How to Play

A westernized Tiến Lên — the climbing game where you shed all thirteen cards and the first one out wins the hand.

The play

Lead a single, a pair / triple / quad, a straight (3+ ranks in a row, never a 2), or a run of pairs (3+ consecutive pairs). To follow, match the shape and length with something stronger. Every card has a unique strength: ranks climb 3 (low) up to 2 (high), and within a rank the suits order ♦ < ♣ < ♥ < ♠. The humble 3♦ opens the first hand.

Passing & bombs

Passing locks you out for the rest of the trick; when everyone else is out, the last to play clears the table and leads fresh. The 2s (the heos) rule the singles until someone bombs — a quad or a 3-pair run chops a single 2, a 4-pair run chops a pair of them. Bombs only ever target 2s and other bombs.

Table settings (the ☰ menu)

Everything below lives in the ☰ menu on the game board, and your choices are saved for next time. Pick them the first time you play, or change them whenever you like — the board waits with a Start Game button, so nothing deals until you say so.

Bot difficulty — pick your poison, and don't trust the names. Friendly is here for the snacks and plays for fun, not blood. Ruthless talks a big game but plays it safe — sound, steady, all bark. And then there's Family: it plans every hand, hoards control, and takes no prisoners. Ruthless on steroids, because nobody fights dirtier than family. Mastery sits on top of the ladder — it counts every card you've played and reads you like a menu. A change takes effect on the next deal, never mid-hand.

Table pace — Relaxed, Steady, or Brisk. Pace sets both how fast the bots play and how long your turn clock runs before the table moves on (roughly 45s / 25s / 12s). A countdown shows on your turn.

On timeout — what happens when your clock runs out: Pass Me passes for you whenever passing is legal (and only lets a bot step in when you're forced to lead, so you're never bombed out for going idle), or Bot Plays hands your move to a bot every time.

Auto-pass — when nothing in your hand can beat the pile, pass for you automatically instead of making you click.

Where it comes from

Tiến Lên is Vietnamese for "go forward" — one of the great Asian climbing games, a cousin of Big Two and the Western game President. The house rules and the bombs are ours; going forward belongs to everyone.

A house standard built on Big Two — Chor Dai Di (鋤大地) — the climbing game where you shed all thirteen cards, the winner calls Bonzai!, and the table answers Ai yah!

The play

Lead a single, a pair, a triple, or a five-card poker hand — a straight, a flush, a full house, four of a kind with a kicker, or a straight flush. To follow, match the shape with something stronger. Ranks climb 3 (low) up to 2 (high), and within a rank the suits order ♦ < ♣ < ♥ < ♠. The 3♦ opens the very first hand, and the first player to empty their hand wins — announce your last card before you play it.

The Bonzai Standard

Our rulings are codified and versioned: a suited 2-high straight flush tops the royal, four of a kind can be thrown away for free, and a play the whole table can't answer leads itself. On singles the house blocks at all costs. The last-card announcement is a table event — the flag flies and the call goes up.

Table settings (the ☰ menu)

Bot difficulty runs Friendly, Family, Ruthless, Mastery — and don't trust the names. Family plans every hand and takes no prisoners; Mastery counts every card you've played. Table pace is Relaxed, Steady, or Brisk.

Auto Pass passes for you when your hand can't answer the pile. Last-Card Duty (off by default) puts the leader on the hook to block a player down to their last card. Hints (off by default) light up your legal plays. Daily Table deals every player the identical hand, like duplicate bridge; Live Table opens a seat for friends with a join code. Your choices are saved for next time.

Where it comes from

Big Two — Chor Dai Di in Cantonese — took hold across Hong Kong, Guangdong and Southeast Asia, with cousins in Vietnam's tiến lên and Japan's daifugō. Ours is our family's version, learned at the table and named for the shout.

A house standard built on President, the European table's game of rank and tribute — shed your hand, and where you finish becomes your standing at the table.

The play

A lead is a set — one, two, three, or four cards of the same rank. To follow, play the same number of a strictly higher rank, or pass. Ranks climb 3 (low) up to 2 (high); suits carry no weight, so equal ranks are simply equal. The 3♦ opens the first hand. Play runs until all but one are out, and the finishing order is recorded.

Rank & tribute

First out is the Bigwig, then the Deputy, the Flunky, and the Mop. Between hands the tribute flows uphill: the Mop hands the Bigwig their two highest cards and gets any two back; the Flunky hands the Deputy one and gets one back. The Bigwig leads the next hand. The table's real game is dethroning the throne.

It's a session — rank carries across many deals, and your streak is your term in office, the run of consecutive hands wearing the crown.

Table settings (the ☰ menu)

Auto Pass passes for you when you can't beat the set. Tribute Picks default to Auto — the engine hands over the cards you owe — or switch to choosing them yourself. New Session clears rank and deals fresh. Bot difficulty runs Friendly, Family, Ruthless, Mastery.

Where it comes from

President is the great climbing game of the European and American kitchen table, played the world over under many names. The Bigwig, the Mop, and the tribute are ours; the pecking order belongs to everyone.

The frantic solitaire race of the North American kitchen table — everyone plays at once, hands colliding on shared foundations, and speed takes the hand.

The play

You work your own columns and a face-down Nerts pile, but the foundation piles in the middle are shared: anyone can start one with an ace and build it up in suit, and the card that lands first takes the spot. A King claims any empty column. Empty your Nerts pile and call it to end the race.

The count

When the race ends, every card you landed on a foundation is worth a point, and each card still in your Nerts pile counts against you. Play to 200. The shuffle pile keeps feeding your hand, so there's always a card to turn.

