Hanafuda, best known through its Koi-Koi mode, is a traditional Japanese flower-card game for two players. The 48-card deck covers 12 flower months, four cards each. Each player holds 10 cards, 8 are dealt to the field, and 20 form a draw pile. On your turn you play a card and capture field cards of the same month, then flip one from the pile — month matches capture there too. Build scoring combinations (yaku) from your captures, then either stop to bank them or call Koi-Koi to keep playing at double the stakes.
Play now — it's freeThe 48-card deck is divided across the twelve months of the year — four cards per month, from Pine (January) to Paulownia (December). Each month carries its own flower, and some cards add birds, animals or special motifs.
Two players face off. Each is dealt 10 cards, 8 cards are opened on the field, and the remaining 20 cards form a shared draw pile.
Every card belongs to exactly one of four families, and all yaku are built from them:
| Family | Cards | Notable members |
|---|---|---|
| Brights (hikari) | 5 | January, March, August, November and December — the backbone of the big point yaku |
| Animals (tane) | 9 | Cards with a bird, animal or object — including the sake cup, July's boar and October's deer and butterfly |
| Ribbons (tan) | 10 | Poetry slips: 3 red (January, February, March), 3 blue (June, September, October) and 4 plain |
| Plain (kasu) | 24 | No special role on their own, but ten of them make the one-point Kasu yaku |
Players alternate turns, and the first move rotates between them from round to round.
On your turn play one card from your hand: if a card of the same month is on the field, you capture it along with yours; if not, your card stays on the field.
You then flip the top card of the draw pile: if it matches a month on the field you capture it, otherwise it joins the field — so one turn can capture two cards.
The round ends when either hand or the draw pile runs out; if nobody stopped before that, the round is a draw with no points.
Yaku are formed from your captured cards. The twelve scoring combinations and their points:
| Yaku | Combination | Points |
|---|---|---|
| Gokō (Five Brights) | All five Bright cards | 10 |
| Shikō (Four Brights) | Four Brights without the rain card | 8 |
| Ame-Shikō (Four Brights with rain) | Four Brights including the rain card | 7 |
| Sankō (Three Brights) | Three Brights without the rain card | 5 |
| Ino-shika-chō | July's boar with October's deer and butterfly | 5 |
| Tane-5 | Five or more Animal cards | 5 + 1 per extra Animal |
| Tan-5 | Five or more Ribbons | 5 + 1 per extra Ribbon |
| Akatan (red ribbons) | The three red poetry Ribbons (January, February, March) | 3 |
| Aotan (blue ribbons) | The three blue Ribbons (June, September, October) | 3 |
| Kasu-10 | Ten or more Plain cards | 1 + 1 per extra Plain |
| Tsukimi (moon viewing) | August's moon with September's sake cup | 5 |
| Hanami (flower viewing) | March's cherry curtain with September's sake cup | 5 |
Yaku stack: the points of every combination you hold are added together, so one round can score several at once.
The rain Bright (November) limits the Bright yaku: four Brights with it score 7 instead of 8, and three Brights only count without it.
When a new yaku completes you choose: stop to end the round and bank your points immediately, or call "Koi-Koi" to keep playing for bigger combinations.
Every Koi-Koi call — by either player — doubles the round's final score: one call ×2, two calls ×4, three ×8 and so on. The final score equals the stopping player's yaku points times this multiplier.
If the cards run out and nobody stopped, the round is a draw with no points — that is the gamble behind every Koi-Koi call.
Read the field before every play: a hand card with no month match may hand your opponent a capture on their turn.
September's sake cup is the most valuable middle card: it pairs with August's moon (Tsukimi) or March's curtain (Hanami), worth 5 either way.
Do not call Koi-Koi on a small yaku with a nearly spent hand; your opponent may catch up, stop, and double their own points.
Track the visible month cards: a month where two field cards are already gone is nearly dead for your opponent.
The rain card lowers your Brights' value: chasing Three Brights is wasted if the rain card has not surfaced yet.
48 cards spread across the twelve months of the year — four cards per flower month.
Two players face each other directly, taking turns to lead each round.
It is the call to keep playing after completing a yaku instead of stopping; every call — by either player — doubles the round's final score.
Gokō, all five Brights, scores 10; four Brights without the rain card score 8, and four with it score 7.
Five cards from January, March, August, November and December — the backbone of the big point yaku.
When a player with a yaku stops to bank their points, or when a hand or the draw pile runs out — in which case the round is a draw with no points.
Yes — yaku stack, and all their points are added together before the doubling multiplier.
Yes — you can play Hanafuda online free at hanafuda.yeeqia.com directly in your browser, no download or sign-up required to try a table.
Yes, the site is mobile-first and runs in any modern browser on Android or iPhone, with full Arabic and English support.