How to Play Daifugo

Daifugo is a classic Japanese card game that’s been around for decades. It’s believed that it was first introduced by China in the 1970s and became widely popular in Japan as a leisure activity in the ‘80s and ‘90s. Back then, it was known as ‘Dai Hinmin’ or ‘Very Poor Man’ in English but it has since been renamed to its far more positive current name.

In English, Daifugo is translated as ‘Grand Millionaire’. It follows the Climbing game structure where people take turns playing higher ranking cards than their opponents. The goal of Daifugo, like other Climbing games, is to be the first to empty your hand and earn the title of Daifugo.

Before You Play Daifugo

Since Daifugo is a Climbing game, it also ranks its cards according to their designated value. The card rankings are the following, going from lowest to highest: 

• 3
• 4
• 5
• 6
• 7
• 8
• 9
• 10
• J
• Q
• K
• A
• 2.

In some instances, you can also choose to play with a single Joker. If you do, it’s ranked higher than a 2, making it the highest value card in play.

Daifugo is normally played with a standard 52-card deck but this can be doubled if there are over 6 players participating. All participating players must then decide among one another who is the dealer. This can be randomly done or they can just play rock-paper-scissors. It doesn’t have to be complicated.

Playing Daifugo

Once the dealer has been decided, they must then evenly distribute all the cards among the players and there must be no leftovers. If there are extras, they’re also handed out. If necessary, players can have one or two extra cards.

The first player is the one on the immediate left of the dealer, following a clockwise turn order. They need to play at least 1 card up to a max of 4 of the same value. For example, they can play a single 4 or all four Kings at once (i.e. K-K-K-K). It’s up to the first player to decide to rest of the game. Additionally, players can also choose to play 3-4 cards in sequence if they’re all the same suit (e.g. 5-6-7-8 or 9-10-J).

The next player needs to either match the previous player’s number of cards with an equal or higher ranking card combination or pass. This means that if the first player plays 5-5, the next player needs to either play at least 5-5 or pass. If you pass, you can still choose to play cards the next time it’s your turn in the order. This continues until every player has passed except for one.

Do note that just because you can play cards doesn’t mean you need to. Sometimes, it’s better to save your best cards for later just in case someone whips out something crazy.

If the first player plays a sequence, then all following players need to either play a sequence with the same number of cards and equal or higher values and a matching suit or pass. The following player’s sequence’s suit doesn’t need to be the same suit as the first sequence. Otherwise, there wouldn’t be many plays. If the first play was a 4-5-6, the next player can either match that or play a 5-6-7 and above.

Additionally, if the Joker is played, then it can be used to pair with another card and it matches that card’s value. This means that a 5-Joker is equal to a 5-5, and a 3-4-5 is equal to a 3-Joker-5. However, the Joker retains its status as the highest-value card so playing a single Joker will force other players to pass unless additional Jokers are in play.

The last player left standing who didn’t pass is the one who dictates the new set of cards that everyone must follow for the following rounds. The game continues until everyone’s hands are emptied. It’s that easy.

Auxiliary Rules in Daifugo

Daifugo’s Player Titles

Once a game ends, player titles are handed out depending on the order of who emptied their hands first. 

The first player to empty their hands is given the highest rank of Daifugo or in English, ‘Grand Millionaire’. This player gets to be the one to add, remove, or change the rules for the next game. No one else can modify the game state but the Daifugo. Following the Daifugo is the Fugo or ‘Millionaire’, then the Heimin or ‘Commoner’.

The last two ranks are the Hinmin and Dai Hinmin. In English, Hinmin is translated as ‘Poor’ or ‘Pauper’ while Dai Hinmin, the lowest rank, is translated as ‘Destitute’ or ‘Grand Pauper’. In the spirit of the game, whoever is Dai Hinmin is forced to clean, shuffle, and deal out the cards for the next game. Not only that, but they’re also tasked with doing whatever menial tasks the other players ask of them like fetching food or giving foot massages.

If there are only 3 players, then the titles of Fugo and Hinmin aren’t used. Additionally, if there are only 4 players, then the title of Heimin isn’t used. In the case that there are over 5 players, then the title of Heimin can be handed out as many times as necessary because there can be no more than 1 player holding the other titles.

Card Trading in Daifugo

Once the first game ends, all players except for the Heimin or Commoner have to trade cards once the cards have been dealt.

The Dai Hinmin gives their two highest value cards to the Daifugo and the Hinmin gives their highest value card to the Fugo. On the other hand, the Fugo gives their worst card, not necessarily their lowest value card, to the Hinmin and the Daifugo gives their two worst cards to the Dai Hinmin.

Some Optional Daifugo Rules

Like other card games with historical roots, Daifugo is no stranger to rule variations over time. Some new rules make the game a bit more exciting than it already is, while others are an explosion of raw fun.

A simple optional rule is that no sequences can have a 2 in them. This means that if you choose to use this rule, sequences like Q-K-A-2 or K-A-2 aren’t allowed.

Then there’s Miyako-Ochi. This rule makes it so that if the Daifugo of the first game doesn’t win again in the following game, they automatically become the Dai Hinmin. This variant comes from two root words, Miyako, which means ‘large, beautiful city’, and Ochiru, which means ‘to fall’.

Another whopper of a Daifugo variant is Kakumei or ‘Revolution’. If a 4-of-a-kind is ever played while this rule is active, then starting with the following game, all card value rankings are reversed. This means that instead of 3 being the lowest and 2 being the highest, 2 becomes the lowest and 3 becomes the second highest. If the Joker is in play, then the Joker keeps its status as the highest-ranking card.

Other Games Like Daifugo

There are also other Climbing games similar to Daifugo that can also be played with the standard 52-card deck. One of the most popular is President, also known as Asshole, Scumbag, Capitalism, and many others depending on where it’s played. There’s also the Filipino ‘Pusoy Dos’ and the Vietnamese Tien Len or ‘Thirteen’.

Will You Be the Next Daifugo?

Go ahead and play Daifugo with some of your best friends. It’s a fun and incredibly simple game that anyone can learn to play and enjoy anywhere at any time. This has everything you’ll ever need to know when it comes to learning everything there is to know about Daifugo so don’t worry. If you want, you can even create your own rules.

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