Koi Koi is one of the most played Hanafuda games in Japan. It’s seen in movies, comics and anime (it was played a lot in Summer Wars). It falls under the “Matching” style of game played with Hanafuda and its play style is very similar to a lot of other games played with Hanafuda. Koi-Koi comes from the verb “Kuru” which means “To Come.” When conjugating the verb, the form Koi (来い) is used as an imperative (command), so saying Koi Koi is pretty much commanding or inviting “come-come” to continue play.
The object of the game is to create hands through 2 matches per turn (a planned match and a random match) the score points. The rounds end when one of the players has created a scoring hand, however if they feel they can make another scoring hand before the other player makes one, they can choose to “Koi-Koi” instead of taking the points and ending the round. (It’s super easy and I’ll break it down below).
When researching how to play I’ve realized that there is a heavy blur across the sources between actual rules and house rules that have become standard. So what I present below is the most standard I could finagle and I’ll include common house rules at the end. Some may argue that some of these are house rules here as well, so play as you see fit. I learned from Clubhouse games, Nintendo’s rule sheet and Habafuki.org, I’ve played so much that most of this is from my memory so please let us know if something is wrong!
You can play the game with starting points that you “steal” from each other (this game was a gambling game) or the way I tend to play is just adding points up as I go, starting from a base zero. Also I’m not a stickler for how I deal but I’ve included Nintendo’s dealing method (even though I don’t utilize it haha).
A lot of Koi-Koi is random and luck, but with practice you’ll develop your own strategies and know what cards to try and get. You have to think quickly and change plans on the fly if and when your wanted card is claimed by your opponent!
