Cards rules

Turn Basics

A turn is one table action: play a legal move, draw a card, or respond to a pending penalty, jump, kickback, or demand.

Rules

• The previous winner starts the next round. For a new table, the host or dealer starts.
• The starter chooses the direction of play. In a two-player table the direction label is not meaningful, but Jacks and Kings still create counter windows.
• A turn is exactly one action. Play a legal move, draw a card, or respond to a pending penalty, jump, kickback, or card demand.
• Drawing ends your turn immediately. You cannot play the card you just drew in the same turn.
• An illegal play costs you cards. Under a pending penalty it serves the full pending penalty. Outside a penalty it draws one card.
• A cardless player is not a winner. A player who emptied their hand without winning stays in the game. When their turn returns, they draw.

Examples

• If it is your turn and you cannot match the table, tap Draw. That draw ends your turn.
• If a player emptied their hand with a non-winning card, they are cardless but not the winner. When their turn returns, they draw.

Deck, Deal, and Start Card

Cards uses a standard deck, optional Jokers, and a safe starting card so the first turn begins from a normal state.

Rules

• The game supports 2 to 6 verified players.
• The deck is a standard 52 cards. Two Jokers are added when the table enables them.
• Each player is dealt 3 or 4 cards. The table chooses which. Tables default to 4.
• The rest becomes the draw pile. One valid card is turned to start the discard pile.
• The start card can never be a 2, 3, 8, J, Q, K, A, or Joker. If one of those turns up it goes back, the deck is reshuffled, and another card is turned.
• So a game can only open on 4, 5, 6, 7, 9, or 10.

Examples

• A table can start on 5♣, 7♥, 9♠, or 10♦.

Matching and Stacking

The first card of your move has to match the active suit or rank, sit inside the active Joker colour group, or satisfy an active demand. An Ace is the one card that can always go down.

Rules

• A first card matches the active suit or the active rank.
• An Ace is always a legal first card. It plays even when it matches neither the suit nor the rank.
• An active Joker colour group accepts either of its suits.
• After the first card, plain cards stack by rank only. Suit is ignored once a plain stack has started.
• Suit-chaining is reserved for question chains. Ordinary stacks cannot link by suit.
• An A, J, K, penalty card, or Joker ends your move. Nothing can follow it except more cards of that same rank, and only where the rules allow it.
• Ordering matters. The card touching the discard pile is the first card in your selected move.

Examples

• On a top card of 10♣, 10♥ is legal by rank and 7♣ is legal by suit.
• 7♥ then 7♠ is a legal plain stack. 7♥ then 5♥ is not, because plain stacks ignore suit.
• Q♣ then Q♥ then 8♥ can be legal, because questions are allowed to chain by suit or rank.

Grouping Your Hand

Grouping only rearranges how your cards appear. It does not select cards, play a move, or change what is legal.

Rules

• Group is a display tool only. Every physical card stays in your hand, and the rules engine still validates anything you select.
• Classic shows your longest legal stack first. It then keeps a familiar shedding order: awkward finishing cards, winning cards, and useful control cards.
• Playable brings every legal option to the front. It reads the current table. Use it when you want to answer the card on the table quickly.
• Strategic looks for the strongest route forward. A complete winning move, a forced response, or a powered-Ace setup. It keeps a possible closing combination together and control cards for later.
• Combos studies only your own hand. It groups question chains first, then matching ranks, matching suits, control cards, and single cards. It does not care what is currently playable.
• Only Combos withholds the Play now marker. Classic, Playable, and Strategic all mark their leading cards. Combos shows hand structure rather than recommending a table move.
• Grouping is stable. The same hand and table state always produce the same order, and you can still select cards in any order you want.

Examples

• Choose Playable when the table shows 7♥ and you want every legal 7, Heart, or Ace brought to the front.
• Choose Strategic when you are close to Kady and want a winning chain or powered-Ace setup kept together.
• Choose Combos to spot a hand such as Q♥, 8♥, and 4♥ as one question-and-answer chain, even when it cannot be played yet.
• Choose Classic when you already know the game and simply want a stable, familiar shedding order.

Questions and Answers

Q and 8 ask a question. Whoever played it must answer it, chain another question, or leave it open and draw one.

Rules

• A question card is a Q or an 8.
• A question plays like any other first card. Play it whenever it legally matches the table.
• Questions can chain by suit or rank. The newest question becomes the one that needs an answer.
• Only the last unresolved question must be answered.
• An answer must match the question's suit. Answer cards never answer by rank.
• The answer cards are 4, 5, 6, 7, 9, and 10.
• A same-suit penalty card also answers. It still sends its penalty afterwards.
• A Joker answers a question inside its colour group. It still sends its draw-5.
• An Ace answers any question, whatever the suit. It is the one card that ignores the suit rule.
• Answering costs an Ace nothing. It keeps every power it would have on a normal turn: a normal Ace still calls a suit, and a special or stacked Ace still calls an exact card.
• Same-suit J and K answer only when enabled. The table must allow action-card answers. They still trigger their jump or kickback.
• Leave a question unanswered and you draw one. Your turn then ends.
• The next player never inherits your question. They simply play against that question card's suit or rank, like any other top card.

