Cards are dealt at the start of a round in a group of eight and a group of six a player can call ' Grand Tichu' after looking at only their first eight cards for a ☒00 point bonus. This indicates that the player thinks they can empty their hand first this round if they do so, their team scores 100 points, and if not, their team instead loses 100 points. At the start of a round, each player can call ' Tichu' prior to playing any cards.

Fives, tens and Kings are worth 5, 10 and 10 points, with each hand worth one hundred points without bonuses- but the bonuses are what drive the game. The last player out in a round gives all the cards they won to the player who exited first, and the last player's unplayed cards are handed to the opposite team. The card led determines the only combination of cards that can be played on that trick, so if a single card is led, then only single cards are played if a straight of seven cards is led, then only straights of seven cards can be played, etc.

If play passes all the way back to the player who laid the top cards, they win the trick, clear the cards, and lead the next one. When it's your turn, you may either beat the current top card combination (single card, pair of cards, sequence of pairs, full house, etc.) or pass. The deck is a standard 52-card pack with four special cards added: dog, phoenix, dragon and Mah Jong. TICHU has evolved to worldwide popularity since its release thanks to Urs Hostettler, and here is why: yeah I'm feeling old too) taking many of its rules and mechanisms from 'Zheng Fen,' a traditional Chinese game, that itself takes some scoring from 'Da Bai' and 'Tuo la Ji,' two other traditional games. TI-CHU (and not tissue) has been a successful trick-taking game since it was released last century (1991 to be exact.

Tichu deck