Sanuki Mekuri [讃岐メクリ - さぬきめくり] is a Bakappana variant for two players, with simple rules but unique card points.
The name may refer to the Sanuki province of Japan, where the game may have originated. The game may have been originally played using a Mekuri Karuta deck instead of Hanafuda, as some of the card points are identical to their month numbers.
It is closely related to another game, Subeta Mekuri.
The goal of the game is to gain 40 points more than your opponent.
The game may or may not have a limited number of rounds, and it is assumed that if all rounds have ended without a player reaching the difference of 40 points, the player with the higher score wins.
¶ Card Values
The card values are unique in that they are based on their month number, as well as their card type.
For the purposes of these rules, the following are considered:
- There is no distinction between Brights and Animals, so they are all called Animals.
- Animals that are worth their month value are called Special Animals.
They are the Butterflies, the Boar, the Full Moon, and the Sake Cup. - Animals that are worth 5 points each are called Normal Animals.
They are the Crane, the Bush Warbler, the Curtain, the Cuckoo, the Bridge, the Deer, the Rainman, and the Phoenix. - Ribbons are worth 1 point each.
The Geese and the Yellow Paulownia Chaff also belong to this Category. - Chaff are worth 0 points.
The Swallow also belongs to this category.
Note that the Bridge card is also worth it’s month value: 5 points. However, since all Normal Animals are worth 5 points, the Bridge card is considered a Normal Animal card.
¶ Gameplay
The setup and gameplay are the same as Bakappana; In each round, players play until their hands run out of cards.
¶ Scoring
The method of scoring has not been attested in the original rules. Pick which method you find easier.
¶ Cumulative method
After each round, players count their captured card points and write them down on a piece of paper. Then they check each player’s total score (the sum of scores obtained in all rounds played up to that point).
If the difference between the players’ total scores reaches 40 points or higher, the game ends, and the player with the higher score wins the game.
If the difference is less than 40 points, another round is played. The player with more points obtained in the current round becomes the dealer for the next round.
¶ Zero-sum Method
Before play starts, each player should have 40 chips (worth 1 point each).
After each round players count their captured card points, then they check their score difference.
The player with lower score pays chips equal to the score difference to the other player.
Play continues until one of the players run out of chips. The player who has all the chips is the winner of the game.
¶ Sanuki Mekuri (using Mekurifuda deck)
Sanuki Mekuri may have originally been played using a Mekurifuda or even a Tensho Karuta deck.
- Any 4-suited mekurifuda deck may be used. Remove the extra Onifuda/Bakefuda from the deck, so that only 48 cards remain in the deck.
- Use the Clubs suit for the Animals, and the Swords suit for the Ribbons.
- The 6, 7, 8, and 9 of clubs are worth face value.
- Other cards of the clubs suit are worth 5 points each.
- All cards of the swords suit are worth 1 point each.
- Other cards are worth 0 points.
The gameplay is entirely the same as when a hanafuda deck is used.
Interestingly, when the game was played using hanafuda, it used the standard month sequence of the cards, rather than the Nagoya sequence. This may be due to the fact that the 2 of coins is considered as junk, rather than a high-scoring card in the game.
¶ Bibliography
- Kusaba, Jun. “In Search of Old Hanafuda Games.” Jun Kusaba’s Game Research Site, Jan.-Feb. 1995, https://sites.google.com/a/banjoyugi.net/kusabazyun/Home/reproductioned/history/kohanafuda.