Examples

• Q♥ then 9♥ answers the question.
• Q♥ then 9♠ does not, because an answer has to match the question's suit.
• Q♣ then Q♥ then 8♥ then 4♥ is a valid chain. The 4♥ only has to answer the 8♥.
• 8♥ then 3♥ is valid: the 3 answers the question, then sends a draw-3.
• Play Q♠ alone and stop, and you draw one card. The next player just plays a Spade or another Q against it.

Penalty Cards

2, 3, and Joker create draw penalties. The next player can block with an Ace, stack the same rank, or draw.

Rules

• A 2 sends a draw-2, a 3 a draw-3, a Joker a draw-5.
• Any Ace blocks a pending penalty. Its suit does not matter.
• A pending 2 or 3 stacks by matching rank. Only the same rank — a 3 cannot answer a 2.
• Only a Joker answers a Joker. And a Joker can never block or stack onto a 2 or 3.
• Heads-up, a matching penalty bounces straight back. In a two-player table it returns at its original size rather than adding up.
• With three or more players, penalties add up. Stacked penalties carry forward around the table.
• Penalty play mode decides whether you can hold cards back. Either you may keep same-rank penalty cards, or you must drop every one you hold.
• An illegal play under a penalty serves the full amount.

Examples

• Player A plays a 2. In a two-player table, Player B can play a 2 straight back, and Player A draws 2 unless they block.
• In a four-player table, Player A plays a 2 and Player B plays a 2, so Player C faces a draw-4.
• If a draw-5 Joker is pending and you play an invalid card, you draw 5, not 1.

Jokers

Jokers are optional penalty cards. Their colour group decides which suits stay playable.

Rules

• Jokers are optional. A table can disable them. Without them the only penalty cards are 2 and 3.
• Red Joker is ♥ and ♦; Black Joker is ♠ and ♣.
• A Joker only plays onto its own colour group, or onto a Joker. A Red Joker needs ♥ or ♦ to be active.
• A Joker leaves its whole colour group active. The next player can come back with either suit in it.
• A Joker is a draw-5, and it ends your move.
• Any Joker answers a pending Joker. Even one from the other colour group.
• A Joker answers a question inside its colour group. It still sends its draw-5.
• A powered Ace blocks a Joker and calls any suit. The penalty and its colour group are cancelled before the new suit becomes active.

Examples

• Red Joker makes ♥ and ♦ active.
• Black Joker makes ♠ and ♣ active.
• Red Joker then a powered Ace calling ♣: the Ace blocks the draw-5 and makes only ♣ active.

Aces

Aces are the most flexible cards in the game. They play on anything, answer any question, block any penalty, and can call the next condition.

Rules

• An Ace plays on anything. It needs to match neither the active suit nor the active rank.
• An Ace played on a normal turn calls the next suit. The next player has to follow it.
• An Ace answers any question, and still makes its call. An Ace used as an answer is simply an Ace.
• Any Ace blocks a pending 2, 3, or Joker.
• A blocking Ace only blocks. Play carries on from the penalty card's suit, rank, or colour group, unless a powered Ace is used.
• An Ace ends your move. It cannot bridge into another card. Only another Ace can follow it.
• An Ace can never be your final winning card.

Examples

• Top card 7♥: A♣ is still playable.
• Q♥ then A♣ answers the question, and that Ace still calls a suit for the next player.
• A♠ then 9♥ is not a move. The Ace ends your turn on the spot.
• If your last card is the A♠, playing it does not win. Aces never win.

Special Ace and Demands

When enabled, the A♠ and stacked Aces can demand an exact card. A single Ace can strip that demand back down.

