Rang Royale

Family & Culture

Rang and Its Neighbours: Card Games Played Across South Asia and the Gulf

A tour of the card games that sit alongside Rang: Hokm, Twenty-Nine, 304, Mendikot, Dehla Pakad, Bhabhi, Seep and Baloot, how they relate to Court Piece and what each asks of its players.

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Rang is one member of a large and lively family. Across South Asia and the Gulf, people play dozens of card games with shared ideas: partners sitting opposite each other, a trump suit, tricks to be won, and particular cards that matter more than others. Knowing Rang's neighbours helps explain where the game comes from, and gives Rang players a head start when a friend suggests something different. This article introduces some of the best known, with a note on how each one compares.

Hokm

Hokm is the Persian game most closely related to Rang, and the two are almost twins. Four players in two partnerships play with a standard 52-card deck. One player, the hakem, sees the first five cards and chooses the trump suit, which is then known to all. The aim is to win seven tricks, and a hand usually ends as soon as one side reaches seven. A sweep, where one team wins all seven tricks before the other wins any, is celebrated as a kot, the same word many Rang players use for winning every trick. Hokm is widely played in Iran and around the Gulf, and Rang players can usually sit down at a Hokm table with only a few minutes of explanation.

Twenty-Nine

Twenty-Nine is a partnership trick-taking game popular in parts of northern and eastern India, Bangladesh and Nepal. It uses only 32 cards, the seven to the Ace of each suit, and it has an unusual ranking: the Jack is the highest card in each suit, followed by the nine, the Ace and the ten, then the King, Queen, eight and seven. The cards carry points, which add up to 28 across the deck, and players bid for the right to choose a hidden trump. The hidden trump will feel familiar to anyone who plays Hidden Rang, while the bidding and card points make Twenty-Nine more of a calculation game.

304

304 is a close cousin of Twenty-Nine played especially in Sri Lanka and among Sri Lankan Tamil communities abroad. It also uses a short deck with the Jack and nine at the top, and its name comes from the total number of points involved in its scoring. Like Twenty-Nine, it combines bidding, a concealed trump and partnership play.

Mendikot

Mendikot is a partnership trick-taking game popular in Maharashtra and Gujarat, and played by families from those regions across the world. The tens are the key cards. A team that captures all four tens, or wins all the tricks, earns a special result with its own name. Trumps in Mendikot are often set during play, when a player first cannot follow suit, which will remind Rang players of Blind Rang.

Dehla Pakad

Dehla Pakad, which means "catch the ten", is played in northern India and Punjab. As the name suggests, the aim is to capture the tens in tricks, and the team that takes more of them wins. Like Mendikot, it shows how many South Asian partnership games give the ten a special importance. Rang players will find the follow-suit and trump rules familiar, but the focus on particular cards changes which tricks are worth fighting for.

Bhabhi

Bhabhi, also called Get Away, is a very popular game in northern India and Pakistan, and among many families abroad. It is a shedding game: the aim is to get rid of all your cards, and the last player holding cards is the loser, often teased as the bhabhi. Players must follow suit; a player who cannot follows with a thulla, playing a card of another suit, and the player who played the highest card of the led suit must pick up the whole trick. Bhabhi has no partners and no trumps, so it is a very different game from Rang, but it is often the first card game children in the family learn.

Seep

Seep, also called Sweep, is a fishing game widely played in Punjab and among Punjabi families abroad. Instead of tricks, players capture cards from a layout on the table by matching or combining their values, and clearing the whole table earns a seep, a sweep, worth bonus points. It is usually played in partnerships of two against two. Seep asks for a very different kind of thinking from Rang: arithmetic and memory rather than trump control.

Baloot

Baloot is the most popular card game in Saudi Arabia, and many South Asians who have lived in the Gulf have learned it from colleagues. It is a partnership game played with a 32-card deck and belongs to the same family as the French game Belote. Points from cards and declarations decide the result. It is more complex than Rang, but the partnership structure and trick play will be familiar.

What the family shares

Looking across these games, a few ideas keep coming back:

  • Partnerships, with partners sitting opposite each other.
  • A trump suit, often chosen by one player, sometimes hidden and sometimes set during play.
  • A focus on winning tricks or capturing particular cards.
  • Short decks in some games and the full 52 cards in others.

These shared ideas suggest a long history of games moving along trade routes and between courts, with each region adding its own touches. They also mean that a good Rang player already has many of the skills needed for its neighbours: following suit, timing trumps, counting cards and reading a partner.

Which to try next

If you enjoy Rang and want something closely related, try Hokm. If you like Hidden Rang's secret trump and enjoy a bit of arithmetic, try Twenty-Nine. If you want something for a big mixed family gathering, Bhabhi is quick to learn and very social.

For more on Rang's own story, see our history page. For how Rang compares to Western trick-taking games, read our guide for Bridge, Spades and Hearts players.

More on family and culture

New to the rules? See How to Play and the glossary. For strategy, browse the rules and strategy guides.