Koi-Koi
Match the flowers — say "Koi-Koi" to risk it all.
Koi-Koi is played with the beautiful 48-card Hanafuda (flower cards) deck, where each of the 12 suits represents a month and a plant. Match cards from the table to build "yaku" (scoring combinations). Calling "Koi-Koi" lets you keep playing for more points — but risks your opponent going out first.
🎮 Ways to Play Koi-Koi
Create a Koi-Koi Table
When Koi-Koi launches, you'll create your own table in seconds, get an invite code, and deal in exactly who you want.
Join a Koi-Koi Table by Invite
Joining will be as simple as entering a table code — one tap and you're seated at a friend's Koi-Koi game.
Play Koi-Koi Against the Computer
Smart AI opponents with multiple difficulty levels will make it easy to learn Koi-Koi and practice your strategy solo.
Play Koi-Koi Offline
Koi-Koi will support offline play against computer opponents, so you can play anywhere — no internet connection needed.
🎯 Objective
Score the most points across multiple rounds by completing "yaku" (flower combinations).
🃏 Koi-Koi Setup & Rules
- Uses a 48-card Hanafuda deck (12 suits/months × 4 cards each: 2 plain, 1 ribbon, 1 special).
- Deal 8 cards to each player face-down; deal 8 cards face-up to the table.
- Remaining 24 cards form the draw pile.
▶ How to Play Koi-Koi
- On your turn, match one card from your hand to a card on the table of the SAME suit (month). Both go to your capture pile.
- Then flip the top draw card. If it matches a suit on the table, capture both; otherwise it stays on the table.
- After each capture, check if you have completed a yaku (scoring combination). If yes, you may either CALL OUT (take your points and end the round) or say "KOI-KOI" (continue playing to score more).
- If you say Koi-Koi and your opponent completes a yaku first, they score DOUBLE for winning after your Koi-Koi.
- Round ends when a player calls out, or all cards are played (dealer scores 6 pts for a drawn round).
🎬 Watch: How to Play Koi-Koi
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📖 Detailed Guide
Setting up the game
- Koi-Koi is played by exactly two people with a 48-card hanafuda deck — twelve months of four cards each.
- Each player receives eight cards, and eight more are dealt face-up to the table between them.
- Cards are matched by month, not by number, so the twelve months function like suits.
- The rest of the deck sits face-down as the draw pile.
Capturing cards
- On your turn, play a card from your hand that matches the month of a card on the table, and take both into your capture pile.
- Then turn the top card of the draw pile. If it matches a month on the table, capture that pair too.
- If either card has no match, it simply stays on the table as a target for later.
- So a single turn can capture nothing, two cards, or four.
Card types and yaku
- Captured cards fall into categories worth different amounts: Brights are worth 20, Animals 10, and the plain Chaff cards 1 each.
- Certain named combinations of captured cards form yaku, and completing one is what actually scores.
- The Brights are the highest-value cards in the deck, so watching which ones remain unclaimed shapes the whole round.
- Ribbons and Animals form several of the more achievable combinations.
Koi-Koi or Shobu
- The moment you complete a yaku you face the game's only real decision.
- Call Shobu to stop the round immediately and bank the points you have earned.
- Call Koi-Koi to carry on, aiming for a bigger combination — but if your opponent completes a yaku first, you lose what you were holding.
- That gamble is the whole game. Calling Koi-Koi with few cards left in hand is usually a poor bet.
📊 Koi-Koi Scoring
Key yaku: Five Lights (highest 5 special cards) = 10 pts; Four Lights = 8 pts; Flower Viewing (Sake cup + Cherry blossoms) = 5 pts; Boar-Deer-Butterfly = 5 pts. Koi-Koi doubles the winning score if the Koi-Koi caller loses. First to 50 pts (or agreed total) wins.
❓ Koi-Koi — Frequently Asked Questions
How many players do you need for Koi-Koi?
Koi-Koi is played with 2 players. On Vanikar, empty seats can be filled with AI opponents so you can always start a game.
When is Koi-Koi coming to Vanikar?
Koi-Koi is in development now. Premium subscribers get access first when it launches — download the app to be ready on day one.
Will I be able to play Koi-Koi against the computer?
Yes. Like every Vanikar game, Koi-Koi will support play against smart AI opponents with multiple difficulty levels, plus online multiplayer and private tables with friends.
Is Koi-Koi free to play?
The Vanikar Card Games app is free to download on iOS and Android, and every game is free to play for 2 weeks — no credit card required.
