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Goninkan Strategy and Tips

Here is how to think about winning at Goninkan, split into short lessons. Each one reads on its own, and each one comes with a real position: press Try it on the board and you play the move yourself.

Feed face cards when your partner is winning

Lesson 1

In Goninkan you win by collecting face cards (A, K, Q, J), not tricks. So when you know who will take a trick, that trick is where your side should pile its face cards.

If your partner has danced with the joker, or led an ace with nothing higher left, your partner will surely take the trick. Throw your own face card in and it is safe for your side. This is called tsukeru. When an opponent looks like winning, play low cards instead.

Here your partner led the joker and named hearts. You hold the king and four of hearts. The joker always wins, so feed the king.

Cut with a small trump

Lesson 2

If you have none of the suit led, a trump beats even the ace of that suit. This is cutting. Cutting a trick full of face cards is the quickest way to boost your count.

Cut with the smallest trump that will win. Keep your high trumps for later, when opponents might cut back or when you lead. If nobody else has cut, a low trump wins just as well as the ace.

Here the ace, king and queen of diamonds are down and you have no diamonds. Clubs are trumps. Cut with the four of clubs to take three face cards and keep your ace and ten.

Dance with the joker on a rich trick

Lesson 3

The joker can be played at any time, whatever suit was led, and always takes the trick. It cannot be played in tricks 1 or 10, and if you still hold it in trick 9 you must play it. So you can keep it until trick 9 at the latest.

Save it for the trick where it gains the most: typically one with two or more face cards that an opponent is about to take. Dancing on a trick with no face cards wastes it.

This is trick 7. The king, ace and jack of spades are down and an opponent's ace is winning. Your only spade is the four. Dance now to take all three face cards.

Choose trumps with your partner's cards in mind

Lesson 4

If Kankei wins deal 1, the same pair play deal 2. In deals 2 and 3 there is no fixed trump: whoever held the joker in deal 1 (the trump ace in deal 3) chooses trumps and leads. This is kime-yaku.

Before choosing, your partner shows you two cards face down. They pick cards that say "I am long here" or "I hold this ace", so count them together with your own hand. A suit where your side is long and holds the ace and king makes the strongest trump.

Here you hold four spades and your partner showed the ace and king of spades. Together you have the A, K and Q, so choose spades.

Try it on the board

Pick a lesson and the board starts from that position. Start over as often as you like.

Now put it to work

Play with friendsLearn how to play (3 min)

Last updated 2026-09-26 · Run by Qdan, Inc.