Mendicot rules

About the Game

Mendicot is a fairly popular game in India, also known as "Dehla Pakad" (Catch the tens). It is a 4-player game, played in teams of 2, where alternate players are in the same team, similar to games such as Spades and Bridge.

Mendi in this game refers to the "10" rank cards. Note that only the card with the "10" on their face are considered mendis, and not the face cards such as Jacks.

The aim is to win all the mendis. It plays like any other trick-taking (aka hand-taking) card game, and is played over 13 rounds.

Playing the game

At the start, a standard deck of cards is randomly distributed among the 4 players. Each player can only see the cards in their own hand. The player next to the dealer (in the clockwise direction) begins the game.

Each round begins with a player putting down a card, and the turn goes clockwise until everyone has played a card. The first player in each round can choose any card. The suit of the card put down by the first player becomes the suit for that round. All other players must play a card matching the suit for the round, if they have cards in that suit.

If a player doesn't have a card in the suit being currently played, they can choose any other card in their hand. The suit of the first such card, i.e. a card whose suit is different from the suit of that round, ends up becoming the trump suit. A card from a trump suit is always higher than a card from the other 3 suits.

For example, say you are the second to play this round, where the first player put down the "Ace" of "Spades", and no trump suit has been decided yet, and you only have the "Hearts" suit left. Then you would play one of the "Hearts" instead, and that would end up setting "Hearts" as the trump suit.

Card ordering

A standard deck of cards is used, where each suit is ordered by rank, placing "2" as the lowest card in a suit, and the "Ace" as the highest. The complete order from lowest to highest is: 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, J, Q, K, A.

Winning a round

The round is won by the player who put down the highest card. The "highest" card is decided in this order:

1. If there are 1 or more cards from the trump suit in the middle, then the player who put down the highest trump wins (as per the card-order mentioned above).
2. Otherwise, the player who put down the highest card in the suit of the round wins (as per the card-order mentioned above).

Winning the game

There are a few different ways the game can end:

1. Your team won all the mendis. This is the true victory of the game, and is known as winning the cot.
2. Your team won three mendis, in which case your team wins the game but without the cot.
3. Your team won two mendis, same as your opponents, and your team won more tricks than your opponents. Here too, your team wins, but without the cot.
4. Your team won two mendis, and fewer total tricks than your opponents. In this case, your opponents win without the cot.
5. Your team won one mendi, meaning that your opponent won three mendis. So, they win this game without the cot.
6. Your team won none of the mendis, and therefore, your opponents win the cot.

How to play

In each round,

• If you are starting the round,
  • You can play any card in your hand, including the trump suit.
• Otherwise, if you have one or more card with suit matching the suit of the round,
  • You can only choose to play a card from these matching cards.
• And lastly, if you have no cards matching the suit of the round,
  • You can play any card in your hand.

To play a card,

1. First, left-click on the card that you want to play, to select it.
   • You can left-click the card again to unselect it, before you've confirmed your play.
2. Then, left-click the "Play card" button to confirm.

To keep track of the game, you can use the scoreboard to see

• Which team has won mendis from which suit,
• How many tricks each team has won.

Tips & Tricks

• Your partner is playing cooperatively, as are the two opponents. Don't think only in terms of your own cards.
• Starting a round with the "Ace" is a good bet, if the mendi of that suit has yet to be won, especially if that suit has not been played yet.
• While setting the trump, pay attention to how many cards of that suit you have, how many cards of that suit are already gone, and if you have the mendi of that suit.
• Setting the trump suit by playing its mendi is generally a good bet, because it wins you a mendi, and sets a trump suit that is strong for you.
• Pay attention to what suits your partner and your opponents are out of. It can give you an advantage if you get the chance to set the trump suit.
• In a similar vein, starting a round with a suit that your partner has run out of means that your partner could end up setting the trump suit.
• You can sometimes let an opponent win a round, even when you have a winning card (for example, a high trump card), if you can later use that high card to bag a mendi.

A bit about the game

Mendicot is a popular card game in India. I love how its unique scoring system shapes its own winning strategies, different from classics like Bridge. I am always down to playing a round, no matter how many times I've already played!

Give the game a go and see if you can win the cot!