Tichu is a strategic partnership card game, played with an almost standard deck of cards, released in 1991 by designer Urs Hostettler. While variants exist, it is primarily a four-player game where each partnership works together trying to play all the cards in their hands before their opponents, while also trying to capture tricks that will score at the end of the round.

Gameplay Summary

A Tichu deck consists of a traditional deck (four suits of thirteen cards each), with four additional “special” cards. While you could theoretically play the game using a standard deck and marking a few extra cards for the remaining four, it is much more flavorful to use an actual Tichu deck that has alternate suites (Jade, Sword, Pagoda, and Star) and thematic illustrations. At its heart, Tichu is what you might call a “climbing” card game. This means that on any given player’s turn, they are only able to play a card that is higher than what has currently been played. Play rotates with the cards climbing in value, until all players choose to, or are forced to pass. At this point, the player who played the last and highest card gets to take all of the cards from that trick for scoring, and also play from their hand to start a new trick.

The primary goal in Tichu is to get rid of all of your cards before your opponents. One of the elements that makes the climbing mechanic very intriguing is that players are not always playing single cards. Whoever is leading from their hand in a trick actually gets to choose from a variety of options to set the rule for playing in that trick. The choices include:

• A Single Card – The most simple (and often most common) type of trick. A single card can be led, with players using single, higher cards to play in the trick.

• A Pair – Two cards of equal rank can be led, and beaten by higher pairs.

• A Triple – Just like pairs, three of a kind can be led and beaten by higher sets of three. Note that while you can lead with a four of a kind as well, they have a special meaning which I will touch on later.

• Sequential Pairs – Probably the least intuitive of the eligible leads, you can play multiple pairs as long as they are sequential in value. For example, you could lead with “7788,” which could be beaten by “8899” or any other set of exactly two higher sequential pairs. There is no limit here, you can play something like “4455667788” if you have it, which will be tough to beat as other players would need to have exactly five pairs in a row that are not only sequential, but starting at 5 or higher.

• A Full House – A pair and a triple can be led together, as found in Poker. When determining the rank of a full house, the triple’s rank is used while the pair’s rank is ignored. So “33344” would beat a “222AA.”

• A Run – A “straight” of sequential cards can be played, as long as it consists of at least five cards. Again, no limit here, so you could play “23456789” and players would only be able to beat it with straights of exactly eight cards.

A round continues as players try to rid their hand of cards by playing in tricks, and the winner of each trick leading a new card combination. When a player “goes out” by getting rid of all their cards, play continues with the remaining three players (one of which is the player’s partner). If both players in a partnership are able to go out before either player on the opposing team, they achieve what is called “Double Victory,” and the winning team scores 200 points, and the round ends. Otherwise, play continues until all but one player has finished. At this point, scoring for the round occurs.

The player who came in fourth (and did not finish playing out their hand), gives all cards left in their hand to the opposing team for scoring. In addition, the losing player must give all their cards won through tricks to the player that went out first (which could be their own partner). Then the following cards are scored:

• The Four Kings – Each King scores 10 points.
• The Four 10s – Each 10 scores 10 points.
• The Four 5s – Each 5 scores 5 points.
• The Dragon (one of the special cards) – Scores 25 points.
• The Phoenix (another one of the special cards) – Scores negative 25 points.

Conveniently, the basic scoring in every round sums to exactly 100. Scores for the round are added to the current totals. Rounds continue until one team reaches 1000 points, with the higher total winning if both teams reach 1000 the same round. Sudden death rounds are played if the teams reach 1000 and are still tied.

The basic game using just the cards from a standard deck works (and is a great way to teach new players), but it is really the four special cards that add a lot of interest into the gameplay:

• The Mah Jong – This card has a few interesting functions. First, it is the only card in the game with a value of “1”. This means it can be used in a “12345…” straight, but also means that it is unable to beat anything as a single card and will likely need to be led to get rid of it. Importantly though, the player holding the Mah Jong gets to lead the first trick of the round. When playing the Mah Jong, the player also has the option to “wish” for a card. By naming any of the thirteen card values (excluding special cards), all players are now bound to play the named card at the next legal opportunity, until one player has fulfilled the wish. This could force a player to play a card that splits up a run or set they wanted to play, but the leading player should beware: reckless wishes may be just as likely to sabotage your partner as your opponents.

• The Dragon – Only playable as a single card, the Dragon is the highest rank of any card in the game (beats an Ace). That said, when the Dragon is used to win a trick, the cards must be given away to an opponent. The player must essentially predict which opponent he thinks will lose the round, as that would send the tricks to the winning player before scoring.

• The Phoenix – The Phoenix is the most versatile card in the game. On one hand, it can serve a similar purpose to the Dragon, counting as “one half” higher than the previous card when played as a single. It cannot be played to beat the Dragon, but could beat an Ace (which, in turn, could be beaten by the Dragon). More powerful though, is the Phoenix’s capability to serve as a wild in any set of cards. It can fill a hole in a long run or complete a full house, for example, which can often be the one thing you need to make a good hand into a great one.

• The Dog – This is the only card that cannot be played normally in a trick. Rather, the Dog can only be led, and immediately transfers the lead to the player’s partner (or the next player in order if their partner is out of the round). The Dog can be a hard card to work with, as you need to win a lead, only to give it up without being able to rid yourself of other low cards. That said, it can often propel you partner to victory as they get a lead of their own for free.

