Gong Zhu
China’s Chase the Pig. Dodge the hearts and the Pig, grab the Sheep, and mind the Doubler. 4 players.
Also known as Chinese Hearts and Catch the Pig.
How to play Gong Zhu
- 1Four players, 13 cards each, no trumps. Follow suit if you can; the highest card of the suit led wins the trick, and the winner leads next. Whoever holds the 2♣ leads the first hand; after that, whoever took the Pig leads.
- 2Only some cards count. Hearts cost points: A♥ −50, K♥ −40, Q♥ −30, J♥ −20, 10♥ to 5♥ −10 each, and the small hearts nothing. The Pig (Q♠) is −100. The Sheep (J♦) is worth +100.
- 3The Doubler (10♣) doubles everything else you took that hand. If the rest of your cards add up to nothing, it is worth +50 on its own.
- 4Take all thirteen hearts and they count plus instead of minus; take the Pig with them and it turns to +100 as well.
- 5Before the first trick, anyone holding the Pig, Sheep, Doubler or A♥ may show it to double its effect (the A♥ doubles every heart). A shown card can't be played on the first trick of its suit unless it's your last card of that suit.
- 6Scores carry over from hand to hand. When anyone falls to -1000 or below, the highest score wins.
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