Sevens

Rules and how to play

Sevens is a card game where players take turns playing cards one at a time next to cards of the same suit in the layout, and players finish in the order they empty their hands. In Japanese, it is called Shichi Narabe. This page is for 3 or 4 players and uses 52 cards without jokers (you can add 1 joker in the menu).^[1][2]

Cards are dealt out one at a time to every player until none are left (13 each with 4 players; 18, 17, and 17 with 3 players). As soon as the deal is over, everyone holding 7s puts all of them in the layout, stacked in a column with one row for each suit. The player who put out the 7 of diamonds plays first, and from there, players take turns playing one card at a time.^[1][2]

You can only play a card that is the same suit as a card in the layout and the next rank further out from the 7. Below the 7, a row grows in the order 6, 5, … A, and above the 7, in the order 8, 9, … K. You play 1 card per turn.^[1]

If you have no card you can play, you pass. Even when you have a card you can play, you can pass on purpose to hold back the other players. You can pass up to 3 times per round (you can choose 1–5 in the menu).^[1][2]

Once you have used up your passes, you must play a card whenever you can. If you cannot, you lose, and you place all the cards in your hand face up in their own spots in the layout. No card can be played beyond a card placed this way until the cards from the 7 connect to it. For example, when the 5 through 8 of spades and the jack of spades are in the layout, the only spades that can be played are the 4 and the 9.^[1][2]

Players finish in the order their hands become empty. When only 1 player still has cards, the round ends. Players are ranked in the order they finished, followed by the last player left, and then the players who lost by running out of passes. Among players who lost that way, whoever lost earlier ranks lower.^[1][2]

On this page, you choose 1, 3, or 5 rounds, and the overall winner is decided by the total of the points earned for each round’s rank (with 4 players, 3, 2, 1, and 0 points from 1st place down; with 3 players, 2, 1, and 0 points). If players are tied, whoever placed higher in the final round wins.

The joker and house rules

The rules of Sevens vary from group to group. This page lets you choose the following well-known rules in the menu. By default, you play by the basic rules: no joker, A and K do not connect, and you may pass even when you have a card you can play.^[1]

Joker (1 card): You cannot play the joker by itself. You place the joker in the next spot to be played and then, in the same turn, play the card after it from your hand. The player who holds the card for the joker’s spot plays that card and takes the joker (this does not count as that player’s turn). You cannot use the joker when you hold the card it would skip. It cannot be placed in the A or K spot, since there is no card beyond it (it can under the rule that connects A and K and the rule that continues from the other end).^[1][2]

You may finish by playing the joker together with your last card. A player whose hand is down to only the joker drops out at that point and ranks below the players who finished and the last player left, but above the players who lost by running out of passes. If a player who loses by running out of passes holds the joker, it is removed instead of being placed in the layout.^[1][2]

• Connect A and K: Once a row runs from the 7 up to K, you can continue with A, 2, … in order. Once it runs from the 7 down to A, you can continue with K, Q, … in order. You can also keep playing from the 7 side as usual.
• At an end, continue from the other end (tunnel): Once one side of a row runs from the 7 all the way to its end, the other side closes at the 7, and cards can be played there only from the opposite end. For example, once the 7 through K of hearts are laid out, the 6 of hearts cannot be played; the hearts continue from A, then 2, and upward. A player who is holding back a 6 or an 8 then cannot play that card until the very end.
• Pass even when you can play: This is on by default. If you turn it off, you can pass only when you have no card to play (those passes still count toward the limit). It removes the tactic of holding back the other players, so it suits playing with children, for example.

Depending on the source, the name “tunnel” can also refer to the rule where A and K simply connect, so its meaning can be the opposite. To avoid confusion over the name, the menu on this page describes these rules by what they do.^[1][2]

Controls on this page

First, in the panel to the right of the 3D board (below it on narrow screens), choose the number of players (3 or 4), the number of rounds (1, 3, or 5), the number of passes, whether to use the joker, and how A and K connect, then choose how to play. With “Easy”, “Medium”, or “Hard” under “Play vs computer”, you are in the red seat and the computer plays the other seats. With “4 players on this device” (the number is the one you chose), players take turns on one device. A curtain appears every time the turn changes, and when the next player presses the curtain button, only that player’s hand becomes visible.

With “Play a friend (send a link)”, you send the room’s link to play together. If you do not have enough players, “Fill empty seats with the computer” lets the computer take the open seats. The computer also plays for a player who leaves during the game, or whose connection stays disconnected.

Your hand is lined up at the near edge of the table. On your turn, only the cards you can play now are shown bright, and the spots in the layout where you can play are lit up. Press a card you want to play to lift it, then press “Play” at the bottom of the 3D view to put it in the layout. To use the joker, press the joker and the card to play right after it, then press “Play”. The “Pass” button shows how many passes you have left.

The layout is in the middle of the table, in 4 rows for spades, hearts, diamonds, and clubs, with A on the left, 7 in the middle, and K at the right end. Other players’ hands stay face down at the far side of the table, and each name tag shows the seat’s color, number of cards, passes left, and the place they finished. The name tag of the player whose turn it is glows at the edge. Dragging the table rotates the view slightly, and you can switch views with “Angled” and “Top-down” at the top right.

