Hawaiʻifuda
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
Collect as many point-value-cards as you can!
Cards
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: ʻĀhinahinaSpecial Cards: Nēnē | Sun
February | Pepeluali
Suit: ʻŌhiʻa LehuaSpecial cards: Rain | ʻIʻiwi
March | Malaki
Suit: ʻIlimaSpecial Cards: Flags | Lei
April | 'Apelila
Suit: Pōhuehue & KaunaʻoaSpecial Cards: Net | ʻUaʻu Kani
May | Mei
Suit: KaloSpecial Cards: Pōhaku Kuʻi ʻAi | Kalo Loʻi
June | Iune
Suit: Maʻo Hau HeleSpecial Cards: Rainbow | Pulelehua
July | Iulai
Suit: Naupaka Kuahiwi & Naupaka KahakaiSpecial Cards: Waterfall | ʻĪlio holo i ka uaua
August | 'Aukake
Suit: KaiSpecial Cards: Waʻa & Mahina | ʻŌpeʻapeʻa
September | Kepakemapa
Suit: ʻŌlenaSpecial Cards: Kapa | Medicine
October | 'Okakopa
Suit: ʻUluSpecial Cards: Breadfruit | Moʻo
November | Nowemapa
Suit: HalaSpecial Cards: Lauhala | Aliʻi, Honu & Pahu | ʻIwa
December | Kēkēmapa
Suit: KukuiSpecial Cards: ʻIo | Light
How to Play
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.
GameplayGameplay lasts either one or multiple rounds, and is made up of two phases:
- 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.
- 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.
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 RoundGameplay continues until every player runs out of cards in their hands. Points are then tallied - the player with the most points wins!
Point Values
20 Points
10 Points
5 Points
0 Points (Rubbish)
Bonus Combinations
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