How to Play

Korea's beloved 5-player trick-taking game. Bid for point cards, secretly call a friend with a named card, and control the Mighty and Joker to sweep the defenders.

Mighty is Korea's most popular card game, a five-player trick-taking contest built around bidding, a secret called partner, and two superpowered cards; the Mighty (usually the Ace of Spades) and the Joker. The declarer and their secret friend combine to capture 13 to 20 of the 20 point cards in the deck; the three defenders must cooperate to prevent this, but only one of them actually knows who the friend is. The drama of the game lies in figuring out who is on whose side and forcing the Mighty to show itself.

Players

Mighty is played by exactly 5 players, all individuals, though the declarer and the secretly called friend act as a team once the friend card is revealed by play. Each hand resets the team composition based on a new bid.

Card Deck

Use a 53-card deck: a standard 52-card French-suited deck plus one Joker. Card rank within a suit is Ace high down to 2 low. The key point cards are Aces, Kings, Queens, Jacks, and 10s; there are 20 point cards in total (4 of each rank), each worth 1 point. 2s through 9s are non-point cards, though they can still win tricks. The Joker is a wild card with unique powers described below.

Objective

The declarer bids to capture at least some number of point cards (between 13 and 20). Along with the secret friend whose card they call, they form a team and must meet or exceed the bid by capturing point cards in tricks. The three defenders share what they capture and win by preventing the team from reaching the bid.

Setup and Deal

1. Choose a dealer by cutting for high card. The deal rotates clockwise.
2. Shuffle the 53-card deck. Deal 10 cards to each of the 5 players, one at a time clockwise.
3. Place the final 3 cards face-down in the centre as the kitty (bid pile).
4. Players pick up and sort their hands secretly.

Bidding and the Friend Call

1. Bidding: Starting with the player left of the dealer, each player either passes or announces a bid of at least 13 point cards and a declared trump suit (or 'no-trump'). Each new bid must be higher than the previous; either more point cards for the same trump, or the same number in a higher-ranked suit (Spade < Club < Diamond < Heart < No-trump).
2. Rounds of bidding: Bidding continues until four players pass consecutively. The surviving bid wins; that player becomes the declarer. If everyone passes without bidding, the hand is thrown in and the deal rotates.
3. Kitty pickup: The declarer picks up the 3-card kitty into their hand, then discards any 3 cards face-down back to the kitty. Those discards count as captured by the declarer's team at the end of the hand (any point cards in them count toward the bid).
4. Trump and Mighty: The declarer announces the final trump suit. The Mighty card is the Ace of Spades by default; if Spades is trump, the Mighty becomes the Ace of Diamonds. The Mighty is always the single most powerful card in every hand.A♠A♦
5. Friend call: The declarer names a specific card (the friend card), usually an Ace or the Mighty (if they do not have it). The player who holds that card is the secret friend and joins the declarer's team. The friend reveals themselves only when the friend card is actually played.
6. Alternative friends: Instead of naming a card, the declarer may name 'first-trick friend' (whoever wins trick 1 is the friend), 'no friend' (declarer plays alone against four defenders, often for double stakes), or 'kitty friend' (the holder of a specific card later revealed from the discarded kitty is the friend).

Gameplay

1. Lead: The declarer leads the first trick. In subsequent tricks the winner of the previous trick leads.
2. Follow suit: Players must play a card of the led suit if they can. If not, they may play any card, including a trump.
3. Highest card wins: The highest trump played wins the trick; if no trump is played, the highest card of the led suit wins.
4. Mighty: The Mighty always wins any trick in which it is played, beating even higher trumps, the Joker, and any other card. It is the supreme trump.
5. Joker: The Joker can be played anytime, ignoring the follow-suit rule. It wins the trick unless the Mighty has been or is played in the same trick. However, if the Joker is led, the second-player has the option to play the 'Joker Call' card (named by the declarer at the start of the hand, usually a specific 2) which forces the Joker-lead to fizzle and the highest normal card takes the trick.
6. Last-trick restriction: The Joker cannot be played in the very last trick of the hand. If you are stuck with the Joker on the last trick, it loses to any card played.
7. Point collection: Each trick is won by the highest legal card. Winning players collect the trick; point cards (A, K, Q, J, 10) in collected tricks count toward the team's total.A♠K♠Q♠J♠10♠

Scoring

• There are 20 point cards in the deck: Aces, Kings, Queens, Jacks, and 10s (4 of each rank).A♠K♠Q♠J♠
• After all 10 tricks are played, the declarer's team totals their captured point cards (including any that were in the discarded kitty).
• Meeting the bid: If the captured total equals or exceeds the bid, the declarer's team wins. They each score (bid - 12) points, with the friend scoring half and the defenders losing the same per-head.
• Failing the bid: If the team falls short, each defender scores (bid - 12 + shortfall) points and the declarer's team loses the equivalent.
• Overbid rewards: Capturing more than the bid increases the declarer's score further; each extra point captured adds a bonus.
• No-friend solo: If the declarer bid no-friend and wins, scores are doubled; if they lose, doubled penalty.

Winning

A single hand is won by the declarer's team if they meet the bid, otherwise by the defenders. Matches typically run over 10 or 20 hands with running scores; the player with the highest cumulative score at the end wins. Because each hand a different player may win the declarer's role, skilled bid-management over a session is what separates top players.

Common Variations

• No-friend (혼자/nohoja): Declarer plays alone for doubled stakes.
• First-trick friend: Whoever wins the first trick joins the declarer, so the friend identity is revealed on trick 1.
• Mighty swap: Houses vary on which card replaces the Ace of Spades as Mighty when Spades is trump; most common is Ace of Diamonds.A♠A♦
• No-trump plus Joker: In a no-trump bid, the Joker cannot win the first or last trick to prevent trivial sweeps.
• Running Mighty: Tournament variant where the Mighty is always the Ace of Spades regardless of trump.A♠

Tips and Strategy

• As declarer, only call a friend card you do NOT hold. Calling a card in your own hand wastes the friend bonus.
• Holding the Mighty is the strongest possible position; time it to beat the enemy's strongest trump or Joker.
• The Joker is best played mid-hand on a high-point trick where trumping normally would be expensive.
• As a defender, track which point cards have been played. If the declarer's team is 4 points short with 2 tricks left and you hold an Ace, win those tricks to secure the bid failure.
• The secret friend should NOT play their friend card too early. If you delay, the defenders may confuse themselves attacking the wrong player.
• Bidding discipline is crucial. A hand with the Mighty, the Joker, and 5 trumps can safely bid 17+; a hand with only 3 trumps and no Mighty rarely wins even at 13.

Glossary

• Mighty: The strongest card in the game; usually the Ace of Spades, replaced by the Ace of Diamonds if Spades is trump.A♠A♦
• Joker: A wild card that wins any trick unless the Mighty is played or the Joker Call 2 is used against a Joker lead.
• Declarer: The highest bidder, who names trump and calls the friend card.
• Friend card: The card whose holder becomes the declarer's secret partner.
• Point cards: Aces, Kings, Queens, Jacks, and 10s; the 20 cards worth 1 point each.A♠K♠Q♠J♠
• Kitty: The 3-card face-down pile that the declarer picks up and discards into.
• Trump: The suit the declarer names to outrank other suits; beats non-trumps.
• No-friend: Declarer plays alone against all four defenders for doubled stakes.