Mendikot
Capture all four 10s — or stop your opponents from doing it.
Mendikot is the premier card game of Maharashtra and Gujarat, India. The goal is deceptively simple: capture all four 10s. Capturing the four 10s results in a Mendikot — a shutout victory worth double. Strategy revolves entirely around protecting and hunting the Tens.
🎮 Ways to Play Mendikot
Create a Mendikot Table
When Mendikot launches, you'll create your own table in seconds, get an invite code, and deal in exactly who you want.
Join a Mendikot Table by Invite
Joining will be as simple as entering a table code — one tap and you're seated at a friend's Mendikot game.
Play Mendikot Against the Computer
Smart AI opponents with multiple difficulty levels will make it easy to learn Mendikot and practice your strategy solo.
Play Mendikot Offline
Mendikot will support offline play against computer opponents, so you can play anywhere — no internet connection needed.
🎯 Objective
Capture all four 10s to win a Mendikot, or capture the majority of the 10s to win the round.
🃏 Mendikot Setup & Rules
- Use a standard 52-card deck. Four players in two partnerships, partners sitting opposite.
- Deal all 13 cards to each player.
- The player who wins the first trick determines the trump suit from the card they lead.
▶ How to Play Mendikot
- The player left of the dealer leads the first trick with any non-trump card.
- Trump is fixed after the first trick: the leader's card's suit after the first trick establishes trump (OR the dealer's last card — varies by local rules).
- Players must follow suit; if void, play any card including trump.
- Highest trump wins if any trump played; otherwise highest of led suit wins.
- Play all 13 tricks.
🎬 Watch: How to Play Mendikot
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📖 Detailed Guide
Setting up the game
- Mendikot is a four-player partnership game, with partners seated opposite one another.
- The full deck is dealt out, thirteen cards to each player, so nothing is left over.
- The dealer's last card is turned up and its suit becomes trump for the hand.
- Unusually, the goal is not tricks or points — it is the four tens.
Playing tricks
- The player left of the dealer leads, and following the led suit is compulsory whenever you can.
- If you are void you may play any card, including a trump.
- The highest trump wins the trick, or the highest card of the led suit if no trump is played.
- The trick winner leads the next one.
Hunting the tens
- Only the four tens decide the hand. Every other card matters purely as a means of capturing them.
- A partnership that captures three of the four tens wins the hand.
- Capture all four and it is a mendikot — the emphatic version of the same result.
- This changes trick play completely: a trick with no ten in it is worth nothing except the lead it gives you.
Playing well
- Protect your own tens. Leading a suit in which you hold the ten invites opponents to trump it away.
- Watch which tens have already fallen — once three are accounted for, the whole hand narrows to the fourth.
- Sacrificing a trick to draw out trumps is often worth it if it clears the way to a ten later.
- Partnership signalling through your choice of lead is the main way to tell your partner where your strength lies.
📊 Mendikot Scoring
After all tricks: count how many 10s each team captured. Team with 3–4 tens wins the round. Mendikot (all four 10s): winning team gets double points, or wins the round outright. First team to win an agreed number of rounds wins.
❓ Mendikot — Frequently Asked Questions
How many players do you need for Mendikot?
Mendikot is played with 4 players. On Vanikar, empty seats can be filled with AI opponents so you can always start a game.
When is Mendikot coming to Vanikar?
Mendikot 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 Mendikot against the computer?
Yes. Like every Vanikar game, Mendikot will support play against smart AI opponents with multiple difficulty levels, plus online multiplayer and private tables with friends.
Is Mendikot 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.
