Hanafuda History + How to Play Koi Koi
Have you seen this card game in anime? Did the red, yellow, and blue colour scheme stand out to you? Have you ever wondered what it is? I'll do my best to answer your Hanafuda questions!
The game is not actually called Hanafuda. The type of cards being used are Hanafuda, which literally translates to "flower cards". The Portuguese brought playing cards to Japan in 1549, and the Japanese became interested in using them to gamble. Unfortunately for them, there was a ban on foreign languages in 1633 when Japan closed themselves off to the rest of the world. People still wanted to gamble, but western playing cards had Arabic numerals on them! What else to do, besides develop a card game that had no foreign characters on them? Different card games had been created for this purpose, and eventually, after several years, Hanafuda was born.
The game is not actually called Hanafuda. The type of cards being used are Hanafuda, which literally translates to "flower cards". The Portuguese brought playing cards to Japan in 1549, and the Japanese became interested in using them to gamble. Unfortunately for them, there was a ban on foreign languages in 1633 when Japan closed themselves off to the rest of the world. People still wanted to gamble, but western playing cards had Arabic numerals on them! What else to do, besides develop a card game that had no foreign characters on them? Different card games had been created for this purpose, and eventually, after several years, Hanafuda was born. At the time, Hanafuda was not incredibly popular, mainly due to previous bans on gambling. In 1889, the company we know today as Nintendo began its life producing Hanafuda cards! Eventually, it became commonly played by yakuza, and playing cards finally caught on again in Japan. So now you know that the cards are called Hanafuda, but how are they used to play? Just like western playing cards, Hanafuda has its own suits; 12 of them, in fact, all based on plants (thus the name flower cards) and the months of the lunar calendar. There are four cards in each suit.
There are several games you can play using Hanafuda, but the most commonly seen in anime is Koi Koi.
HOW TO PLAY KOI KOI
Koi Koi is played by spreading out 8 cards face-up. Each player begins with 8 cards each in their hands as well. The players take turn matching the cards in their hands to the cards on the table, then picking up a card from the deck and matching it as well. All of the cards matched are laid out so that you can easily see which ribbon cards, animal cards, plains, and brights you have. Ribbon cards are obviously cards that have ribbons on them. Most of them are plain, red ribbons, but there are 3 poetry ribbons and 3 blue ribbons as well. Animal cards are cards that have animals on them, and plains are cards that have nothing but the plant on them. Brights are special cards that are quickly sought after as soon as the game begins. They are worth many points, and even if you are not aiming for them, you don't want your opponent to get a hold of too many. They don't have a consistent pattern, so you have to memorise them individually.
Once you have obtained 10 plains, 5 ribbons, or 5 animals, you get one point. If you get any more of those, you get another point. For example, 11 plains are worth 2 points and 7 ribbons are worth 3 points. 3 blue ribbons or 3 poetry ribbons are worth 6 points each. Obtaining the boar, deer, and butterfly is a 5-point combo. 3 brights aside from the rain man are worth 6 points, 4 brights including the rain man are worth 8 points, 4 brights aside from the rain man are worth 10 points, and 5 brights are worth 15 points. Before the game begins, a card is drawn from the deck. Whatever month the card represents becomes the "monthly card". The card is then returned to the deck and shuffled. If you obtain all four monthly cards during the game, it's worth 4 points.
The game is divided into rounds. Before you begin playing, you decide how many points are needed to win. Then, you play as many rounds as it takes for someone to win that many points. If you ever draw all four monthly cards at the beginning of a round, you win that round with 4 points. If a round ends and nobody has made any combos, the dealer wins 6 points. There is one wild card, which is the sake cup. It can be either an animal or a plain. Optionally, you can choose to play with flower-watching and moon-watching combinations. For both of these combos, you need the sake cup and either the moon bright or the sakura bright. Either one is worth 5 points. Once you've made a combo, you get the choice to either end the round or "Koi Koi", the latter of which continues the round. Optionally, when you start the game, you can choose to have points double for each combo after the first Koi Koi.
It takes some getting used to, but it's a fun game to play!
