How to Play Hawaiʻifuda

Hawaiʻifuda is based on the popular Japanese card game "Hanafuda," which was introduced to Hawaiʻi by Japanese immigrants during the Plantation Era. There are many variations and ways to play. This is the method taught to me by my mother, who grew up on the island of Maui.

Table of Contents

• Object of the Game
• Cards
• How to Play
• Point Values
• Bonus Combinations

Collect as many point-value-cards as you can!

There are a total of 48 cards split into 12 suits, with each suit corresponding to a month of the calendar year. Each suit contains two special cards worth 5, 10 or 20 points, and two "rubbish" cards worth 0 points. (The exception to this is the November/Hala suit, which contains only special cards.) The specific value of each card is covered in the Point Values section.

January | Ianuali

Suit: ʻĀhinahina 

Special Cards: Nēnē | Sun

February | Pepeluali

Suit: ʻŌhiʻa Lehua 

Special cards: Rain | ʻIʻiwi

March | Malaki

Suit: ʻIlima

Special Cards: Flags | Lei

May | Mei

Suit: Kalo

Special Cards: Pōhaku Kuʻi ʻAi | Kalo Loʻi

June | Iune

Suit: Maʻo Hau Hele

Special Cards: Rainbow | Pulelehua

July | Iulai

Suit: Naupaka Kuahiwi & Naupaka Kahakai 

Special Cards: Waterfall | ʻĪlio holo i ka uaua

August | 'Aukake

Suit: Kai

Special Cards: Waʻa & Mahina | ʻŌpeʻapeʻa

September | Kepakemapa

Suit: ʻŌlena

Special Cards: Kapa | Medicine

October | 'Okakopa

Suit: ʻUlu

Special Cards: Breadfruit | Moʻo

November | Nowemapa

Suit: Hala

Special Cards: Lauhala | Aliʻi, Honu & Pahu | ʻIwa 

December | Kēkēmapa

Suit: Kukui

Special Cards: ʻIo | Light

Deciding on a Dealer
Each player draws a card at random from the deck. The player with the earliest month deals and plays first, clockwise. 

Setting up 
The dealer shuffles, deals and places cards face-up in the center (field) according to the number of players using the table below:

Players	Cards in Hand	Cards in Center
2	8	8
3	7	6
4	5	8
5	4	8
6	3	12

Remaining cards are placed face-down in a stack (draw pile) next to the field.

Gameplay
Gameplay lasts either one or multiple rounds, and is made up of two phases:

1. Player places a card from their hand onto the field. If a card in their hand matches the suit of a card on the field, player can "capture" both cards and remove them from the field. Cards worth points are placed in front of the player, and "rubbish" cards are placed in a discard pile next to the field. If player has no matches, they must still relinquish a card to the field.
2. Player then draws a card from the draw pile. If the drawn card matches a suit from the field, player captures both cards, claiming any point-value cards and/or discarding rubbish cards. If there are no matches, the drawn card is added to the field. 

Wildcard Rule
Whenever a player plays or draws the wildcard Pāhoehoe (lava flow), that player can match Pāhoehoe with any card on the field. Player captures and places both cards in front of them with Pāhoehoe on top, even if the matched card is a rubbish card. At the end of the game, the owner of Pāhoehoe captures any remaining cards on the field that match the suit of the card captured by Pāhoehoe.  

If Pāhoehoe is dealt onto the field before gameplay begins, it is no longer a wildcard, and instead reverts to a November/Hala suit card.

Ending the Round
Gameplay continues until every player runs out of cards in their hands. Points are then tallied - the player with the most points wins! 

 

20 Points

    

10 Points

         

5 Points

         

0 Points (Rubbish)

                         

Once players have gotten familiar with the basic scoring for Hawaiʻifuda, they can choose to include bonus card combinations to add a competitive twist to their games. These bonus 3-card combos are often utilized in multi-round games and are scored at the end of each round. For every bonus combo that a player makes, all opponents must subtract 50 points from their total score. Some cards may count toward multiple bonus combos, as illustrated below:

1: Flag | Waʻa & Mahina | Medicine

   

2: Nēnē | ʻIʻiwi | Flag

   

3: Sun | Rain | Lei

   

4: Rainbow | Kapa | ʻUlu

    

5: Pulelehua | Medicine | Moʻo

   

6: Net | Pōhaku Kuʻi ʻAi | Waterfall

   

7: ʻUaʻu Kani | Kalo Loʻi | ʻĪlio holo i ka uaua

 

8: ʻĪlio holo i ka uaua | ʻŌpeʻapeʻa | Moʻo