Once three players in a row have passed, the winning player takes the trick and may then lead with a different set, which the next player must follow or pass. The next player must follow with a higher set of the same type or pass. Tichu’s rules are fairly simple: the player with the Mah Jongg goes first and plays a singleton, a pair, consecutive pairs, three-of-a-kind, a straight longer than four cards, or a full house. The deck consists of the standard 52 cards plus these four special cards: the Dragon, the Phoenix, the Mah Jongg and the Dog.
The downside is that it always requires four people to play. For those of you who haven’t heard of it, Tichu is an addictive trick-taking partnership card game in the mold of Rook and Bridge.
