Card games

6/15/25

Updated 6/22/25

Contents

  1. Zhao Pengyou (4-7 players)
  2. Cambio (2+ players)

找朋友 (zhao pengyou)

Variants include 升级 (sheng ji) and 拖拉机 (tuo la ji)

Background

  • Every game, there are 2 teams of 2. One team is the "host" team, and one team is the "attacker" team. Teams change between games.
  • Every person starts at level 2. The people on the winning team both go up a level, up until A. The first person to reach A wins overall.
  • The 5, 10, and K are point cards. The 5 is worth five points, and the 10 and the K are worth ten points.

Setup

  1. Get 4 players
  2. Shuffle 3 decks of cards together
  3. Check the "level" that each player is on. Each player starts at level 2.

Draw cards

  1. Have one player cut the deck
  2. Have the next player draw the first card
  3. Have players draw cards one by one until there are 6 cards left
  4. During the phase, any player can play a card of their level on the board (eg. 2♦)
  5. During this phase, any player can beat that by playing more cards (with the same suit) of their level on the board (eg. 2♣2♣2♣)

The person with the most cards on the board becomes the host. The suit (♠♥♣♦) played by the host becomes the trump suit. The level played by the host becomes the trump rank (2 to A).

  1. At the end, the host looks through the 6 cards left. They can switch any of those cards with any card in their deck.

Play

  1. The host declares their friend condition. It should be in the form "the nth player to play a x." For example, the third player to play a K♦.

  2. The host starts the first round. Here are their valid plays:

    1. A single card (eg. 2♦)
    2. Doubles with the same suit and rank (eg. 2♦2♦)
    3. Triples with the same suit and rank (eg. 2♦2♦2♦)
    4. A tractor of any length with doubles of the same suit and consecutive rank (eg. 2♦2♦3♦3♦4♦4♦)
    5. A wonky tractor with a double and a triple of the same suit and consecutive rank (eg. 2♦2♦2♦3♦3♦)
  3. The rest of the players have to try to follow the suit and the card combination

    • If the first play is in the trump suit, everyone else must play something in the trump suit, the trump rank, or the jokers. If someone does not have anything here, they can play any card.
    • If the first play is in any other suit, everyone else must play that suit. If someone does not have ♦, they can play any card.
    • If the first play is a double, everyone else must play doubles in that suit. However, if the double is part of a triple, they are not obliged to split it into a double. If there are no doubles, they may play something else in the suit.
    • If the first play is a wonky tractor, other players must play their wonky tractors, triples, or doubles. If they do not have any of the above, they may play something else in the suit.
  4. After everyone has played their cards, determine the winner of the play. They take all of the cards for the team and start the next round.

    1. People can only win if their cards satisfy the card combination
    2. Within card combinations, the highest card wins. Here is the order:
      1. Big jokers
      2. Small jokers
      3. Cards in trump rank and trump suit (eg. 2♣)
      4. Cards only in trump rank (eg. 2♠, 2♥, 2♦)
      5. Cards only in the trump suit, ordered from A to 2 (eg. 3♣, J♣)
      6. Cards in the play's suit, ordered from A to 2
      7. Other cards, ordered from A to 2

    For example, if the first play is a tractor, then non-tractors cannot win. If the trump suit is ♣, and the play's suit is ♦, then 3♣ would beat 4♦ and 5♠. And so forth.

  5. The round ends when all the cards in people's hands are played. Then the points won by the attacker team is tallied (5, 10, and K), and the winning team goes up some number of ranks.

    1. 0 for the host to go up 3
    2. (0, 55) for the host to go up 2
    3. [55, 110) for the host to go up 1
    4. [110, 165) for attacker to go up 1 rank
    5. [165, 220) for attacker to go up 2 ranks
    6. 220 or higher for attacker to go up 3 ranks

Cambio

Background

  • The goal is to lose your cards and have the least amount of points at the end of the game.
  • Every card is worth their numeric value, except for red kings, which are worth -1 points.
  • Matching cards are cards with the same rank (eg. 2♠ and 2♦).

Setup

  1. Shuffle the deck and deal everyone 4 cards.
  2. Put the rest of the deck in the middle.
  3. Players should arrange their 4 cards in a 2x2 grid, faced-down
  4. Players may only peek at the first 2 cards

Cambio Setup

Play

  1. Players take turns drawing 1 card from the middle of the deck. They can choose to either:
    1. Discard the drawn card face-up
    2. Replace one of their face-down cards with the drawn card and discard the new card face-up
  2. Some cards have special actions when discarded:
    • 7 or 8: Look at one of your own cards
    • 9 or 10: Look at another player's card
    • J or Q: Swap one of your cards with another player's card without looking at either of them
    • K: Take a look at one of your cards and one of another player's cards and decide whether to swap them
  3. If a player thinks that there is a matching rank in one of the faced-down cards, they can flip it onto the discard pile.
    1. If the card did not match, the player must draw another card faced-down and add it to their collection
    2. If the player flipped one of their own cards, they simply lose a card
    3. If the player flipped another player's card, they can replace it with one of their own cards
    4. Only the first person to successfully flip a card gets the benefit
  4. Any player can call Cambio at the beginning of their turn. They must then skip their turn. The other players have one more turn before the game ends.
  5. If no player calls Cambio, the game ends when the deck runs out of cards
  6. At the end of the game, players with the lowest score wins