For random games with random people, Gang of Four is better. I’d say Tichu is a bit more complicated and thus better if you play the game a lot. Gang of Four is clearly better when three players are playing. Tichu is a partners game, which is both good and bad. The games share a common heritage (even though I don’t think they are derived from the same game, the games are similar). The easiest comparison for Gang of Four is Tichu. It’s tricky and whenever you think you have your plans worked out, somebody surprises you with a Gang of Four. One killer combination is pretty worthless, if it leaves you with crud you can’t play. You want to have as strong combinations as possible, but also have to worry about leaving yourself with good cards so you can actually go out. Gangs of Four are a special combination, which can always be played and they beat everything, adding a touch of surprise to the game.Īs you can combine your cards in many ways, choosing the right combinations isn’t exactly easy. Players can play only as many cards as the leading player played, which means that poker hands can be beaten with either a better version of the same combination or better combination (straight -> flush -> full house -> straight flush). Each player may pass, but if they want to play, they must improve the combination of cards (the value of the cards climbs up, hence the name climbing game). Players play single cards, pairs, triplets or poker hands. So there’s quite a big incentive to reduce the number of cards in your hand! Seven or less and it’s one, all 16 and it’s five. There’s one penalty point for each card, with a factor that depends on the amount of cards. Winner of each hand is the player who empties their hand first, the rest get penalty points. The goal of the game is to empty your hands - played cards are worthless. Gang of Four is a climbing game and thus reminds of Tichu and The Great Dalmuti.

sets of four cards with the same number), which makes the game more fun. This increases the number of Gang of Fours (ie. Instead of standard deck, the game is played with a deck of 1-10, doubled, in three suits. The changes have been big enough.įirst of all, the deck is different. However, I don’t think Gang of Four is another commercial rip-off of a classic traditional game. The game is designed by a designer Lee Yih from Hong Kong, but it has it’s roots strongly in the traditional Chinese game (well, at least the game’s from 80’s) Choh Dai Di or Big Two. Now Days of Wonder has published a new edition of the game.

Gang of Four was published around ten years ago for the first time.

Do chinese people play tichu