Hanafuda Cards

[Brad]

So I ordered some Nintendo Hanafuda cards with all the points I've earned over the last 4 years of buying Nintendo games.

These ones are not quite the traditional hanafuda cards because 16 of the 48 cards have changed to add in Nintendo characters (Mario, Princess Peach, Donkey Kong, Luigi, Bowser, Lakitu, etc...). The cards come in a little plastic carrying box which seems pretty sturdy. The cards themselves are small but fairly thick (much thicker than regular playing cards).

The also came with rules to play "Koi-Koi" a common game played with Hanafuda cards. The basic rules seem pretty easy to follow but there are a bunch of sets of cards you need to remember. I've scanned in all the cards (I can't use card graphics off the internet because 16 of the cards look different) and I'm thinking of making a large printout of the rules and all the different sets in case I can actually get anyway to play the game with me.

I'll post the rules and the sets (w/card images) to Randomland once I'm done.

[zourtney]

Some geekery inside me wants to know how to play this. Plus, it's an ancient game (well, 300-500 years old, anyway) so it has that historical allure. We should play it some time.

[Nick]

Old does equal cool in some aspect. Makes you feel less childish if the game is older then the country you live in.  Knowing that some samurai perhaps once played the game.

[Brad]

More likely some Yakuza. The game is pretty popular for gambling over there I think.

[zourtney]

How's the card scanning project coming along?

[Nick]

Yakuza still have some Mystique to them. Those probably less deserved. Like the Mafia of the US they have a cool that crime should not imbue, yet does anyway. 

[Brad]

I've completed my card scanning. Here is a link (WARNING: PDF LINK) to the cheat-sheet for the sets. Eventually I'll probably turn that into a web page rather than a PDF. I'll probably also make one showing which cards go to which months.