Finding Friends Card Game Rules

Players start at level 2 and try to become the first to reach the highest level, Ace. A game is a sequence of deals, and the teams can change every deal.

In each deal, one player becomes the Caller. The Caller and any hidden Partner or Partners try to stop the opposing players, called the Challengers, from reaching the point thresholds in the scoring table. The Challengers try to capture enough 5s, 10s, and kings to beat those thresholds.

At the end of the deal, the Challenger point total decides which side won and how many levels each player on the winning side advances. Then the next deal begins: a new Caller can emerge, new Partner cards can be called, and the table's team orientation can shift again.

A full game is usually a repeating cycle of deals, each step is explained in more detail later on:

1. Set aside a small number of cards face down. These set-aside cards are called the kitty.
2. Spread the remaining cards face down on the table. Starting from the dealer's right, players take cards one at a time anti-clockwise until everyone has a full hand.
3. While drawing, players may expose certain cards to bid for the right to become the Caller and set trump.
4. The Caller picks up the kitty, and may exchange cards in their hand with the kitty to improve their hand.
5. The Caller names or "calls" one or more cards. Whoever plays a called card becomes the Caller's Partner for that deal.
6. The Caller leads the first hand or "trick".
7. The winner of each trick keeps the cards in it and scores points for every 5, 10 or K. Then they lead the next trick.
8. Play continues until all hand cards are gone. The winner of the last trick also receives the kitty cards and any points in the kitty go to them.
9. The final result is decided based on the number of points the Challenger team scores. See the scoring table.
10. Players on the winning team increase in level and a new deal begins.

Use 2 standard 54-card decks# playersDeck setup52 standard 54-card decks62 standard 54-card decks72 standard decks with all jokers removed83 standard decks, using 2 red jokers and no black jokers93 standard decks, using 3 red jokers and no black jokers103 standard decks with all jokers removed113 standard decks, using 2 red jokers and 2 black jokers124 standard decks, using 2 red jokers and no black jokers. Set aside 6 cards# playersKitty58 cards66 cards76 cards86 cards96 cards106 cards116 cards126 cards cards face down as the kitty. Place the rest of the deck face down in the center of the table. Players starting from the dealer's right take cards one at a time anti-clockwise until everyone has a full hand. Each player should end up with 17 cards# playersCards each520 cards617 cards714 cards819 cards917 cards1015 cards1114 cards1217 cards cards.

During the draw, players may bid to become the Caller by exposing cards from their hand. The exposed card must match that player's current level. At the start of a fresh game, everyone is on level 2, so players expose 2s.

A single exposed card is a bid. Another player can overcall it by exposing a larger matching set, such as a pair beating a single. The previous bidder may defend by exposing the same larger set in their original suit. The final unchallenged bidder becomes the Caller and sets the trump suit from the exposed card or cards.

If nobody bids before the kitty is reached, many tables redeal. Some tables use a different bidding method, such as an auction, a preselected banker, a random Caller, or a kitty-flip rule. Agree on this before the first deal.

Each deal has a trump suit and a trump rank. The Caller's winning bid decides the trump suit, and the Caller's current level decides the trump rank.

A fresh game begins with every player on level 2, so 2 is the first trump rank. If the winning bid is a 2 of hearts, hearts becomes the trump suit and 2 remains the trump rank.

After bidding ends, the Caller picks up the kitty, may exchange cards from their hand with the kitty, and buries the same number of cards face down.

Each deal has a trump rank and a trump suit. Jokers are also trump.

A card is trump if it is:

• a joker,
• the trump rank, or
• in the trump suit.

All trumps count as one suit when following. If hearts are trump and someone leads the 2 of clubs, that 2 is a trump lead, not a club lead.

Trump order, high to low:

1. Red jokers.
2. Black jokers.
3. The trump-rank card in the trump suit, often called the big trump rank card.
4. The trump-rank cards in the other suits. These are equal to each other, so first played wins ties.
5. The rest of the trump suit from A down to the lowest non-trump-rank card.

Non-trump suits rank normally from A down to 2, skipping the trump rank because every card of that rank is trump.

After the kitty exchange, the Caller names exact card copies. A called card has both a card face and an ordinal: "the first ace of clubs," "the second king of spades," or "the third 7 of diamonds" in larger deck games.

The ordinal means the N-th time that exact card face is played during the hand. With two decks, "second king of spades" means the player who plays the second K spades to appear.

For 6 players# playersDisplayed count55 players66 players77 players88 players99 players1010 players1111 players1212 players, the Caller names 2 called Partner cards# playersPartner cards51 called Partner card62 called Partner cards72 called Partner cards83 called Partner cards93 called Partner cards104 called Partner cards114 called Partner cards125 called Partner cards. The Caller side can have up to 3 players# playersCaller side size52 players63 players73 players84 players94 players105 players115 players126 players total: the Caller plus 2 hidden Partners# playersHidden Partners51 hidden Partner62 hidden Partners72 hidden Partners83 hidden Partners93 hidden Partners104 hidden Partners114 hidden Partners125 hidden Partners.

Called Partner cards are usually not allowed to be trumps. That means no jokers, no cards in the trump suit, and no off-suit cards of the trump rank.

Apart from those restrictions, the Caller may choose the specific ranks, suits, and copies. It is possible for two called cards to reveal the same player, for the Caller to play a called card themselves, or for a called copy to be buried in the kitty. When that happens, the Caller's team is smaller than the maximum size.

