The flower deck
The deck has twelve months, each represented by a plant and four cards. Cards also belong to scoring groups: Brights, Animals, Ribbons and Chaff.
Hanafuda · Japan · 2 players
Koi-Koi
Koi KoiKoikoi
Match the flowers of the twelve months, assemble a scoring yaku, then decide whether enough is enough.
BBot8 cards · 0 pts
BOT'S CAPTURES
YOUR CAPTURES
Your turn
Choose a card from your hand.
YYou8 cards · 0 pts
Yaku complete
You have 1 point.
Stop and bank it, or call Koi-Koi and risk everything for another yaku.
Round complete
You score!
01 How to play
Match the month.
Call Koi-Koi.
Koi-Koi is a two-player Japanese matching game played with the 48-card Hanafuda deck. This version plays a compact six-round match.
The deal
Each player receives eight hidden cards, eight cards are placed face up in the field, and the remaining twenty-four form the stock. The dealer plays first.
Play and match
Play one card from your hand. If the field contains the same month, capture the pair. With two possible matches, choose one. With three, the fourth card captures all four.
Draw and match again
After playing, reveal the stock’s top card and resolve it by the same matching rule. Cards without a matching month remain in the field.
Make yaku
Captured cards form combinations called yaku. Important examples include Bright sets, Boar–Deer–Butterflies, poetry ribbons, blue ribbons, five Animals, five Ribbons and ten Chaff.
Stop or Koi-Koi
After making a new yaku, stop to bank its value or call Koi-Koi and continue. If either player then makes another yaku, the round ends.
The risk
If your opponent makes a yaku after you call Koi-Koi, you score nothing and their yaku total is doubled. A normal winning total of seven or more is also doubled.
Win the match
If all hand cards are used without a decisive yaku, the round is a draw. After six rounds, the player with the higher accumulated score wins.
02 History & variants
Seasons, flowers and one more round.
Japan’s flower cards
Hanafuda packs organise forty-eight cards into twelve flower months. Their present form developed in Japan after centuries of changing card designs and restrictions on gambling packs. Koi-Koi became one of the best-known games for the deck, combining visual matching with the decision to stop or risk a growing score.
Scoring is a local language
Koi-Koi is commonly played over six or twelve rounds, but tables differ on the value of yaku and which combinations are recognised. Rules for the rain man, moon-and-blossom viewing, seven-point doubling and repeated Koi-Koi calls are especially variable. Before a match, experienced players normally agree on a scoring sheet.