Hand and Foot Card Game

Guests always play FREE. Guests are players who have been invited to play by the Table Host.

Who pays? Table hosts pay $48 for a full year to host a table. Host then invites 1-6 guests to play online. Try 2 weeks for only $2 to see if you like the game. Host fee allows you to host 1 table, which can be used to play any of our games (Hand and Foot, Pinochle, 6 Card Golf, Up and Down the River, and TallyHo the Marble game). Only 1 game of any type can be played at a time. Contact HostaGame @ northwestpages.com for details.

No need to download an app. That's right. Many of the Hand and Foot card games played online require you to download an app from Google Play or Apple Store. This version of the game is played online over the internet. No need for players to register or enter in special information such as credit card numbers.

Easy to play. The game has many options and features - but it very user friendly. No complicated right click, left click, CTRL-Shift-Alt key combinations required. No need to drag or swipe anything from one point to another. Everything is done by either tapping your screen or by left clicking your mouse. For example, to add cards to your hand at the start of your play, you simply tap the Draw pile. To add cards to a table book, you simply tap the cards you want to play and then tap the table book you want to add them to. To discard a card and end your turn, you simply tap the card you want to discard and then tap the Discard pile.

Table host sets options which include such things as playing a single game or playing a series consisting of any combination of 50, 90, 120, 150, and 200 point rounds, how many cards to take from the Draw Pile and the Discard Pile, whether or not a wild card can be used in picking up the Discard Pile, choice of zero, 2 or 4 jokers per deck, how to handle red and black three's (see below), and decisions of whether the entire team must be playing their final hand in order to go out or not. The host also determines how many closed books are required in order to go out. When our family and friends play Hand and Foot we refer to these as "house rules".

Red 3's and Black 3's. The host decides how the game will handle red 3's and black 3's. Host decides the penalty points for each Red 3 (100, 300, or 500) and each Black 3 (0 or 5) not discarded before someone goes out. In addition, host decides whether Red 3's can be exchanged for a new card and a 100 point bonus for each one exchanged.

Book of Wilds. What do you do with an abundance of wild cards? If the host has enabled the Book of Wilds feature, then you can start a book of wilds. Like the other books, you'll need 7 wild cards to complete the book. Host sets bonus points for completed book of wilds, as well as penalty points (if any) for books not completed. Book of Wilds do not count as clean or polluted books. Competitive players can require a completed book of wilds as part of the requirements for going out.

More player helps. After you draw or pick up the pile, the new cards in your hand are arranged in order and slightly elevated. In a game of Hand and Foot using real cards you would pick up and individually place the cards in your hand. In this online version the cards in your hand are automatically arranged for you. Each player gets to decide whether they want to see their cards in "ascending" or "descending" order. New cards are slightly elevated (to make it easy to see which cards were just added). After you have looked at the new cards, you then tap the UNSELECT ALL PLAYER CARDS button, which returns all cards to the lower position. You then make your play. If you change your mind during your play you can tap the RESET HAND button to reset your play. The RESET HAND button is available until you discard, play your final card from your hand, or have new cards added to your hand.

Make a mistake? No problem. If you make a mistake or do something that is not allowed, a message will be displayed telling you what you did wrong. The message is ONLY displayed on the screen of the active player.

Game Information. The top of the screen contains information about the game such as how many cards remain in each player's hand and feet, how many closed books does each team already have, and what are the basic requirements for going out.

Play on almost any device. Requires online internet connection and a browser (Microsoft Edge, Apple Safari, Firefox, Samsung Internet, Chrome, etc.) The browser needs to have Javascript enabled on it (this should be a browser setting). We have played this game using desktops and laptops, Chromebooks, iPads, tablets, iPhones, and Smartphones but we recommend using devices with a minimum of 8 inch screens to avoid too much scrolling. We have found that a 10 inch tablet/iPad display screen works quite well.

Multiple books to go out. Classic Hand and Foot rules require only a single clean book and a single polluted book to go out. We find that requiring multiple books to go out makes the game much more fun. The host decides how many books are required to go out. Making it even more fun, the host also decides the minimum number of clean/polluted books required to go out. For example, a host can set 7 books to go out with a minimum of 3 clean and 3 polluted books. This means that in order to go out the player must have either 4 polluted and 3 clean or 3 polluted and 4 clean.

