Pastura

Pastura is a traditional Armenian card game many of us grew up with, built for the phone: a table, four cards in hand, and an opponent to outplay.

HOW IT PLAYS

A 52-card deck, four cards to each player and four on the table. On your turn you play exactly one card — either leave it on the table or take everything that matches its rank or adds up to it. Play a seven and you can take a seven, or 3+4, or 2+2+3.

The Jack sweeps the whole table except queens, kings and builds. A build lets you declare a new value and hold it until your next turn — but your opponent can take it if they hold the right card. Rebuilding or reinforcing a build can also pull in loose table cards of its new value. A capture that leaves the table empty is a pastura, and it is worth an extra point. A Jack scores one only when it takes a lone Jack.

A match runs to 81 points in 1v1 and 101 in 2v2. A 16:0 deal ends it instantly.

MODES

• Practice — against the computer, two or four players, no internet needed. The opponent adapts to you: win and the next match is a little harder, lose and it is a little easier
• Online — 1v1 and 2v2 against live players: quick match or your own room by code
• Rated match — against the computer, run by the server: the result cannot be forged, which is why only this mode counts toward the rating

Three online formats: standard to 81 points, short to 51, and blitz — two deals, highest score wins. Short and blitz are one on one only; a four-player game has a single format, the standard match to 101. Each turn has a 30-second timer.

Lose a one-on-one match and you can ask for a rematch: your opponent accepts and the next match starts in the same room, with no trip back to the lobby. The results screen shows your head-to-head record with everyone at that table, and a summary of the last deal.

PROGRESS

• Daily challenges and a streak reward
• Three leaderboards: rated, online and challenges
• Achievements, match history and profile statistics
• Online and rated matches are what count toward achievements and challenges
• Friends and table invites

Rating position is not a sum of points but a win rate weighted by how many games back it. Five wins out of five are worth less than forty out of fifty: the top cannot be bought with a lucky streak. A hundred and ten out of two hundred are worth less than nine out of ten: it cannot be bought with volume either.

AT THE TABLE

Chat and eight emotes. Profanity is filtered automatically, any player can be reported and blocked — reports are read by a person.

COMFORT

• Russian and English
• Light and dark theme
• Three card decks: Classic, Atlas and Russian, after the 1911 deck
• Table density to match your screen
• Reduced motion mode
• Haptics on play, capture and pastura

The game is free: no ads, no in-app purchases.

Full rules are inside the game, under "Rules".