Fight the Landlord

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Fight the Landlord is a free online version of Dou Dizhu, the three-player shedding card game, playable in the browser against two computer opponents with no download and no account. One 54-card deck is dealt seventeen cards each, with three left face down. Everyone bids one, two, three or pass; the highest bidder takes those three cards, becomes the landlord with twenty, and plays alone. The other two are peasants and win together — either of them going out first wins it for both. From there it is a race to empty your hand. You lead any legal combination and the others must beat it with the same shape or let it go: a single beats a single, a pair beats a pair, a run of five beats a run of five but never a run of six, however high. Cutting across all of that are the two shapes that ignore shape entirely — four of a kind is a bomb and beats anything except a bigger bomb, and the two jokers together make a rocket that beats absolutely everything. Each one played also doubles the stake, so a hand that starts at two points can finish at sixteen. Six levels of opponent run from a village table that hands you tricks it should have taken to a champion table where the two peasants cooperate properly and stop passing. There is no real money anywhere in it — the points are a score and nothing else.

How to play Fight the Landlord

1. Everyone is dealt seventeen cards from a 54-card deck. Three are left face down in the middle — those are the landlord’s cards.
2. Bid first. You can offer one, two or three points, or pass. The highest bidder becomes the landlord, picks up the three face-down cards for a twenty-card hand, and leads the first trick.
3. The landlord plays alone against the other two, who are peasants. The peasants win together, so if either of them empties their hand first, both of them win.
4. The landlord leads any legal combination. Everyone else must play the same shape but higher, or pass. When two players pass in a row the trick is over and whoever played last leads again with a clean table.
5. The shapes are: a single card; a pair; three of a kind; three of a kind plus one spare card or plus a pair; a run of five or more consecutive singles; three or more consecutive pairs; two or more consecutive trios, optionally each carrying a spare card or a pair; and four of a kind with two spare cards or two pairs.
6. Runs only beat runs of exactly the same length. A six-card run does not beat a five-card run — it is a different shape, not a bigger one.
7. Runs are built from 3 up to the ace. The 2 is the highest single card in the game but may never appear in a run, and neither joker can either.
8. Four of a kind is a bomb. It beats every ordinary shape regardless of what is on the table, and is only beaten by a higher bomb or by the rocket.
9. Both jokers played together are the rocket. Nothing beats it. Every bomb and rocket played by anyone doubles the stake for the whole hand.
10. Tap cards to select them, then press Play. Hint picks the cheapest legal answer for you if you cannot see one, and tells you plainly when nothing in your hand can beat what is down.
11. A hand where the losing side never got a single play down is a spring, and doubles the stake once more. The landlord settles with both peasants, so their score swings twice as far.

Tips

• Count your hand in turns, not in cards. Twenty cards that form six plays is a far better hand than fourteen cards that form eleven, and this is what the bidding should be based on.
• That is also why long runs are worth so much. A run of eight clears eight cards in a single turn, and there is very little anyone can do about it.
• Bid high on bombs and jokers, and pass on a hand of scattered middle cards however pretty it looks. The landlord has to beat two players; a hand that cannot regain the lead loses no matter how many kings are in it.
• As a peasant, do not beat your partner. Every card you spend taking a trick off your own side is a card gone for nothing, and the two computer peasants will stop doing it to each other from level 3 onward.
• As a peasant, watch the landlord’s card count above all else. When they are down to one or two cards you must take the lead whatever it costs, because if they get to lead again they are gone.
• Do not spend a bomb to win a trick you did not need. A bomb doubles the stake for both sides, so blowing one on a single 7 hands the other side a bigger payout when they win.
• Lead your rubbish early while people still have cards to waste on it. Low singles and short runs get harder to place with every trick, and being left holding three loose threes at the end is how a winning hand loses.
• Keep one card that can regain the lead — a 2, an ace, or a joker. A hand with none of them is a hand that only wins if nobody ever passes back to you.

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