reflection #3

            This week I learned a little more about the point system of the game. Well before you start the game you have to check your hand for any automatic points. The combinations that you can get 6points are four cards of the same suit or four pairs of cards with the same suit. When this happens that round ends and the person with that combination in their hand gets the points.

(all of the same suit) 6pts 

    
  (four pairs of cards) 6pts         
                  

                To make the combinations called “yakus”.  The players make a match with another card on the field which then they would take it or they drop a card if need be if no matches are available. Then they pick up a card from the draw pile and see if it can make a match and take it for a possible combination. If it doesn’t then they leave it on the playing field. Here are the possible yaku’s:

Kasu (Plains)

10 Plain cards. 1 point. Each Additional 1P after.

Tanzaku (Ribbons)

5 Ribbons. 1 point. Each Additional 1P after.

Tane (Animals)

5 Animals. 1 point. Each Additional 1P after.

Ino-Shika-Cho (Boar-Deer-Butterfly)

Animal cards of Clover, Maple, Peony. 5 points.

Akatan (Red Poetry Ribbons)

All 3 red poetry ribbons. 6 points.

Aotan (Blue Ribbons)

All 3 blue ribbons. 6 points.

Sanko (3Brights)

3 Bright cards not containing Rain man card. 6 points.

Ame-Shiko (Rain man)

4Brights containing Rain man card. 8 points.

Shiko (4Brights)

4 Bright cards not containing Rain man card. 10 points.

Goko (5Brights)

All 5 Bright cards. 15 points.

Tsuki-fuda (Monthly Cards)

All four cards in one group shown right on screen. 4 points.

Bake-Fuda (Wild Card)

The animal card of Chrysanthemum can be regarded as a plain card as well. If you have this, 9 plain cards and this card will be the Yaku of Kasu.

           

Oya-Ken (Dealer's Privilege)

If neither gets any Yaku, Dealer wins 6 points.

                 If during the game a player calls “stop” then they gain all the points from his or her hand. While the opponent loses all of the points. If a player has a total of 7 or more points when the round ends then their score doubles. If a player calls “koi-koi” and their opponent gets a yaku before them then the opponent’s score is doubled. If a player is able to score 7 or more points plus getting a yaku when their opponent called “koi-koi” then their score is quadrupled. this continues for either 6 or 12 rounds and at the end all the points are counted up and the player with the most points wins.

reflection #2

Well this week I learned how to set up the game koi-koi hanafuda. Well first you have to know how to shuffle the cards. They are different since they are smaller and thicker than regular playing cards. So to shuffle hanafuda cards, you hold the deck in the left hand, cards are faced-down, cupped between the fingers and thumb. Then with the right hand, grab a random hunk of cards from the deck, pull them out, and stack them on top. Then you repeat several times. After the shuffler finishes they then hand it to the other player(s). The other player(s) then cut the deck and place the bottom on the top. This action is supposed to represent equality among the players.

Dealer always starts the game and to decide who the dealer is for the first round each player takes the top card of the deck. Then the dealer is the one who gets the earliest month. If they are in the same month then the higher point card goes first. To deal out the cards, the dealer and the other opponent gets 8 cards for their hand and then then there are 8 cards placed on the field (four for each player). That’s basically how you start the game.

reflection #1

This week I looked more into what Hanafuda was. I noticed that there were quite a few similarities and differences between this Japanese card games compared to the card games we play here.  For similarities I found out that there where many games that you can play with these playing cards just as how there are many games we can play with a deck of playing cards. Even with this similarity there are many differences like how the cards are smaller in size and made with thicker material that feels like cardboard. Unlike the 52 cards in regular playing cards hanafuda has 48 cards. These 48 cards are separated into twelve sets of four cards that represent the twelve months of the year.

The game that was played in movie Summer Wars was called Koi-Koi Hanafuda. The Japanese word “Hanafuda” literally translates to “flower cards”. This is because the pictures for the twelve months are represented by flowers such as cherry blossoms for the month of March or even chrysanthemums for the month of September. For the phrase “koi-koi” it means “come on” which represents how in the game when players want to continue their hand. The whole point of the game is to make combinations called “yaku’s”. When someone makes a yaku then they can take the points or they can continue by calling “koi-koi” to try to earn more points on top of what they just earned. Now that I know the basic idea of the game I will try to learn how to set it up and learn the point system for the yaku’s next week.