Every Filipino loves Tongits. It’s simple, exciting and brings friends together. If this inspired you to try this game for the first time, you must be wondering about the Tongits rules, the game flow, and tips and tricks of the game. In this article, we will explain everything in detail without getting boringly technical.

Like every beginners-friendly guide, we will start with the objective of the Tongits game: You have to either finish all the cards in your hand or have the lowest score at the end of the round.

Tongits Game: Explained

The game originated in the Philippines around the late 1800s. Filipinos call it Pusoy or Tongits and play it with families and friends. In most popular formats, 3 players play Tongits using a standard deck of 52 cards. In the Tongits game, players try to arrange cards in special combinations called Melds to reduce their points.

Recently, people have also started playing it online. There are a lot of good apps that let users play Tongits for free.

Starting a Tongits game

Let’s understand the basic Tongits rules before we start getting into the deeper details:

• 3 players join the table
• A 52-card standard deck is used (without Jokers)
• All players get 12 cards each, except the Dealer. The dealer gets 13 cards.
• The remaining cards go into the Closed Pile (cards placed face-down on the table).
• To start the game, the dealer discards one card from his/her hand, which becomes the Discard Pile (cards placed face-up on the table)
• The player sitting left to the dealer takes the next turn and the game begins.
• Play passes to the player to the left of the dealer, and normal gameplay begins.
• The winner of the current round becomes the Dealer in the next round.

Now that you understand the basic flow of the Tongits game, let’s move to the next chapter of the rule book.

Drawing, Creating Melds and Discarding in a Tongits Game

As mentioned earlier, the primary goal of the game is to create Melds and reduce your points.

Fundamental Tongits rule

• Aces have the lowest points value. An Ace in Tongits game is worth just 1 point. Another key thing to remember is that it can not be used to create Q-K-A Meld in Tongits.
• Jokers can’t be used as wild cards to create Melds. This is also the major difference between Rummy and Tongits.

What are Melds and how to create them:

Melds are special card combinations that players have to create during a Tongits game. These cards must be placed face-up on the table:

There are two types of Melds:

• Sets: Three or Four-of-a-kind. For example: K-K-K or 7-7-7-7.
• Runs: Three (or more) consecutive cards of the same suit, basically a Straight Flush. For example: 7♥️-8♥️-9♥️.

Drawing & Discarding Cards:

In order to understand how to play Tongits, you must really pay attention to the importance of Drawing and Discarding. Because these two actions are the crux of every strategy.

The cycle of drawing & discarding runs as follows:

1. Draw a card. You can pick up the top card of the Closed Pile or the Discard Pile. Important note: If you pick up a card from the Discard Pile, you must use it to create a new Meld. Then you also have to expose that Meld on the table.
2. Meld or Sapaw: Meld: If you have created a Meld, you can choose to expose your runs or sets on the table and reduce your points. Sapaw or Laying Off: You can draw a card from the Closed Pile and add it to the Meld of your opponents. This is called Sapaw. If you do a Sapaw on your opponent, then that player cannot Challenge or Fight you in that round.
3. Discard a card that you don’t need. This ends your turn and the next player goes through the same process.

Ending a round in a Tongits game

This is where the Tongits rules get exciting. There are multiple scenarios to end a Tongits game.

1. Calling “Tongits”

In case you finish all the cards in your hand either by Melding or doing Sapaw, you can discard your final card and call “Tongits” to end the game. This gets you an immediate win. Naturally, this is the best-case scenario of winning a Tongits game.

2. Challenge / Fight

After a few rounds of a game, if you think you have the lowest points on the table, you can simply Challenge other players on your turn. Other players can either Fold (if they think they don’t have the lowest points on the table) or Fight (if they think they have the lowest points).

Remember: To start a Challenge, you must have at least one Meld laid down on the table. Also, make sure that no one has Sapaw-ed you in that round.

3. Stockpile runs out of cards

A Tongits game can also end if there are no cards left in the Closed Pile for the players to draw. In this case, the player with the lowest points wins automatically.

The Burn penalty

A player gets a Sunog or Burn penalty if they have not laid down any Meld at the end of the current hand. They get a penalty, and extra points are added to their tally. They also automatically lose in a Challenge/Fight situation.

Point calculation in a Tongits game

Every card in your hand carries a point value. The sum of all your un-Melded cards at the end of the hand is your total score. The points are counted as follows:

Card Type	Point Value	Notes
Face cards (J, Q, K) & 10s	10 points each	You must discard these cards as quickly as possible.
Number cards (2–9)	Equivalent of the number on the card	For example: 7♥️ is 7 points, 8♦️ is 8 points and so on.
Ace (A)	1 point	The lowest-scoring card in Tongits

Spread - A rare case in Tongits rules

One of the rarest wins in a Tongits game is winning by Spread. It means a player was able to meld all 12 cards right after dealing. They can instantly call “Tongits” and win the game.

Common differences in offline vs online Tongits rules

Tongits is a very popular and highly localised Filipino game. It means there are multiple variants and Tongits rules variations developed and popular in local geographies. Most of the online Tongits free-to-play games use the standard rules; you can find some interesting variations in offline games. Here are some common variations observed in offline Tongits games:

• Jokers used as wild cards: In Visayas/Mindanao, jokers or wildcards are used to create Melds.
• More than 3 players can also play. Some local variants allow 4 players to play Tongits.
• Different tie-breaker rules for different scenarios. Online apps and offline houses use various tie-breaker rules. For example, in the case of a Challenge/Fight tie, most offline games declare the player who picked the last card as the winner. Whereas, in some games, the player who was next in turn is declared the winner.

Whenever you are choosing a Tongits free play app, it is always advisable to check the rules on the app or the website. Because knowing the Tongits rules in their entirety lays down a foundation for a strong strategy.

Conclusion

Now you know everything about Tongits rules. You know the initial setup, game table rules, winning scenarios, Burns and basic strategy points. We tried to answer the most asked question i.e. “how to play Tongits” from all the possible angles. We also covered the Tongits rules variations based on the variants.

Now you are ready to play your first game with your friends. But before you start the game, always remember: no matter how thrilling a game gets, your aim should always be to have fun and connect with friends.