Hawaiian-style Koi-Koi
Hawaiian-style Koi-Koi — also known as Sakura or Higo-Bana — is played using Hanafuda cards (playing cards of Japanese origin) and can be played with individual players or between teams with two to seven people. The rules of this variant, which is played in Hawaii, are slightly different from traditional Koi-Koi.[1]
How to win
Outscore the other players (or teams) by having the highest number of points by "capturing" individual point cards and yaku - sets of cards - at the end of the game.
Dealing the cards
| Number of players | Cards in hand | Cards face up |
|---|---|---|
| 2 | 8 | 8 |
| 3 | 7 | 6 |
| 4 | 5 | 8 |
| 5 | 4 | 8 |
| 6 | 3 | 12 |
| 7 | 3 | 6 |
Note: when dealing, deal half of the face up cards first, then half of the “Cards in hand” to each player, then finish dealing the rest of the face up cards and in-hand cards. This will help randomize the “hard-to-shuffle” deck.
Game play
Hawaiian Koi-Koi is a turn-based game that includes 48 cards that can be in one of five different states:
- Cards that are face up on the table, for all players to see;
- Cards that players are holding in their hands that only they can see;
- Cards that are worth points individually or arranged by yaku sets and have been claimed by a player, face up for all players to see;
- Cards that have been played but are worth no points: the kasu pile;
- Cards that have not yet been played yet, stacked face down in a single pile: “the mountain.”
During turn a player takes the following actions:
- The player must discard a card from his/her hand
- If this card is in the same suit or family as one of the face up cards, the player then claims that card as his own, placing it face up in front of him/her;
- If this card does not match the suit or family of any face up cards, then that card remains face up for someone else to claim.
- The player must then flip over the next face down card on “the mountain”
- This card should then be played, following the same discarded card rules listed above;
- The round ends when “the mountain” is empty or if players run out of cards to play.
Note: when playing the Lightning or Gaiji card, you can claim any face up card of any family. When the next point card of this “claimed” family is claimed by another player – or if it is turned up from the mountain – ownership of that point card transfers to the player that used the Lightning card
Scoring
Based on the cards you've claimed:
- Award yourself 5-20 points for each point card that you've captured, based on the values in the next section
Adjusted by the cards your opponents have claimed:
- Deduct 50 points from your total score for each yaku that they captured