Rules

• Special Ace is a table preference. By default the A♠ is the special Ace.
• A special Ace can demand an exact card. Played on a normal turn, it can name something like 3♥.
• You can only demand a card from your own hand. So no opponent can be holding it.
• Stacked Aces carry the same power. Two or more played together, when stacked power is enabled. On normal stack they only call a suit unless the run contains the enabled special Ace.
• Answering a question costs a special Ace nothing. It still demands an exact card.
• Blocking a penalty is what strips an Ace. A blocking Ace calls a suit at most, never an exact card.
• Facing a demand, you have four options. Play the demanded card, play an ordinary Ace run to strip one power, play two or more Aces with stacked power to cancel and replace it, or draw.
• Drawing does not clear a demand. Your turn ends and the demand passes to the next player, still active.
• One Ace strips one power. Strip the suit from 3♥ and any 3 will do. Strip the rank and any ♥ will do.
• Two or more Aces cancel a demand outright. That player can then make a new demand of their own.
• The demander must honour their own demand. When it comes back around, their move has to start with the demanded card.
• A demander with nothing left to name softens to a suit. If a powered Ace was their last card, they hold nothing to name.
• A demanded card behaves normally once played. A demanded 3♥ still sends its draw-3.
• A powered Ace beats a Joker penalty. It cancels both the draw-5 and the Joker colour group, then calls any suit.

Examples

• The A♠ can demand 3♥, but only if 3♥ is in your own hand.
• Against a demand for 7♥, one Ace strips it to any ♥, or to any 7.
• Demand 7♥ with Kady armed, and if nobody strips it, you have to honour it next turn. That wins the game.
• Red Joker then A♠ calling ♣ blocks the draw-5 and makes only ♣ active.

Jacks and Kings

Jacks jump. Kings kick back. Both open a counter window before the effect resolves.

Rules

• A J is a jump. It skips the next player once it resolves.
• A K is a kickback. It reverses the direction of play once it resolves.
• Stacked Kings resolve one by one. With three or more players, odd stacks reverse toward the previous player; even stacks return play to their owner and restore the original direction.
• A J or K ends your move. Your Kady period resolves first, then the targeted player's counter window begins. You cannot play a plain card behind it.
• Only the targeted player can counter, with the same rank. A J for a jump, a K for a kickback. Everyone else keeps normal disabled controls while they wait.
• Each Jack skips one more player. With three or more players, counted from whoever made the latest jump. Each affected player gets a separate counter period in seat order.
• Stacked jumps resolve one player at a time. When one affected player accepts, that response completes first. Their Kady period opens when the table rules allow it, then the next affected player receives their counter period.
• Each stacked King advances the next-turn position one step. With three or more players, an even stack travels back to its owner; an odd stack lands on the previous player.
• Heads-up, accepting always returns the turn to the player who played it. However many Jacks or Kings there were.
• Same-suit J and K answer questions when enabled. They still open their counter window.

Examples

• A plays a J and B counters with two. In a four-player table, C responds to the first Jump, then D responds to the second. If both accept, play continues with A.
• At an A-B-C-D table, one King from A points to D, two point back to A, three point to D, and four point back to A.
• J♣ then 7♣ is not a legal move. The Jack ends your move and opens the counter window first.
• Q♥ then K♥ is only legal when action-card answers are enabled, and the King still waits for its counter.

Kady and Winning

Winning takes a valid Kady declaration, unless the table is in Bubu mode, plus one legal move that empties your hand.

Rules

• Winning final cards are 4, 5, 6, 7, 9, and 10. Nothing else can be the last card down.
• Traditional tables pause after every hand-changing move. A private Kady period follows every card play, draw, or accepted counter. Kady Help tables pause only when the engine confirms a Kady combo or an immediate Jack or King return threat.
• Online tables default to traditional periods. Local practice enables Kady Help by default, but online a Kady-only pause can reveal that someone is close to winning.
• Kady must be said inside the period. The next player waits until you declare, choose Continue, or let the timer expire. Saying Kady afterwards does not count.
• Saying "Niko Kady" arms your next winning chance.
• Playing a legal card does not cancel Kady. This includes playing a J or K before its effect resolves.
• Drawing cancels Kady, because your hand changed. Traditional mode opens a fresh period right away; Kady Help opens one when the new hand is a confirmed threat.
• Traditional tables let you declare even when the solver disagrees. The button stays available for the full period. Kady Help uses the tested solver to skip unnecessary periods.
• The solver only asks whether your whole hand can win in one move. It ignores the current top card. Jacks, Kings, Aces, penalties, and Jokers are setup cards rather than part of that final combo.
• The Kady hint also spots a Jack or King setup. When accepting that action returns play straight to you and leaves a winning combo against the action card. The opponent may still counter.
• Action-card stacks can return play to their owner. Heads-up, any stack does. With three or more players, enough Jacks to skip everyone else return immediately, and an even King stack also returns. Odd King stacks hand play to the previous player.
• To win, play your entire remaining hand in one legal move.
• A question chain can win. As long as it ends on a winning answer card.
• You cannot win while another player is cardless. Play a legal card if you have one, otherwise draw.
• Bubu drops the declaration entirely. No Kady periods at all. Jack and King counter timers still apply.

