Guandan

A trick-taking, shedding card game from Jiangsu, China. Two teams of two race to level up from 2 to A by emptying their hands first, wielding bombs, tubes, and straights to dominate the table.

2
♣
♣
2
♣
5
♥
♥
5
♥
10
♠
♠
10
♠
J
♦
♦
J
♦
A
♠
♠
A
♠

Setup

  • 4 players use 2 decks; 6 players use 3
  • Each player receives 27 cards per round
  • 2 teams: sit every other person so partners face each other across the table

Deck

From highest → lowest:

  1. Big Joker
  2. Little Joker
  3. Rank Card
  4. A♣
  5. K♠
  6. Q♥
  7. J♦
  8. 10♣
  9. 9♠
  10. 8♥
  11. 7♦
  12. 6♣
  13. 5♠
  14. 4♥
  15. 3♦
  16. 2♣
Example (Rank = 3)
Big Joker > Little Joker > 3 > A > K > Q > J > 10 > 9 > 8 > 7 > 6 > 5 > 4 > 2

Rank Card / Trump Card

  • Each round has a rank card
  • Higher than all regular cards
  • Lower than jokers

Heart of the rank = wild card: Can act as any non-joker card.

Example (Rank = 2)
2♥4♠4♠4♠4♠4♠4♠4♠2♥3♠3♠3♠3♠3♠A good use is completing a straight flush by replacing the wrong suit.

Teams

  • Four players form two fixed partnerships
  • Teammates sit across from each other — your left and right neighbors are always on the other team
  • A round ends when one team sheds both players' hands
  • Finishing order determines how many levels your team climbs

Levels

2–A

Both teams start at rank 2 and race toward A. Each round, the winning team advances based on where its two members finished.

General scoring

  • Rank starts at 2 for both teams
  • Winning team advances ranks based on finishing positions

Next round rank = previous rank + places advanced

4-player game

  • 1st + 2nd3 places
  • 1st + 3rd2 places
  • 1st + 4th1 place
Example
Game 1 (Rank 2): Team A 1st & 3rd → advance 2 → rank 4Game 2 (Rank 4): Team B 1st & 2nd → advance 3 → rank 7Game 3 (Rank 7): Team A 1st & 2nd → advance 3 → rank 10

Winning the Ace round

  • Once a team reaches Ace rank, they have 3 tries
  • To win: get 1st and NOT last place
  • If they fail 3 times, they return to rank 2