Welcome to Myllymatti!

Myllymatti is a fun card game that you can play with 2 to 4 players. The goal of the game is to collect cards in the first phase and then get rid of all your cards as quickly as possible in the second phase. The player who is left with cards in their hand at the end loses.

The game is divided into two phases, and there is no winner – only a loser.

How to Set Up the Game

To start the game, we need to choose a dealer. The dealer will shuffle the deck of cards and give each player a hand of 3 cards. The remaining cards will be placed face-down to create a stockpile.

Card Ranking

In this game, the cards are ranked in a traditional way. The Ace is the highest card, followed by King, Queen, Jack, 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, and 2 as the lowest card.

How to Play

The game has two phases. Once the first phase is done, the second one begins right away. In the first round, I’ll gather cards for my hand, and in the second round, I’ll try to get rid of my cards as quickly as I can.

Phase One

In the first phase, I’ll play two card tricks. It doesn’t matter what suit the cards are, and I don’t have to play the same suit or try to win the tricks. The person to the left of the dealer starts the first trick by playing any card. Then, the person to their left finishes the trick by playing a card from their hand. The person who plays the higher-ranked card, regardless of the suit, wins the trick. After the trick, both of us draw from the stock to always have 3 cards in our hands. We put the cards from the trick in a pile next to the winner’s facedown and the winner has to start the next trick.

When two cards of the same rank are played to a trick, neither player wins the trick. Instead, the cards stay on the table, and it’s the same player’s turn to lead again. Only when a player wins a trick do they collect all the cards in that trick.

Whoever wins a trick always plays the next trick with the player on their left. The direction of play only changes when the player on the far left wins a trick.

Instead of playing a card from their hand, a player can choose to reveal the top card of the discard pile and use it for the trick. This option is only available if there are more than 1 card left in the stock. Once a card is revealed this way, the player must play it and cannot put it back in their hand.

In the game, when the last card is drawn from the stock, instead of keeping it hidden, we reveal it to all players. This revealed card is the card that I get to play, but it has to stay revealed until the first phase is over. The suit of this card determines the trump suit for the second phase.

Once all the cards in the stock have been played, the game continues until the player who is supposed to play has no more cards in hand. If any players still have cards in hand at this point, they have to reveal them and keep them for the second phase. And if for some reason, the final trick couldn’t be completed, the players who played cards to it have to take back all their cards.

Phase Two

Now, each player is dealt the entire deck of cards. The hands may not be evenly distributed because some players may have won more cards in the first phase than others. In the unlikely situation where a player has no cards going into the second phase, they are not out of the game and haven’t lost.

So, here’s the deal. The aim is to get rid of all your cards as fast as you can by playing clever moves.

Now, the person who won the previous trick takes the lead in the new trick. To win, the next players gotta outsmart the current card with a higher-ranked card of the same suit or a wild card. Wild cards can beat any regular card, no doubt about it.

But hey, sometimes you just can’t make a move, or you simply don’t want to. In that case, you gotta pick the highest card on the table. After that, it’s the next player’s turn to show what they’ve got. A trick ends when every player has played a card or when all the cards in the trick have been drawn.

If I finish the trick with the number of cards required, then I am the winner and I get to keep all the cards I used in that trick. I will also start the next trick. If all the cards have been drawn and used, then the player on my left will start the next trick.

Once I have played all my cards, I am out of the game and I can’t lose anymore.

THE END OF THE GAME

The game continues until there is only one player left. That player is the loser.

The game continues until there is only one player left. That player is the loser.