🃏 Yaniv: card game rules

How to play Yaniv

Goal: Lower the total value of your hand and call 'Yaniv' at the right time, without piling up too many points over the game.

Setting up

1. Deal 5 cards to each player.
2. Turn one card face up to start the discard pile. The rest of the deck is the draw pile.
3. Card values: Ace is 1, 2 to 10 are worth their number, Jack, Queen and King are 10, and a joker is 0.

How to play

1. On your turn, discard one card or a legal combination: several cards of the same number, or a run of three or more cards in the same suit.
2. After discarding, take one card, either from the draw pile or from the cards the previous player just discarded (from a run you may only take the first or last card).
3. A joker can fill in for any card in a run.
4. When your hand adds up to 7 or less, you can call 'Yaniv!' at the start of your turn instead of playing.
5. Everyone shows their hand. If the caller has the lowest total, they score 0 and everyone else scores the total of their own hand.
6. If anyone has an equal or lower total, it's an 'Assaf': the caller gets a 30-point penalty plus their own hand total, and the player who called Assaf scores 0.

Who wins

A player who reaches 200 points (or whatever limit you agree on) is out. The last player left wins.

Tips

• Pick up low cards or cards that complete a pair from the discard pile. It brings your total down fast.
• Keep an eye on how many cards your opponents hold. A player with just one card is a real Assaf threat.

Variations

• Round-number bonus: a player who lands exactly on 100 points drops to 50 (some families knock off 50 points at every multiple of 50).
• Quick Yaniv: you can call from a total of 5 or less, and the game ends at 100 points.