How to play Murlan
Be the first to get rid of all your cards. Every round gives points. Once a side reaches the target (5, 10, 13 or 21), the highest score wins the game.
Players
- 4 players: two teams of two, partners sit across from each other. All 54 cards are dealt.
- 3 players: everyone for themselves, 18 cards each.
- 2 players: 18 cards each; the other 18 stay out of play, unseen.
Card order
3 · 4 · 5 · 6 · 7 · 8 · 9 · 10 · J · Q · K · A · 2 · black joker · red joker
Suits never matter.
What you can play
- Single: any one card, jokers included.
- Pair or three of a kind: cards of the same rank.
- Straight: 5 or more ranks in a row, like 6-7-8-9-10. A and 2 can be at the bottom (A-2-3-4-5, 2-3-4-5-6) or the top (10-J-Q-K-A, J-Q-K-A-2), but never round the corner: no K-A-2-3.
- Double / triple straight: 5 or more ranks in a row, a pair (or three) of each.
- Bomb: four of a kind.
Jokers only ever go down as singles.
Beating the pile
- Singles, pairs and threes: the same kind, any higher rank.
- Straights: the same kind and length, exactly one step higher. 3-7 is beaten only by 4-8.
- A bomb beats anything, and only a higher bomb beats it.
Your turn
- Play goes clockwise. Beat the pile, or pass. Passing only skips this turn; you can play again next time round.
- When everyone else has passed, whoever played last wins the trick and leads anything.
- Play your last card and you're out, in the next place.
Who starts
- First round: whoever holds the 3♠ leads, and the lead must include it. With 2 players it's the lowest spade dealt.
- Later rounds: the last round's loser leads.
Points
- 4 players: 1st 3, 2nd 2, 3rd 1, last 0; teammates add up. If one team takes 1st and 2nd, the round ends there: the other team gets 1 and must agree which of them lost.
- 3 players: 2, 1, 0.
- 2 players: winner 1, loser 0.
A tie for the highest score: one more round, until someone's ahead.
Between rounds
- The cut: the loser taps the deck and sees one card. Take it, and it's theirs, with everyone's first card dealt face up. Leave it, and the deal is normal.
- The swap: the loser gives the winner their highest card; the winner gives back any card from 3 to 10 (their lowest if they have none). If the winner and loser are teammates, everyone sees both cards.
- A loser dealt both jokers shows them to everyone and keeps them: no swap, and the winner leads.
Giving up
On your turn, you can give up the round instead of playing or passing. Your cards go down face up for everyone to see, and you finish last (if someone gave up before you, just ahead of them). With 2 players the round ends there; otherwise the others play it out. In a 4-player game, if the other team then takes 1st and 2nd, there's no vote: you're last.
If someone drops out
The game pauses for 2:00 while they come back. If they don't, the round is cancelled and you choose to keep waiting or end the game. Leaving the table ends the game for everyone.