Guandan Rule The rule book · Part 01
How to Play
Four players in two teams, two decks, 27 cards each. Empty your hand first — but bring your partner with you. Here is every rule of the loop.
Setup: 108 cards, 27 each
Two standard decks plus four jokers make 108 cards, dealt 27 to each of four players. Partners sit across from each other. The first round starts straight away; from the second round on, the tribute exchange based on the previous result happens first.
Beat what is on the table
You must match the leader’s combo type and card count with a higher hand. If you cannot — or would rather save your cards — you pass. When the other three all pass, the last player to play leads again.
The combos
Single · Pair · Triple · Full house (triple + pair) · Straight (exactly 5 in a row, 10-J-Q-K-A high, A-2-3-4-5 low) · Pair run (exactly three consecutive pairs, AAKKQQ high, AA2233 low) · Triple run (exactly two consecutive triples, 777888). None of these can be extended.
Bombs break the rules
A bomb beats any normal combo regardless of type. More cards is stronger; on equal size the higher rank wins. Four jokers — the royal bomb — beats everything.
Rank card and the wild
The rank card is the strongest single below the jokers. Only its two HEARTS are wild — they substitute for anything but a joker, which is how bombs can reach ten cards.
Passing is not dropping out
A pass does not remove you from the trick. If someone after you beats the pile and the turn comes back around, you may play again. The trick only ends when everyone still in, except the last player to play, has passed in a row.
Jiefeng (接风): the lead passes to the partner
When a player goes out and nobody can beat that final play, the lead cannot return to them, so their partner takes it. If the partner is out too, the next player still holding cards leads. In this case everyone remaining has to pass before the trick clears.
End of a round
If both members of one team go out first (1st and 2nd, a double-down), the round ends on the spot. Otherwise play continues until three players are out and the last one is automatically fourth. Your team’s two finishing places decide the payout and the promotion.
Tribute between rounds (进贡 and 还贡)
From the second round on, cards change hands before play starts. Single-down (the winner’s partner was not 2nd): 4th place gives one card to 1st. Double-down (1st and 2nd are partners): 3rd and 4th each give one card; the higher tribute goes to 1st and the other to 2nd, and on a tie the player seated just before 1st pays 1st. The tribute card is forced: your highest card, ignoring the wild hearts. The receiver returns any card of 10 or lower, or the lowest card if there is none. Whoever paid tribute leads the round.
Resisting the tribute (抗贡)
If the side that owes tribute holds two big jokers, the tribute is cancelled. Single-down means 4th place alone holds both; double-down means 3rd and 4th hold two between them. No cards change hands and the previous round’s 1st place leads.
Three chances at A
At rank A you only pass by winning with 1st and 2nd or 1st and 3rd. A 1st-and-4th win, or a loss, uses up one attempt. National and Huai’an rules give three attempts (A1, A2, A3), Nanjing gives two; fail the last one and the team drops back to rank 2.
Rules vary by region
Local variants are common. In Huai’an the card returned in the tribute (进贡) phase can be anything; the Nanjing style requires a low card, 10 or below. The “three failed A rounds” rule — dropping the team back to rank 2 — is used in some places and ignored in others. This app follows the 2017 national ruleset.