The “Button controls” panel to the right of the 3D view (below it on narrow screens) also lets you choose cards by pressing hand buttons, then press “Play” or “Pass”. With a keyboard, move between buttons with the Tab key and press with Enter or the spacebar. The panel also shows the layout for each suit, the last move, each seat’s card count and score, and the ranking for each round. Even on devices where the 3D view is not available, you can play with these buttons alone.

“Undo move” is not available, so you cannot see which cards the computer’s plays reveal and then take back your own move.

Strategy tips

• Block with 6s and 8s. If you hold a 6 or an 8 but none of the cards beyond it, keep it instead of playing it, and the players who hold the cards beyond it will have to use their passes. The closer a card is to the 7, the more cards it can hold back.
• Play from rows where your own cards follow on. If you hold the 8, 9, and 10 of spades, then after you play the 8, the next card that can be played there is your own 9. You can shrink your hand without giving the other players more places to play. Play your connected cards up to the one before the last, and keep the last one (the 10 in this example) to block the cards beyond it.
• Open the way to your end cards. Cards far from the 7, such as A and 2 or Q and K, cannot be played until all the cards up to them are in place. If you hold far cards, extend that row early.
• Do not use up your passes. It is safer to keep at least 1 pass in case you have no card to play. Once another player has used up their passes, holding your blocking cards a little longer may make that player lose.
• Watch the cards of players who lose. When a player loses by running out of passes, their cards are placed in the layout, so the spots next to cards placed apart from the rest can suddenly become playable. If you hold cards that connect there, you can cut down your hand quickly.

The name and history of Sevens

Shichi Narabe, the Japanese game played on this page, belongs to a family of games known in Europe and the United States by names such as Sevens, Fan Tan, Card Dominoes, and Parliament. English Wikipedia covers them in the article “Domino (card game)”, which also describes the Japanese way of playing under the name Shichi Narabe.^[4]

Shichi Narabe differs from the Western game (Sevens or Fan Tan) in 2 ways. In Japan, all 4 of the 7s are laid out right after the deal, while in the West, the 7s are also played one at a time when each player’s turn comes. Also, in Japan you may pass even when you have a card you can play, and the limit is most often 3 passes, while in the West, passing when you can play is against the rules, and there is no limit on the number of passes.^[2][3]

Some Western versions have players pay a chip each time they pass. The Sevens on this page follows the Japanese way of playing, without betting money or points.^[3]

The game has also been a subject of computer research. When all 52 cards are dealt between 2 players, every card not in your hand is in your opponent’s, so which player can win can be worked out by calculation. In 2022, a method was published that, for a generalized form of 2-player Sevens, determines which player has a winning strategy in time proportional to the number of cards. This page is for 3–4 players, so you cannot know the other players’ hands. The computer on Hard chooses its moves by repeatedly filling in the hidden hands at random and playing the round out to the end.^[5]

Sources

1. Wikipedia (Japanese), “7並べ” [Sevens] (opens in a new tab)
2. John McLeod, “Shichi Narabe” (Pagat) (opens in a new tab)
3. John McLeod, “Fan Tan / Sevens” (Pagat) (opens in a new tab)
4. Wikipedia (English), “Domino (card game)” (opens in a new tab)
5. Hironori Kiya and Koki Suetsugu, “一般化二人七並べに対する線形時間アルゴリズム” [Linear time algorithm for generalized 2-player Shichinarabe] (Game Programming Workshop 2022 Proceedings; in Japanese) (opens in a new tab)

Frequently asked questions

How many players can play?

You can play with 3 or 4 players. You choose the number in the menu. When you play the computer, you’re in the red seat and the computer plays the rest. In a game with friends, you can start by letting the computer take any seats you don’t have enough players for.

How many times can I pass?

By default, you can pass up to 3 times per round. You can choose 1–5 in the menu. Once you’ve used up your passes, you must play a card if you can. If you can’t, you lose, and your hand is placed in the layout.

Can I pass even when I have a card I can play?

Yes. In the Japanese game, passing on purpose to hold back the other players is at the heart of the strategy. If you turn off “Pass even when you can play” in the menu, you can pass only when you have no card to play.

How do I use the joker?

If you turn on the joker in the menu, 1 joker is included in the deal. You can’t play it by itself. You place it in the next spot to be played and then play the card after it from your hand. The player who holds the card for the joker’s spot plays that card and takes the joker. A player who ends up with only the joker drops out and ranks just above the players who lost by running out of passes.

What is the “tunnel” rule?

It’s a house rule about how A and K are treated. Its meaning differs between sources. It can mean the rule where “A and K connect, so once a row runs from the 7 to K, you can also play from A”, or the rule where “once one side reaches its end, the other side can only be played from the opposite end”. On this page, you can choose either one under “A and K” in the menu.

How is the overall winner decided?

You play the number of rounds you chose (1, 3, or 5), and whoever has the most points in total wins. With 4 players, places are worth 3, 2, 1, and 0 points from 1st place down; with 3 players, 2, 1, and 0 points. If players are tied, whoever placed higher in the final round wins.

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