TICHU
Hey, folks! Today, I’m going to talk about a super fun card game called TICHU. In this game, you’ll team up with a buddy and compete against another team. The goal is simple: be the first to score 1000 points.
Okay, let’s get into the nitty-gritty. During each round, there are bonuses up for grabs that can really give your team a leg up. So, you’ve gotta try your best to win them. And here’s where it gets interesting. You can actually bet that you’ll get rid of all your cards before anyone else. If you succeed, you’ll earn even more points. Cool, huh? It’s all about working together with your teammate to shed your cards strategically and help each other out.
SETUP
Alright, let me walk you through the setup. First, you’ll need to choose who goes first. That lucky person will shuffle the cards and pass them to the player on their left, who can then cut the deck if they want. If you’re playing multiple rounds, the winner of the last round gets to shuffle. Simple enough, right?
Now, once that’s done, you’ll place the deck face down in the center of the playing area. And here comes the cool part. Instead of dealing the cards like in other games, everyone will actually draw them. That’s right, just reach out and grab ’em! Chinese style.
Let’s start the game by having the person who dealt the cards collect the top card. After that, we’ll take turns, going clockwise, and each person will collect one card at a time until the deck is empty. Remember, we should all have fourteen cards in our hands, but we need to keep them a secret from everyone, including our partner.
Next, we’ll push cards to each other. Each player will place one card from their hand in front of another player, face down. Once everyone has pushed a card to each other player, we can all collect the cards we’ve received and add them to our hands. Now, we’re ready to start the game!
GAMEPLAY
When I play Mah Jong, I get to go first and lead the first trick. I can choose to play just one card, a pair, a sequence of pairs, a trio, a full house, or a sequence of five or more cards. The player to my right can either pass or play a combination that is worth more points. They can only beat my combination with a higher one or a higher value card in the same combination.
If three players pass, the last player gets to collect the trick and lead the next one. But if that player has no cards left in their hand, then the player to their right gets to lead the trick instead. The round ends when there’s only one player left with cards.
So here’s the deal: one player will give their cards to the other players and hand over the tricks to the winner, who happens to be the first player who got rid of all their cards. And that’s how we score the round. We get 10 points for every 10 and King, 5 points for every 5, 25 points for a Dragon, and we lose 25 points for a Phoenix. Pretty straightforward, right?
Now, if we’re feeling a bit daring and want to rake in some extra points, we can go all-in and call a small tichu or a grand tichu. To win a tichu, we just need to be the first one to go out during the round and we have to call it before playing our first card. If we win a small tichu, we score a cool 100 points. But if we manage to pull off a grand tichu, we hit the jackpot with 200 points! Talk about a gamble!
But wait, there’s more! Special Cards!
Let’s start the game with the player who has the Mah Jong, even though it’s the lowest card in the deck. If I have Mah Jong, I can ask for a specific card rank, and the player who has that card must play it.
Now, pay attention to the most powerful card in the game. It’s like a joker and can be played as a single card. This card is worth -25 points, so be careful!
On the other hand, we have the highest card in the game that scores a whopping 25 points. It’s even higher than an ace! However, it can’t be a part of a sequence. Keep this in mind as we play.
Bombs are a combination of cards. They can either be a sequence of five or more cards in the same suit, or four cards of the same rank. Bombs are like the ultimate trump card – they can be played at any time to take a trick. They beat any other combination. You can even play a bomb on top of another bomb, and higher bombs beat lower bombs.
GAME OVER
Hey there! Let me tell you about the amazing game that ends when a team reaches 1000 points. The round keeps going until it’s over, and then we find out who the winner is. Now, if both teams manage to score over 1000 points in the same round, the team with the most points takes home the victory!
Hi, I’m Ellie! I live in Northeast Tennessee and I’m super passionate about animals, especially those in all shapes and sizes. Fantasy fiction novels are my jam, and you can often find me outdoors enjoying nature. I have an incredible husband who loves me just as much as our two furry babies. Being a part of this wonderful community brings me so much joy!
Hi, I’m Ellie! I live in Northeast Tennessee and I’m super passionate about animals, especially those in all shapes and sizes. Fantasy fiction novels are my jam, and you can often find me outdoors enjoying nature. I have an incredible husband who loves me just as much as our two furry babies. Being a part of this wonderful community brings me so much joy!