MATATU (c) 2016 Digital Monastery       
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Digital Monastery (HF) presenting a     
Forum64.de Game in listable CBM V2 Basic
tight and FAST code - no compiler needed
for playability.                        
                                        
USAGE                                   
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Cursor keys = Select card               
Return      = Play card                 
"D"         = Draw card                 
                                        
WHY WE DID IT - A REPORT BY BUGJAM      
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Matatu is a card game widely played in  
Uganda, with slightly varying rules.    
The word "matatu" means a "mix of       
everything", and is also phonetic for   
the sound when shuffling.               
The word matatu (for Swahili "for three"
most probably after the standard price  
of 3 Shillings per ride) is used for    
minibus taxis as well, which provide the
main means of transport for people in   
most of East Africa.                    
I have learned to play Matatu many years
back, when I was working with MSF       
(Doctors without Borders) in Northern   
Uganda; especially our drivers played it
all the time, and it was a favourite    
pastime for all of us in the evenings,  
as there was neither electricity nor    
internet in many places.                
When I came back to Uganda in early 2015
I immediately picked up playing again;  
and soon I learned that there had been  
created a mobile app for Android (and an
online version in flash as well) by a   
Ugandan development team.               
I downloaded it right away, and while it
is good fun to play (there is also an   
online option to play against other     
players anywhere), it turned out that   
the AI does not really deserve the "I". 
It was all too obvious how the computer 
opponent is playing.                    
Anyway, at some point I came up with the
idea to suggest a conversion to my      
favourite platform on the German        
Forum64.de, and lo and behold the idea  
was really picked up!                   
I had imagined it could be relatively   
easily done in BASIC, and it was indeed 
chosen. The whole project turned out to 
be a prime example of cooperation       
between various experts; the thread     
quickly became one of the busiest on the
forum. Of course it was not as easy as I
as non-coder had imagined, but various  
obstacles were overcome, and in many    
ways the resulting AI is indeed much    
cleverer than the Android app!          
                                        
RULES                                   
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Each player gets 7 cards; goal of the   
game is to shed all your cards first.   
You always have to follow either suit or
rank, with exception of the Ace (more on
that below) - you might decide to draw a
card instead though (as you have to if  
you can't serve), for tactical reasons. 
But you can also finish the game by     
"cutting": the first card on the stack  
is deciding the cut suit, and whoever   
has the 7 of that suit can finish the   
game, if there are less or equal than 25
points on his hand. Then the one with   
less points wins, so the number of cards
is not necessarily a reliable indicator.
For cutting, you need to know the value 
of the cards, which are 3 to 10 for the 
respective ranks, 11 for Jack, 12 for   
Queen, 13 for King, 15 for Ace and 20   
for 2.                                  
2, 8, Jack and Ace have special         
functions: 8 and Jack allow/force you to
play another card (or draw if you can't)
unless they are the very last card, and 
the game is finished afterwards.        
The 2 forces your opponent to draw 2    
cards, unless he has also a 2, in which 
case you will have to draw 4!           
The Ace can be played on any other card 
(except the 2), and allows you to       
request a suit of your choice.          
There are a few differences to the      
original card game as it is played in   
Uganda. If the drawing stack gets       
finished, the shedding stack is shuffled
again (except the topmost card) and used
as new drawing stack.                   
Also, the first card (deciding the cut  
suit) is not used as first card on the  
shedding stack, but is normally put     
sideways under the drawing stack, so    
that it is visible during the game at   
all times.                              
And usually the player is still allowed 
to play after picking a card (except    
after a 2).                             
But as with many card games, there are  
variations anyway.                      
After all, a great and entertaining game
has emerged; my sincere thanks to       
everybody involved, whom I nagged with  
constant bug reports and suggestions!   
Yours truly,                            
Bugjam                                  
                                        
FULL CREDITS                            
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Main code and game engine:              
Bytebreaker/Hokuto Force                
                                        
Additional code and optimizations:      
RKSoft & JeeK                           
                                        
Charset:                                
Haubitze                                
                                        
Dir-Art:                                
S!ink of Desire                         
                                        
Title Pic:                              
Grass of Hokuto Force                   
                                        
Idea and docs:                          
Bugjam/The Dreams                       
                                        
Help:                                   
Hexworx, Mac Bacon, Froehn, Unseen      
                                        
Proofreading: Matrixwright