Examples

• Kady is armed and 4♥ is your last card. If it is playable, playing it wins.
• Q♥ then 8♥ then 9♥ wins, if that is your whole hand and Kady is armed.
• Q♥ then 3♥ does not win. The 3 is a penalty, so the move leaves a penalty pending.
• A K cannot win, even as your last card. Its kickback has to resolve first.

Table Preferences

Table preferences are house rules chosen before play. Each choice changes the pace, legal moves, winning conditions, or information players can see.

Rules

• Starting hand — 3 or 4 cards. 3 creates a shorter, tighter round with fewer opening choices. 4 is standard and gives each player more ways to build a combination.
• Opponent hands — keep hidden or show counts. Show counts reveals how many cards each opponent holds, never which cards. Hidden counts make it harder to tell who is close to winning.
• Winning move — Answer or Q + A, or Single answer. Answer or Q + A lets you finish with one answer card or a question chain ending in one. Single answer requires your entire final move to be exactly one 4, 5, 6, 7, 9, or 10.
• Niko Kady — Say Kady or Bubu. Say Kady requires a valid declaration before you can win. Bubu removes the declaration and all Kady periods, so players can win without warning. Jack and King response periods remain either way.
• Kady Help — on or off. On, the table opens a Kady period only when the engine detects a winning combination or an immediate Jack or King return threat. Off, every hand-changing move gets one, so the timing does not reveal who may be close.
• Penalty cards — one at a time, or play all held. One at a time lets you save extra penalty cards of the same rank for later turns. Play all held requires you to drop every penalty card of that rank at once.
• Jokers — on or off. On is a 54-card deck with Red and Black Jokers as draw-5 penalties. Off is the standard 52-card deck, leaving only 2 and 3 as penalty cards.
• Special Ace — A♠, or no top Ace. A♠ lets that Ace demand an exact card when played normally, including as a question answer. No top Ace makes every Ace a normal suit-calling Ace.
• Stacked Aces — stacked power, or normal stack. Aces stack either way. Stacked power gives a run of two or more Aces an exact-card demand. On normal stack an ordinary run only calls a suit, while a run containing the enabled special Ace keeps that Ace's exact-card power.
• Question answers — answers only, or J/K answer. Answers only accepts an Ace, a same-suit answer or penalty card, or a Joker covering that suit. J/K answer also allows a same-suit Jack or King, which still triggers its jump or kickback.
• Response timer — 3 seconds, 5 seconds, 8 seconds, or 10 seconds. It controls Kady declaration periods and Jack or King counter periods. It does not limit ordinary turns. If a Kady timer expires, play continues without a declaration. If a counter timer expires, the jump or kickback is accepted and resolves.
• Timer pace sets the table's temperament. 3 seconds keeps experienced tables moving quickly, 5 seconds is the standard balance, and 8 or 10 seconds gives newer players more time to read and respond.

Examples

• For a first game, try 4 cards, visible counts, Say Kady with Kady Help, one-at-a-time penalties, Jokers, and an 8 or 10 second timer.
• For a private traditional table, use hidden counts, Say Kady without Kady Help, one-at-a-time penalties, Jokers, and the 5 second timer.
• For a fast Bubu table, use 3 cards, hidden counts, play-all-held penalties, no Jokers, and the 3 second timer.
• With Single answer enabled, Q♥ then 9♥ cannot win even though it is a legal move. The final winning move must be the 9♥ alone.
• With J/K answer enabled, Q♣ then K♣ answers the question and opens the King's kickback response period.

Drawing and Reshuffling

The draw pile recycles the discard pile when it runs low, while preserving the active top card.

Rules

• If you cannot play, you draw one and your turn ends.
• A pending penalty makes you draw its full amount. 2, 3, or 5 cards.
• A short draw pile recycles the discards. Everything below the top card is shuffled into a new draw pile.
• The top card stays face up. It still defines what can be played next.
• Online games record the reshuffle. So every player at the table sees the same draw order.

Examples

• If a Joker penalty needs 5 cards but the draw pile holds 2, the game reshuffles the discards below the top card, then finishes the draw.
• The top card never disappears during a reshuffle, because players still need to know the active condition.

Online Tables and Lobby State

Online tables use verified players, host approval, persistent games, and private hands.

Rules

• Online play requires sign-in. So tables, seats, and game history can be restored.
• The host runs the table. They create it, approve or decline join requests, and start the round.
• You can return to a game in progress. Your tables are listed on the online games page.
• A finished table shows its outcome, not a join prompt.
• Private hands stay private. Public state is only seats, turn, discard top, draw count, and move history.
• Move history is stored. So review, coaching, and analysis can be built from the same event stream.

Examples

• If a player refreshes mid-game, their hand and turn state persist.
• If a join request is declined, the requester should see the reason in their online games history.