Minhwatu is one of the simplest and most accessible ways to play with Hwatu, the traditional Korean card game. While Go-Stop requires more strategy, calculation, and anticipation, Minhwatu is based on a more direct principle: matching cards from the same month and adding up the points of the cards you have won.
It is therefore a very good starting point for discovering Hwatu.
For an introduction, Minhwatu is best played with 2 or 3 players. With 2 players, 8 cards are placed face up on the table, and each player receives 10 cards. With 3 players, 6 cards are placed face up on the table, and each player receives 7 cards. The remaining cards form a draw pile, placed face down.
On your turn, you place one card from your hand on the table. If there is already a card from the same month on the table, you make a pair and collect those cards. Then, you turn over one card from the draw pile. If this card also matches a month already present on the table, you may collect that pair as well. The game continues in this way until all the cards have been played.
In Minhwatu, the cards have a basic value according to their category. Gwang cards are worth 20 points each. Yeol-kkeut cards are worth 10 points each. Tti cards are worth 5 points each. Pi cards are worth 0 points in the basic scoring system of Minhwatu. The reference total is 240 points.
With 3 players, the reference score is 80 points. Above 80 points, the player wins. Below 80 points, the player loses. With 2 players, the reference score is 120 points. The player who scores more than 120 points wins.
But the charm of Minhwatu does not end with these basic rules. In the actual game, certain combinations of cards create additional points, and several special situations can change the final score. This richness is what turns Minhwatu into a game that is simple, lively, and deeply connected to Korean culture.
This presentation is a first introduction to Minhwatu. Special combinations, detailed scoring, particular cases, and examples of actual games are explained in greater detail in the book 『SO, Hwatu』.
.png)
To buy the physical Hwatu deck that I created, click here.
https://www.etsy.com/listing/1634471652/so-hwatu-hwatu-card-go-stop-godori
.jpg)
Comments
Post a Comment