How to play
Nine stones cross the stream between you and your rival. The deck has cards 1 to 9 in six colors: Reed, Sky, Sun, Berry, Shell and Plum. You hold six.
On your turn, pick a card from your hand and put it on your side of any stone that isn’t claimed yet. Each side holds three cards. Then you draw a card. If you can’t play, you pass.
Winning a stone
Three cards on a side make a set. From best to worst:
- Color run: three in a row, all one color (4 5 6 Sky).
- Three of a kind: three cards of the same number.
- One color: any three of one color.
- Run: three in a row, any colors.
- Total: anything else.
When both sides are full, the better set takes the stone. If they’re the same kind, the higher total wins, and a full tie goes to whoever finished their side first. You can also take a stone early: as soon as your side is full and no cards left unplayed could ever beat it, it’s yours.
Win the game with five stones, or three stones side by side.
Tips
Don’t fill every stone at once: a lone card tells your rival little, and you keep room for the card you need. Keep an eye on which cards are already on the table; if the 5 Sky is gone, nobody can make that run. Throw weak cards on stones you’ve already lost, and fight hardest for the middle, where three in a row is easiest.