards left for another deal.
Get to 24
When the deck runs out, everyone counts their cards and scores a point for each one over their quota. The first player to reach 24 wins.
How do you want to play today?
Practice on your own against the computer or set up a room with your family, and use your house rules either way.
Against the computer
Take on one, two or three computer opponents. It’s a good way to get the hang of captures and cantos, and if you lose, nobody has to know.
An online room
Create a room, drop the code or the link in the group chat and you’re set. Everyone plays from their own phone or computer, whether they’re in Maracaibo or in Madrid.
Teams
With four players, partners sit across from each other and add up their points and cards together. The first team to 24 wins, and yes, you’re allowed to blame your partner.
Expert mode
The game stops helping you: you pick what you take and you announce your own cantos, and every mistake costs a point. With Soplado on, you can also grab the pairs someone else left on the table.
The way your family plays
Every family plays a little differently. When you set up a game you can turn on Caída beats canto, Tribilín wins the game, or the regional cantos: Registríco, Casa Chica and Casa Grande.
Your first game
Never played? The tutorial walks you through a real game, with no timer and no Riales spent, until you’re capturing, making caídas and scoring cantos on your own.
On your phone
Put it on your home screen.
You can play in the browser without installing anything. Add it to your home screen and it opens like any other app, full screen.
What are Riales?Android
Get it on Google Play. The app also lets you play over Wi-Fi, with no internet, with anyone on the same network.
More details →Guides
So nobody catches you off base.
From the table deal to the final count, with an example for every move.
The cantosRonda, Tribilín, Patrulla, Vigía, Registro and what each one is worth.
TipsHow to keep from getting hit with a caída, and how to hit everyone else.
Your questionsRiales, rooms, installing and what people ask us most.
The glossaryWhat a misdeal is, what a Vigía is, and what getting skunked means.
A hand, move by moveSix plays between Ana and Beto, explained one at a time.