Scopa: Italy's Other Great Card Game

If Briscola is Italy's strategic game, Scopa is its loud one. Fast rounds, table-slapping sweeps, and scoring rules that reward greed.

Italy's Most Popular Card Game

Scopa (Italian for 'broom') is the most widely played card game in Italy. I found it while researching Briscola — they're often mentioned together, like chess and checkers. Using the traditional 40-card Italian deck, you capture cards from the table by matching values. The signature play is the scopa — sweeping all cards from the table in a single capture. It's worth a bonus point, and skilled players engineer them constantly.

The game dates to at least the 18th century and spread everywhere Italian influence reached — to Brazil (as Escoba), to Libya, and across the Mediterranean. Regional variations are endless: Scopone is the partnership version, Scopa d'Assi gives Aces special powers, and Scopetta uses a reduced deck.

Where the Depth Lives

Scoring is where Scopa gets interesting. Beyond the scopa bonus, four other categories matter at the end of each round: most cards captured (1 point), most coins/diamonds (1 point), the Settebello — the 7 of coins — worth 1 point, and the Primiera — a complex calculation of your highest-value card in each suit.

The Primiera values 7s highest (21 points), followed by 6s (18), Aces (16), 5s (15), and so on down to face cards (10). Having the best Primiera means your four best single-suit cards outscore your opponent's. This rewards balanced capture across all four suits — you can't just grab everything in one suit and win.

Play Scopa free on Cliko Games with authentic scoring and 7 AI levels. Pair it with Briscola for the complete Italian card game experience, or try Basra for the Lebanese version of fishing.