Please note: If you have never played Santaba we recommend that you read the basic rules and
how to setup a game of Santaba...
Overview on game controls:
Although they may at first seem complicated, you will quickly become comfortable with the game controls after a couple of rounds.
You can play the game in Tutorial mode which will highlight the appropriate calls as you play a sample game. Alternatively hover over the buttons
to get a description of a control's function in the status bar. Below is an anotated screenshot of a game starting, and below this is a comprehensive explanation of each of the
call, action and bid buttons.
It is important to note that Perudo Santaba is a game of skill, chance, bluff *and* protocol. An otherwise excellent player may
haemorrage points if they fail to offer due respect to their other players by performing the necessary rituals of the game such as saluting 'better' players before play.
Actions:
- Roll all - used at the beginning of each bidding round to roll all of your remaining dice
- Dropsi - to cast a dice to the floor, and, subsequently lose it (a strategy rarely adopted by expert players)
- Roll one - to roll a single dice (the respective values of players single dice determine who goes first when the bidding game begins)
- Shake - shake your dice prior to rolling or risk exposing yourself to accusations of Tossa (literally meaning a 'snake without a rattle')
- Saluti - used to salute other players - Perudo Santaba is a game steeped as much in protocol as in chance and strategy; mutual respect amongst players is an essential ingredient to gameplay. The ancient call of Saluti is required before a game begins and can only be made *before* touching your beaker or dice. You *must* salute decorated players or risk a Disbak call, but there is no penalty for saluting other players unnecessarily and it is not frowned upon to do so.
- Peeka - (or by clicking on your beaker) allows you to glance at your dice. Other players will be able to see that you are inspecting your dice and judge the quantity of die you have in play, but will not be able to see the values as you can
- Nudge - to nudge the subsequent player in the turn order to you (their beaker will wobble). This is not considered unsporting but is an essential tool in advanced Perudo Santaba. If a nudged player touches their beaker to peeka or roll without calling 'Objecta' first, they will slip and lose a die. A correct call of Objecta from a nudged player meanwhile, will penalise the nudging player with a warning.
Calls:
- Doodoo - call Doodoo (literally meaning 'breath that smells of rotten fruit') if you believe a players' bid is insufficient. A false call of Doodoo loses a die. With a correct call the bluffing player loses a die
- Calzone - you may call Calzone in the round immediately after you have lost your penultimate die and have one die left. Calzone may only be called by each player once in any game. In a calzone round, aces are not wild and players with more than one die may not deviate from the face-value called or they expose themselves to a call of Tabba. Only players with one die in play may change the face-value bid.
- Jonti - a call of Jonti can be made when a player who you do not immediately follow in the turn-order, makes a bid which you believe is perfectly correct. The round finishes with this call; if the caller is correct they regain a die (only if they had less than 5 die), otherwise they lose a die
- Tossa - call Tossa if you believe a player has not shaken before rolling. A correct call will pass a warning to the offending player, a false call will incur a warning to the caller.
- Disbak - call Disbak if you believe some players who should have honoured you did not (eg if you are a Perudo Santaba or *the* PrimoPerudo Santaba and they are of lesser standing in the Perudo Santaba community). A correct or false call result in a warning for the offending player.
- Tabba - Call a 'Tabba' when a player has broken the rules of a 'Calzone' round by deviating from the Calzone dice value. In a Calzone 'round' players must only increase the *quantity* of dice in their call and must not change the face-value - if a correct call, the player making the mistake (ie making the 'Tabba') will immediately lose the round. An inappropriate call will incur a warning.
- Objecta - if you have been nudged by another player call Objecta. A correct call will administer a warning to the nudging player, an incorrect call will earn you a warning.
- Oddball - if a player makes an invalid bid (ie the dice face-value or quantity does not reach the required level) call oddball. The player will receive a warning and be forced to submit a new bid
Bids:
- Basic bidding - you can set the bidding quantity and die face-value by typing in the bid edit boxes or clicking the digit buttons and a die face. Your bid is not placed until you click the 'bid' button. However, your opponents will see your bidding thoughts as you change your bid values.
- Dogspangle - an opening gambit of double six - a classic bid eponymous with its originator, that celebrated Perudo Santaba hotwire Richard Dogspangle
- Advanced Dogspangle - a modern variation of a classic bid - an accelerated opening bid of triple six
- Jaydee - another classic opening bid, this time of a single two. Often used to express contrition after challenging a player in a blunt or crass way, or to show you have been overwhelmed or even badly injured by the events of a previous round. Named after the great player Jaydee Jaipiveedy (generally regarded as Perudo Santaba's equivalent to Petrosian) he employed this, his favourite bid, as a purely cautionary opening.
- Aced - three aces - coined by the great man Dogspangle and first played by Jaydee Jaipiveedy in the classic Rome 1907 championships against him, a call of three aces is just as powerful today as it was then
- Blues - following the "Great Dispute" of 1856, a row that divided the Santaba community until the "Great Resolution" of 1857, the Blues bid was introduced to tournament play to allow players to convert a preceeding call in to an ace call in the breath of a single syllable
- Teknarav - a favourite play of Beanise Teknarav; a re-conversion from the lows of the blues to the high octane excitement of a high face-value game
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