Gong Zhu

How to play

1. How do I start a game of Gong Zhu?: Press Deal and the 52 cards go out one by one, 13 to each player. You sit at the bottom; West, North and East are computers, and all four play for themselves. Before the deal you can pick the end line (Quick ±500 or Standard ±1000), the computer level, and the Pig–Goat flip and Exposing switches. Tap the table during the deal to skip it.
2. How does exposing work in Gong Zhu?: If your hand holds any of ♠Q (the Pig), ♦J (the Goat), ♣10 (the Transformer) or ♥A after the deal, an expose panel appears: one tile per card, each showing how the score changes when exposed, e.g. the Pig −100 → −200. Tap tiles to choose, then Expose n & play — or No, just play if you are unsure. The computers decide at the same moment, and every exposed card stays on its owner's seat plate for the whole hand.
3. How do I play a card in Gong Zhu?: Whoever holds ♣2 leads the first hand and must open with it; after that, whoever took the Pig last hand leads. Follow the led suit if you can, otherwise discard anything. The highest card of the led suit wins — there are no trumps — and the winner leads the next trick. Cards you can't play are dimmed and tapping one tells you why; tap a bright card to lift it, then tap it again or press Play.
4. How is Gong Zhu scored and when does it end?: Thirteen tricks make a hand, scored in seven lines: ① hearts ② Pig ③ Goat ④ base ⑤ Transformer ⑥ hand ⑦ total. Hearts 5–10 are −10 each and J to A −20 to −50; the Pig is −100 and the Goat +100; the Transformer taken with any other scoring card doubles the hand. When anyone reaches −500 or +500 the game ends: highest total wins, lowest is the Pig. The game saves in your browser, so you can close the page and carry on later.

Rules & variants

Gong Zhu basics: one 52-card deck without jokers, four players each for themselves, 13 cards each. Play goes You → West → North → East, one card each per trick, 13 tricks per hand. Aces are high and there are no trumps: every trick is won by the highest card of the suit led, and a discard of another suit never wins. The winner takes the four cards and leads the next trick.

Leading in Gong Zhu: whoever holds ♣2 leads the first hand and must open with it. From the second hand on, the player who took the Pig (♠Q) in the previous hand leads, with any legal card. You must follow the led suit if you can; only when you are void may you discard anything. This page has no 'hearts must be broken' rule and no ban on points in the first trick.

Scoring cards in Gong Zhu: the Pig is the queen of spades, −100 to whoever takes it; the Goat is the jack of diamonds, +100; the Transformer is the ten of clubs, worth nothing by itself but it changes the whole hand. Hearts score by rank — 2, 3 and 4 are 0; 5 through 10 are −10 each; J −20, Q −30, K −40, A −50 — so all thirteen hearts add up to −200.

The Transformer (♣10): taken with no other scoring card it is +50. Taken together with the Pig, the Goat or any scoring heart, it doubles that player's whole hand. Example: you take ♣10, ♥K and ♥7 — hearts are −50, so the hand is −100. Take ♣10 with only ♥2 and it still counts as 'Transformer alone': +50.

Exposing in Gong Zhu: right after the deal each player may expose ♠Q, ♦J, ♣10 and ♥A from their hand, doubling what those cards are worth — an exposed Pig is −200, an exposed Goat +200, an exposed Transformer ×4, and an exposed ♥A doubles every heart. The catch: on the first trick led in that suit, you may not play the exposed card while you still hold another card of the suit. It is allowed when it is your last card of that suit, and discarding it is always fine.

All hearts, grand slam and the Pig–Goat flip: taking all thirteen hearts turns the hearts line into +200 (+400 with ♥A exposed). With the Pig–Goat flip on — the default here — an all-hearts hand also makes the Pig +100 and the Goat −100. If the same player also took the Pig, the Goat and the Transformer, that is a grand slam: everything turns positive and then doubles, so a grand slam with only the Goat exposed is +1000 in one hand. The flip can be switched off for the next game.

A scoring example: this hand you take ♥5, ♥6, ♥J and the Goat — hearts −40, Goat +100, hand +60. West takes the Pig with ♥K, ♥A and ♥2 — hearts −90, Pig −100, hand −190. North takes only the ♣10 and ♥3: +50. East takes six hearts for −70. The four hands need not add up to zero. The result table spells out all seven lines and marks any all-hearts or Transformer doubling.

How many players and how long: always four players, and the 52 cards deal out exactly. Here you play alone against three computers, which only see their own hand and public information (including exposed cards), never yours. The computers play without randomness, so the same deal number played the same way replays the same game. A Quick ±500 game usually takes four to eight hands, 10 to 20 minutes; after 30 hands the game ends regardless.

Gong Zhu strategy: if you hold the Pig with few spades, discard it the first time you are void in a led suit instead of waiting to be forced to take it; shed high hearts the same way. When someone leads spades, play under the queen so the Pig's holder has to eat it. The Goat is the only plus card — when you play last to a trick with no Pig or big hearts in it, a high diamond can grab it. Once you hold the Transformer, avoid any further points or the whole hand doubles.

House-rule differences: Gong Zhu varies from city to city. Some tables count all hearts as +400 or turn every heart positive; some don't play the Pig–Goat flip; some allow exposing only the Pig and the Transformer; the end line is often ±1000, while others play a fixed number of hands. This page puts its rule set on the start screen and the result table — all hearts +200, the flip switchable, all four cards exposable, Quick ±500 or Standard ±1000 — and the rules drawer lists the common differences.

FAQ