Tichu

Tichu blends climbing trick-taking with partnership scoring. The 56-card deck has four standard suits plus four specials (Mahjong, Dog, Phoenix, Dragon). Combos escalate within a trick — beat a higher combo of the same type or a bomb, otherwise pass. Emptying your hand first within your team is the goal.

1. The leader plays any legal combo: single, pair, triple, full house, straight (5+), pair-sequence (4+), or a bomb.
2. Each next player either beats it with a higher same-type combo, plays a bomb (4-of-a-kind or straight flush ≥5), or passes.
3. After three consecutive passes the trick ends, the last player captures all of its cards and leads next.
4. Winning a trick with the Dragon forces you to give the captured cards to one opponent.
5. The Dog can only be led; it ends the trick immediately and passes the lead to your partner (the Dog itself is discarded, worth 0).

• Single One card. Mahjong is the lowest (1) and Dragon the highest (15.5). Phoenix played as a single = previous + 0.5.
• Pair Two cards of the same value (or one card + Phoenix). Mahjong/Dragon cannot pair.
• Triple Three cards of the same value (Phoenix can fill one slot).
• Full house Triple + pair (5 cards). Phoenix can fill one slot. Compared by the triple's value.
• Straight 5+ consecutive cards (Mahjong = 1 included; Dragon excluded). Phoenix fills a single gap or extends one end.
• Pair-sequence Two or more consecutive pairs (4, 6, 8, 10, 12, or 14 cards). Phoenix fills one missing copy.
• Bomb (4-of-a-kind) Four cards of the same value. Beats any non-bomb.
• Bomb (straight flush) 5+ consecutive cards of the same suit. Beats any non-SF combo, including 4-of-a-kind bombs.

• Mahjong (1) Value 1, the lowest single. The Mahjong holder leads the very first trick of the hand.
• Dog Played as a single only when leading. Ends the trick immediately and passes the lead to your partner; worth 0 points.
• Phoenix Wildcard. As a single it beats the previous single by +0.5 (cannot beat Dragon). In combos it stands in for any card. Penalty of -25 points if it ends in your hand.
• Dragon Value 15.5, the highest single. When you win a trick with it, you must give the captured cards to one opponent. Worth +25 points.

• Card points 5s = +5 each, 10s and Ks = +10 each, Dragon = +25, Phoenix = -25. The whole deck totals 100 points per round.
• Double victory If the first two players to empty their hands are partners, that team scores 200 immediately and card points are ignored.
• Loser penalty Otherwise, the last player's remaining hand goes to the opposing team's points and their captured tricks go to the player who emptied first.
• Tichu call If a Tichu caller finishes first their team gets +100; otherwise -100.

The first team to reach 1000 points wins. If both teams cross 1000 in the same round, the higher score wins; on a tie, play one more round.