Partners: at four, two play to a side and pool their foundations.

Table settings (the ☰ menu)

Assist (off by default) highlights your playable Nerts and shuffle cards and auto-plays the obvious moves. Card Counts shows the little badge tallying each pile.

Where it comes from

Nerts — Nertz, Pounce, Peanuts — is North America's racing solitaire, a whole table playing patience at the same time on the same middle piles. The name is what you shout the instant your pile runs out.

A house standard built on Liar's Dice, from the high tables of the Andes — five dice under every cup, and a bid on what the whole table is holding.

The play

Everyone rolls five dice in secret. The opener bids a quantity and a face — "three 4s" claims at least three 4s across every cup on the table. Go around raising: a higher quantity at any face, or the same quantity at a higher face. There's no passing — raise, or call Malarkey!

The call

Malarkey! says you don't believe the bid. Every cup lifts and the table counts that face. If the dice back the bid, the caller loses a die; if they fall short, the bidder loses one. Lose all five and you're out, and the last cup on the table wins. Whoever loses a die opens the next round.

Table settings (the ☰ menu)

New Game gathers the dice and deals fresh cups. Reset My Record clears your tally.

Where it comes from

Liar's Dice is an old folk game of hidden dice and open bluffing, at home from Andean cantinas to a ship's wardroom. Malarkey is the word you throw when you've had your fill of someone's bidding.

A house standard built on Durak, Russia's fool's game — beat what's thrown at you or scoop it up, and play settles who gets stuck holding cards.

The play

A trump suit is turned. The attacker lays a card; you defend by beating it with a higher card of the same suit, or with any trump. Beat every attack and the cards are thrown off; miss one and you pick the whole pile up and forfeit your turn to attack. Once an attack is covered, the other seats can pile on with cards whose ranks are already in play. Empty your hand while the deck lasts and you're safely out.

The Patsy

Play runs until one player is left holding cards. That player is the Patsy — the hand is about who gets stuck, and everyone else escapes clean.

Table settings (the ☰ menu)

Auto Pass passes for you when you've no card to add. On Timeout chooses your move when the clock runs out — Pass Me, or Bot Plays. Reveal Bot Hands (off by default) turns the bots' cards face-up for a teaching game. Daily Table deals everyone the identical deal; Live Table opens a seat for friends. Bot difficulty and table pace live here too, and your choices are saved.

Where it comes from

Durak — "the fool" — is the most-played card game in Russia and across the post-Soviet table, decided by who ends up holding the bag. The Patsy is our name for that seat.

A house standard built on Scopa, the Italian fishing game — match a card on the table or add a few up to take them, and clear the whole table to shout Scoop!

The play

Four cards lie face-up. On your turn, play a card that equals one on the table to capture it, or equals the sum of several to take them all; a card that matches nothing simply joins the table. Sweep the last cards off an empty table and it's a scoop — a point on its own.

The count

After the deal plays out, score four ways: most cards, most coins (the diamonds), the 7♦ (the settebello), and the primiera, the best one-card-per-suit set. Add your scoops on top. First to 11 takes the game.

Table settings (the ☰ menu)

On Timeout plays your move when the clock runs out. Reveal Bot Hands (off by default) shows the bots' cards. Daily Table deals the identical deal to everyone; Live Table opens a seat for friends. Bot difficulty and table pace live here too.

Where it comes from

Scopa — Italian for "broom", because a scoop sweeps the table clean — is one of Italy's national card games, dealt at family tables from Naples north. We play it on the standard deck; the sweep and the settebello are the same everywhere.

A house standard built on block dominoes, Havana rules — seven bones in hand, nothing drawn, match the open ends or knock.

The play

The board grows from a single line. On your turn, add a bone whose end matches an open end; when neither of yours fits, you knock and pass. Play the last of your bones to go out and take the hand — or, when the table locks and everyone knocks, the lightest hand (fewest pips left) wins.

The count

The winner scores the pips left in everyone else's hands. Play to 100. At four it's partners across the table, hands and scores pooled.

Table settings (the ☰ menu)

Auto Knock knocks for you when no bone fits. Reveal Bot Hands (off by default) turns the bones face-up. Daily Table deals the identical deal; Live Table opens a seat for friends. Bot difficulty and table pace live here too.

Where it comes from

Block dominoes is the game of the Caribbean and Gulf table — Havana rules keep it lean, seven bones each and nothing drawn, so every hand is exactly what you were dealt. Knuckles is the rap on the table when the play passes you by.

A house standard built on Truco, heads-up — three cards, three tricks, and a running argument about what they're worth.

The play

You each hold three cards and play three tricks; win two and you take the hand. The cards carry a ranking all their own — the 1♠ and 1♣ sit at the very top, then the 7♠ and 7♦, and the rest fall into their own order — so the humble-looking card is often the monster.

The calls

Two side-games run on top of the tricks. Envido is a call on your pips before the tricks begin — two cards of one suit, counted for points. Truco raises what the hand itself is worth, answered with "quiero" to see it or a re-raise to push back. Nerve is half the game and the cards are the other half. First to 30.

Table settings (the ☰ menu)

Show My Envido keeps your envido count on screen. Reveal Bot Hand (off by default) shows the bot's three cards. Daily Table deals the identical deal; Live Table opens a seat. Bot difficulty and table pace live here too.

Where it comes from

Truco is the loud, table-slapping game of Argentina and the River Plate — cafés, asados, and a great deal of theatrical bluffing — traditionally dealt from the Spanish forty-card deck. We play it heads-up on the standard deck; the envido, the truco, and the argument are the same.