Close up to 3 books per face value (4's thru Ace's). If you're going to have multiple books to go out, then it would be nice to be able to have multiple books of the same face value (ace's, king's, five's, etc). Many Hand and Foot games only allow for a single book of any given face value. Once the book has been closed you can only add cards to the closed book. Our version of the game allows you to start a new book by playing three cards at a time. Playing one or two cards on a closed book will add the cards to the closed book (like other games). But playing three cards starts a new book.

Playing a series is easy. A series consists of 2 - 5 rounds played in sequence. The host chooses which rounds to include in the series (50, 90, 120, 150, and 200 point rounds). As each round ends, scores are displayed for the current round, along with a cumulative score. The next round starts using the same house rules (number of books to go out, number of jokers per deck, number of cards drawn each turn, etc).

No need to manually count "going down" points - as you add cards to the table you will see a message telling you how many more points you still need. Once you satisfy the required point count you will see a final message telling you that going down points have been satisfied.

No need to count books to see if you can go out. Total number of closed books is displayed for you.

No need to manually keep track of scores - scoring (both individual rounds and series) is automatic. Scoring is shown at the end of each round (50, 90, 120, 150, or 200 point rounds).

Draw cards from the discard pile. It's easy to do. If your team is already down then you can pick up cards from the discard pile by selecting two matching cards from your hand (or 1 matching card plus 1 Wild card if Host has enabled that option). Sorry - threes and wilds on top can not be picked up. The exact number of cards that you pick up (2 - 9) is set by the table host.

Game includes an optional 200 Round consisting of hand, foot, and tail. Each time a player draws cards, a card is added to their tail. After they play their hand and their foot, they then need to play their tail.

Dealing is done automatically for you. At the start of each round of Hand and Foot 11 cards are dealt to each player's hand, and 11 cards are also dealt to each player's foot.

Running low on cards? Hand and Foot card games use a lot of cards. So, this online version starts with one more deck then the number of players. The 200 Round (tail game) uses even more cards, so 2 additional decks are added when playing it. If the draw deck runs low, the game automatically adds an extra deck to the draw pile.

Need to stop and pick back up later? Need to stop a game mid-stream? Night time for the grandkids? Need a 15 minute break? Need to wait till next week? No problem. Simply log out or exit your browser. When you're ready you just need to log back in again. The game will pick up right where you left off. Well, almost. You may have to replay the cards in your hand again if you quit right before discarding your final card. BTW - It's only polite to tell the other players that you're stopping.

Crystal Ball feature. Did you ever have someone go out, and you picked up the draw pile cards to see whether or not one more draw would have put you and your team in postion to go out? Our game's scoring page includes a "Crystal Ball Gazing" section at the end where it shows you what cards you would have drawn if you had had one more turn.

Keeping it fun! Hosts can choose to include special fun feature options. For example, on Mother's Day Queens can be treated royally (extra bonus points for each closed book). Watch out for black three's in October. Look for a gift in December. Pass cards to your partner. If you enjoy exchanging Red 3's for a new card, then you'll love exploding 4's. There's even a RUN option that SAMBA fans would enjoy. The special fun feature options can be turned on and off by the host.

So, what are the rules? There are some rules that are in effect all the time. There are other rules that only in effect some of the time (such as the House Rules set by the host). To help the players keep track of the rules there is a special "House Rules" button at the bottom of their play screen. They can tap this button to open up a new page that list the rules in effect for that game.

What's missing, different, or difficult?
1) Each player should have their own device (PC, laptop, tablet, iPad, etc), and that device MUST have an online internet connection (no solitair or stand-alone play).
2) Your team must already be down before you can pick up cards from the discard pile.
3) The game does not include any form of chatting, texting or messaging between players. Players need to use a separate audio connection (such as phone, facetime, discord, zoom, etc) to chat with other players.

No ads. And there are no ads, pop-up or otherwise.

For a more detailed look at how the game works, check out the Detailed Game Help.

To see the general (non-computer) rules used for playing the game, check out the Rules for Playing.