Sevens (Fan Tan)

How to play Sevens (Fan Tan)

Sevens — also known as Fan Tan, Parliament, Card Dominoes or Laying Out Sevens — is a light, elegant shedding game that has entertained families for generations. There is no bidding, no trumps and almost no luck once the cards are dealt: everything comes down to the order in which you release your cards. The whole deck is dealt out, and players take turns building four long rows, one per suit, that grow outward from the sevens. The first person to get rid of every card wins. In this version you play against three computer opponents at three difficulty levels, earning ranking points for every win. It plays entirely in your browser and works offline.

The goal

Be the first player to play every card out of your hand. You do that by adding cards to the four suit rows on the table whenever you legally can, and by holding back the cards that would help your opponents. When the first player runs out of cards the game ends immediately, and everyone else is penalised for the cards still stuck in their hands — so even if you cannot win, you want to shed as much as possible.

Setup and dealing

A standard 52-card deck is dealt out as evenly as possible among all the players. With four players everyone receives thirteen cards; with three players the deck splits 18-17-17. There is no draw pile — every card is in someone’s hand from the start, and no card is ever hidden face down on the table. You sit as the human player; the other seats are filled by the computer. Because each opponent must keep their hand secret, Sevens cannot be played by two people on the same screen, so this is a “versus computer” game only.

Opening with the sevens

The four sevens are the foundation of the whole game. The player holding the seven of diamonds always starts, and the very first card played must be that seven of diamonds. From then on, a seven is the only card that can open a new suit: you may lay the seven of any suit onto the table at any time on your turn to start that suit’s row. Once a suit’s seven is down, its row can grow in two directions — upward toward the king and downward toward the ace.

Rules of play

• On your turn you must play one legal card if you possibly can. A legal card is a seven (which opens its suit), or the very next card up or down from either end of a row that is already on the table.
• Each suit row is built outward from its seven. Above the seven the row grows 8, 9, 10, Jack, Queen, King; below the seven it grows 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, Ace. You can only ever add to the two open ends of a row — you cannot skip a rank or drop a card into the middle.
• You may not pass if you are able to play. Passing is only allowed when you truly have no legal card — no seven to lay down and nothing that fits either end of an existing row. When you are stuck, your turn is skipped and play moves on.
• There is no drawing and no capturing. Play simply passes clockwise, each player adding a card or (only when forced) passing, until someone plays their last card.
• The moment a player lays down their final card, the game is over. That player is the winner; nobody gets another turn.

Winning and scoring

The first player to empty their hand wins the game outright. Everyone still holding cards receives a penalty equal to the total face value of the cards left in their hand, counting Ace as 1, the number cards at their face value, Jack as 11, Queen as 12 and King as 13. Lower penalties are better, so a good habit is to shed your high cards (and cards you may get stuck with) early, even in a game you are unlikely to win. Against the computer you only need to finish first to claim the win and the ranking points; the penalty totals are shown at the end so you can see how close the other players were.

Playing the computer (ranked)

Choose three or four players and one of three difficulty levels, then race the computer to an empty hand. Easy simply plays a random legal card, so it will happily open suits and hand you chances. Normal is more careful: it delays its sevens, tries to keep its own runs flowing, and hangs on to cards that would help others. Expert plays a patient blocking game — it decides which suits are safe to open, holds the key cards next to the sevens to stall its rivals, and sheds its extreme cards (aces and kings) when doing so costs it nothing. The computer thinks entirely on your device, so it works offline. Beat it to earn ranking points — Easy +10, Normal +30, Expert +100 — and sign in to record your best result on the leaderboard.

Strategy tips

• Get rid of your extreme cards first. Aces and kings sit at the very ends of a row, so they can never block anyone once the row reaches them. Playing them early is almost always safe and keeps your hand flexible.
• Hold the cards that sit right next to a seven — the sixes and eights. As long as you keep a six, nobody can play the five, four, three, two or ace below it; keep an eight and the whole upper half of that suit is frozen. These are your strongest blockers.
• Think before you open a suit with its seven. Laying a seven helps everyone, including your opponents, so time it well. Open the suits where you hold a long run you can pour out, and delay the sevens of suits where you are short.
• Watch which suits the computer refuses to feed. If an opponent keeps passing or avoids a suit, they are probably sitting on a blocker there — and the cards beyond it are frozen for everyone until someone forces the issue.
• Balance greed against safety. Emptying your hand fastest wins, but if you cannot win this hand, dumping your high cards to cut your penalty is the next best thing. Read the table each turn and pick the card that helps you most while helping your rivals least.

Frequently asked questions