No one announces that they are a Partner. The reveal happens through play. A player who holds a called card may still be unsure whether they are the Partner, because an earlier copy of the same card might appear first. When another player reveals as Partner, they join the Caller's side and bring the points they have already won with them. Some table rules treat the reveal as immediate; others settle the reveal after the trick.

The Caller leads the first trick. The winner of each trick leads the next. Play continues until all cards in hand have been played.

The leader sets the trick's format sometimes called "shape". Each follower contributes an equal-size play and follows the led suit as closely as their hand allows.

Standard full rules allow these lead types:

The practical rule is: match the leader's suit and shape if you can. If you cannot match the full shape, play as much of the led suit as possible, then fill the remaining card count from anywhere.

For a single-card lead:

• If you have the led suit, you must play that suit.
• If you do not have the led suit, you may play any card.
• If any trump is played, the highest trump wins. Otherwise, the highest card of the led suit wins.
• Equal cards are broken by play order: first played wins.

For a pair lead:

• If you have a pair in the led suit, you must play a pair in that suit.
• If you cannot play a pair but have enough cards in the led suit, you must play led-suit cards.
• If you do not have enough led-suit cards, you play what you have and fill the rest with any cards.
• Only a real pair can win a pair trick. A trump pair can beat any non-trump pair; otherwise the highest eligible pair in the led suit wins. Two unrelated high cards cannot beat a real pair.

For tractors and larger grouped leads, players follow with the led suit as much as possible and must preserve the required shape when they can. A tractor can only be beaten by a higher tractor of the same shape, or by a matching tractor in trump.

For top-card throws, the leader is claiming that every part of the throw is unbeatable in that suit. If another player can beat any part of it in the led suit, that player shows the answer immediately. Common rules then make the leader reduce the play and penalize the withdrawn cards. If no one can beat any part in the led suit, the throw succeeds unless a void player can beat the full shape with matching trump combinations.

Only 5s, 10s, and kings score. At the end of the deal, the key number is Challenger points: the point cards won by the side opposing the Caller after final teams are known.

Before Partners reveal, point cards won by non-Caller players are usually tracked as provisional Challenger points. If one of those players later reveals as a Partner, the points they already won move to the Caller's side.

The most useful way to remember the scoring is per deck:

• Below 40 points per deck: the Caller's side wins.
• 40 to 59 points per deck: no side advances.
• 60 or more points per deck: the opposing side wins.
• Stronger wins move more levels.

For the selected player count, that becomes:

In standard rules, the Caller's side gains a short-team bonus when it wins with fewer players than the maximum Caller-side size. First determine the base Caller-side win from the table. Then add that same number again for each missing Caller-side player.

The kitty, also called the bottom or 底牌, is a face-down reserve left after the deal. The Caller picks it up, improves their hand, and buries the same number of cards face down.

The last trick decides the kitty:

• If the Caller's side wins the last trick, the buried point cards stay away from the Challengers.
• If the Challengers win the last trick, point cards in the kitty are added to the Challengers' score.
• In common full rules, the kitty points count double; some tables use higher multipliers for pair or tractor last tricks.

This is why the last trick can decide a close hand. A buried 5, 10, and K are 25 raw points, but they become 50 Challenger points when doubled.

The Caller's side is defending the deal. The Challengers are trying to take enough point cards to break the defense.

The Caller's side wants to:

• keep point cards away from Challengers,
• protect the last trick when the kitty matters,
• reveal Partners at useful moments, and
• avoid feeding points to players who may not be on their side yet.

The Challengers want to:

• collect 5s, 10s, and kings,
• force out trump,
• identify the Caller's Partners,
• win the last trick if the kitty may contain points, and
• force at least the no-advancement band, then push high enough to win the deal.

This is why the game is tense even before teams are known. A player who looks like an opponent may become your Partner later.

Traditional Sheng Ji is a multi-deal level game. Players begin at level 2. Winning players advance through the levels: 2, 3, 4, and so on up to A.

After each deal:

• If the Caller side wins, the Caller and revealed Partners advance by the level movement from the scoring table, including any short-team bonus.
• If the Challengers win, each Challenger advances by the level movement from the scoring table.
• If the score lands in the no-advancement band, no one moves.
• The next deal starts with the updated individual levels. A player making trump exposes a card matching their own current level, so different players may be trying to expose different ranks later in the match.

The full game ends when a player or side advances beyond A under the table's house rule. Some tables require a successful defense at A, and some add joker levels or continue for a fixed number of deals.

The standard rules above are the main reference. Stack's online version keeps the point-card, trump, kitty, and hidden-partner core, but shortens the parts that are hardest to coordinate online.

Expect table rules to differ. The most common differences are:

• Number of decks: many rules use one deck per two players, while some 5-7 player rules use two decks.
• Joker count and kitty size: some groups change jokers so the kitty stays at 6 cards; others allow an 8-card kitty.
• Number of Partners: the Caller may name one, two, or more Partner cards, depending on player count.
• Bidding: trump may be set by exposing cards during the deal, by auction, by a predetermined banker, or by turning the kitty.
• Legal Partner cards: most rules forbid calling trumps, and some add more restrictions.
• Throws and other grouped leads: full rules often support top-card throws and other table-specific grouped leads beyond Stack's singles, pairs, and tractors.
• Kitty multiplier: the last trick's format may change how much the kitty is worth.
• Level system: some groups use active/passive levels or make only previous winners eligible to set trump.
• Next Caller: some groups let anyone expose their own level; others choose the next trump maker from the previous deal's result.
• End condition: some groups play to A, some through A, and some use shorter match formats.

When rules disagree, first ask: who is defending, who is attacking, how many Partners are called, what grouped leads are legal, and how the kitty scores.