Tichu

A trip to China

My introduction to Tichu – a trick-taking, climbing card game played in pairs – was as an answer to the question ‘what card game would be good to play on holiday with my family to gently introduce them to games with a little more strategy than Snap?’ Tichu wasn’t that (it turns out my family can’t manage much more than Snap to be honest), but it is many things: ‘thinky’, rewarding, complex, funny… and, given the paired teams element to the gameplay, with the potential to make or break just about any relationship!

On first viewing, Tichu is a standard deck of cards with four added extra cards adorned with intricate animal pictures on them. This slightly disappointed me. What was I getting that I couldn’t get with a standard deck of cards? The answer soon became clear, not just in the simple, lovely artwork that sends you to the back table of a Chinese drinking den as old-timers furiously and passionately slap their cards down on tables, but also in the wide-ranging strategic options available on almost every turn. And those four special cards really help with that.

Rules Guide and Strategy

The general premise of Tichu is to rid yourself (and your partner, seated opposite) of all your cards by playing combinations that can’t be bettered by your opponents. A general knowledge of Poker will help as the cards you can lay when your the lead player are similar to poker hands. However, don’t be fooled into playing Tichu with the strategy of Poker, as once a style of hand is laid, all players most follow in-kind. For example, if I lay a pair, you have to follow with a better pair – that fantastic run you have is useless for now. Get your cards out early and you’ll do well, but there are also points to be gained along the way that can make you do even better.

Just from those basic rules, you should be able to see that there are a lot of things to think about. You’ve got three Kings – do you play them as an almost unbeatable three-of-a-kind, or do you play them as single cards to try and win three hands? You’ve got a low straight – can you instigate a situation where you will be able to play it and rid yourself of some otherwise useless cards? You have a powerful special card – when do you use it to hurt your opponents the most?

Your Partner

Then there is the matter of your partner. Without communication in any way (even if you both speak fluent Swahili it won’t help you here) you have to think each move about whether your play is going to help or hinder your partner. If they are currently leading the hand, it may be beneficial to pass and save your killer cards for a later date or it may be beneficial to take the hand and then lead with something that might help your partner in the next trick. If one of you has called ‘tichu’ or ‘grand tichu’, then you can work together to make sure that person finishes their hand first, and therefore score an almost unassailable number of points for your team. But if they don’t get out first, an almost unrecoverable number of negative points will be the result.

Is it for you?

The key factor that makes Tichu enjoyable is the number of decisions you make, and the number of possible different ways there are to go on each turn. I’ve read a couple of online strategy guides, but it is so hard to give a definitive view of how to play certain cards or certain hands as it depends so much on what both your opponents and your partner are doing. Rarely is there an obvious play, and even if there is a surprise move by an opponent or an unwitting move by a partner can easily counter it.

But, weirdly, this tactical depth and unpredictability are also what may put some people off the game. What could be a perfectly sensible and efficient move can turn out to look really poor if other cards don’t go your way; misinterpreting your partner’s intentions could easily lead to disputes with an over-competitive ally; or a ‘bomb’ (a devastating four-of-a-kind or suited straight move that trumps any other hand) played out-of-the-blue by an opponent can scupper even the most perfect strategy, possibly leading to a potentially unmotivating number of negative points. I feel if you are the sort of person who is able to see all these scenarios as funny and an enjoyable part of the experience, Tichu will be the game for you; if not, then maybe it isn’t.