These four cards add a whole layer of interest on top of the base climbing game. Since all of the cards are dealt in every round, all players are aware of what cards are in play; it is just a question of who has them. Before starting a round, players select a card from their hand to swap with each other player. This provides an opportunity to pawn off your worst cards to opponents, and share a card with your partner that communicates information about the strength of your hand. From there, the first trick kicks off with the player holding the Mah Jong, and play continues until either Double Victory has been achieved or all but one player depletes their hand.

I mentioned earlier that a four of a kind is more than just an effective lead. It is what is considered a bomb! A bomb is a set of cards that can be played on top of any trick regardless of type, beating all other cards. In fact, a bomb can even be played out of turn! They come in two varieties: a four of a kind, and a straight flush (a run of the same suit). Note that a bomb must be all-natural; no using the Phoenix as a wild card. A bomb can only be beaten by another bomb of larger value, where larger bombs have more cards, or the same number of cards with a higher rank. Bombs ensure that no trick is ever guaranteed, because you never know what other players might be hiding one in their hand.

The last key piece of Tichu is the “Tichu” itself. Any player that has yet to play a card in a round can choose to call “Tichu,” essentially making a 100 point wager that they think they will win the hand. They will get a 100 point bonus if they succeed, but will suffer a hefty 100 point penalty if they fail. A player can even go so far as to call “Grand Tichu,” which is the same, except it is called after only seeing the first eight cards of their hand (which also means players are aware of the Tichu call before choosing what cards to pass) and raises the stakes to 200 points. Tichu calls add a whole other layer of tension on top of a round, as the opposing team does everything possible to prevent it, and the partner of the caller takes on a support role where they are willing to sacrifice their own chances in the round to help their partner.

What Is It Like to Play?

Anyone who is familiar with traditional card games will likely feel at home with the basic structure of Tichu. While this basic flow with climbing tricks is easy to pick up, the game is really rich with a variety of strategic and tactical decisions. Here is just a sampling of thoughts that may go through a player’s mind while playing Tichu:

My initial hand has three 4s, but also has a 2, 3, 5, and 6. There is a decent chance that I could get passed the last 4 from one of my opponents completing a bomb, but that would mean I wouldn’t be able to use a 4 in a run. I don’t think my hand is strong enough to play the 2, 3, 5, and 6 all as singles, so I think I need to not play for the bomb. In that case, I think I’ll pass a 4 to each of my opponents as it is unlikely it will help them since they could have at most one 4 themselves.

It is early in the round, and my opponent is winning a single card trick with an Ace. I have the Phoenix in my hand, and I could use it to beat the Ace, but who has the Dragon? If my partner does, that would work great, but if my opponents have it then they can beat my Phoenix. That said, it would force the Dragon out early, which makes it easier to play with confidence in the rest of the round.

My partner passed me the Dog, which must mean that he has a really good hand and wants me to support him. The trick going around consists of pairs, and I have multiple Aces in my hand. Usually I’d save the Aces to play one at a time to win single-card tricks, but in this case I think my role should be to help my partner more than focusing on going out myself. I don’t have a lot of other strong ways to get leads, so I think I’ll use double Aces now and Dog to my partner to give him a free lead.

At this point, I don’t think there is any way that I will go out. I have quite a few scoring cards in my hand: two 10s, two Kings, and the Phoenix that will be negative 25. I know that if I don’t go out, my hand will go to my opponents, but since my partner went out first, my tricks will be saved. With that in mind, I am going to aggressively win tricks with scoring cards so my partner will save them, and intentionally hold onto the Phoenix to ensure that my opponents get the negative when they take my hand.

I could honestly go on and on with examples of interesting decisions in Tichu, drawing from my nearly 100 plays at the time of writing this. The beautiful thing is that whenever I play Tichu, I encounter new situations that are fresh and make me think differently than I’ve had to in any past game. That kind of emergent tactical variety elicits excitement with every hand as you pick up your cards and look at the new puzzle that you have to work with that round. The game is a constant balance of figuring out how you will win enough leads to play your lower cards, and knowing when to pull back a little to avoid falling into a position where you are unable to gain a lead to finish depleting your hand. All the while reading your opponents and partner to get a feel of what they are dealing with, and how you can use that information to your advantage. Anyone who takes the time to really dig into Tichu will quickly learn that it is a thinking man’s card game, for sure.

FAQ

Things to Like

Things to Dislike

Game Design Perspective

Often times, people use the word “elegant” to describe a game design. This usually means that it achieves a great amount of strategic depth with a disproportionately small number of rules. Tichu definitely has numerous little rules and mechanisms that keep it out of the highest tier of elegance, but I still greatly admire what the designer was able to accomplish with what is nearly a traditional deck of cards. It nails that sweet spot of “emergent strategy” where most of the interesting decisions aren’t situations that the designer specifically constructed, but rather they emerge out of the various combinations of the simple rules the designer put into motion. That is not an easy feat in design, for sure. In an age of modern board gaming where replayability in games is often characterized by endlessly additions of new cards to decks and providing new content to increase the permutations of elements that are used, it is refreshing to see the same depth accomplished by a game that doesn’t utilize any of that expansive approach. Don’t be fooled into thinking this “simple” card game was easy to design; Tichu is an impressive feat, pushing the envelope of what experiences can be created from the framework of a traditional deck of cards.

Bottom Line

If you can find a group of four players that enjoys strategic games and tactical card play, there is absolutely no reason not to own Tichu. It can provide a less intimidating gateway into modern board games, and provides a rabbit hole of depth that you can explore and enjoy for a lifetime.

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