How many points in Papayoo? Payoos, the die and scoring

The aim of the game

Papayoo is a trick-taking game with no trumps, in the same family as Hearts: you want to take as few points as possible. The points sit on a fifth suit, the Payoos, and on a single card, the Papayoo, which changes every round according to a die roll. Three to eight players, half an hour, rules explained in two minutes: it is the holiday card game, published by Gigamic in its metal tin.

The components

There is no jack, queen or king: the ranking simply runs from 1 (lowest) to 10, or to 20 for the Payoos.

Dealing and passing

The dealer deals all the cards, one at a time. With 7 and 8 players, first remove the four 1s of the suits so the count works out. Each player then chooses cards from their hand and gives them, face down, to their left-hand neighbour; you receive as many from your right.

The die and the Papayoo

Once the pass is done, the dealer rolls the die. The suit rolled names the Papayoo of the round: the 7 of that suit, worth 40 points to whoever takes it. So you don’t know the Papayoo when you pass your cards, which is the whole fun of the pass: a 7 of hearts given to your neighbour is harmless three times out of four… and a disaster the fourth.

How a trick goes

1. The dealer leads the first trick with any card, Payoos included.
2. Everyone must follow the suit led if they can. Payoos are a suit in their own right: on a Payoo lead, you follow with a Payoo.
3. If you can’t follow, play any card: this is the moment to dump a big Payoo or the Papayoo.
4. There are no trumps: the trick goes to the highest card of the suit led. A Payoo discarded on another suit never takes the trick.
5. The winner of the trick gathers the cards face down in front of them and leads the next one.

How to score

At the end of the round, everyone looks at the cards they took and counts:

The twenty Payoos are worth 210 points between them (1 + 2 + … + 20), plus 40 for the Papayoo: a round is always worth 250 points, whatever the number of players. That is the check to make before writing the line down: if the scores don’t add up to 250, a Payoo was missed or counted twice. Scores add up from round to round; at the end of the last agreed round, the lowest total wins.

Worked example

Four players, the die shows clubs. Emma took the Payoos 3, 8 and 19: 30 points. Nico has the Payoo 20, the 12 and the 7 of clubs: 32 + 40 = 72. Pat has the Payoos 1, 2, 4, 5, 6, 9, 10, 11 and 13: 61. Lea has the rest, the Payoos 14, 15, 16, 17 and 18: 80, plus the 7 of hearts, worth nothing this round. Check: 30 + 72 + 61 + 80 = 243… 7 short: the Payoo 7 is hiding under the box, and it was Pat’s, who goes up to 68. Total 250, we can write it down.

Variants

• Number of rounds: the rules leave it open: most often as many rounds as players, or four rounds for half an hour. Some tables play until a player reaches 250 or 500 points, as in Hearts; the counter offers both.
• Die before the pass: a common house rule: roll the die before passing cards. The pass becomes more calculated and the game less cruel; the official rules roll after.
• Shooting the moon: the rulebook has no such rule. Some tables, by analogy with Hearts, give 0 to a player who takes every Payoo and the Papayoo, and 250 to each of the others. Agree before playing.

Common mistakes

• Taking a trick with a discarded Payoo: a Payoo played on another suit never takes the trick, even if it is higher.
• Forgetting that Payoos are a suit: on a Payoo lead you must follow with one if you have one; you can’t discard a heart.
• Counting the 7 of another suit: only the 7 of the suit rolled is worth 40; the other three 7s are worth 0.
• Not checking the 250: the round always adds up to 250; any other total hides a mistake.

Frequently asked questions