Sevens

What is Sevens?

Sevens is the classic layout game, also known as Fan Tan, Card Domino or Parliament. Nobody takes tricks: the four players build the table together, one row for each suit, growing out from the sevens one card at a time. The first to play out wins, and whoever cannot play pays for it.

Here you play against three computer opponents, on three levels, with the rules pagat.com gives for the game with a pool: the seven of diamonds opens, a knock costs a chip, and the winner of a deal collects the pot and a chip for every card left in the other hands. A match is eight deals and the biggest stack wins. Every day brings a Daily match, with the same deals for everyone.

How to play Sevens

All 52 cards are dealt, thirteen to each player, and everyone puts one chip in the pot.

• Opening. Whoever holds the seven of diamonds opens the deal with it. Play then goes to the left.
• Laying a card. On your turn you must lay one card if you can. Any seven starts the row for its suit. Any other card goes at one end of its own row: the six below the seven, the eight above it, then the five, the nine and so on, down to the two and up to the ace.
• Knocking. If no card in your hand fits, you knock and pay a chip into the pot. You may never knock while you hold a card that fits.
• Going out. The first player to empty their hand takes the pot and one chip from each opponent for every card still in that opponent's hand.
• The match. Everyone starts with 100 chips. After eight deals the biggest stack wins, and your score is your stack.

Tips and strategy

1. Hold the doors. A seven, six or eight with nothing of yours behind it only opens a row for the others. Keep it as long as you have anything else to play.
2. Play toward your far cards. An ace, a king or a two can only go down once its whole row has grown to it. Open the rows that lead to your own cards first.
3. Keep a spare move. A card that only you can follow up is a turn you will never have to knock. Chains of your own cards in one suit are worth more than scattered ones.
4. Watch the knocks. A player who knocks holds none of the cards that fitted at that moment. That tells you which doors they cannot use.
5. Mind the short hands. When someone is down to two or three cards, every door you open may be the one that lets them out.

Frequently asked questions

Is Sevens free?

Yes. Like every game on Play, it runs free in your browser, with no download and no account.

Why can I not play a certain card?

Only the next card at either end of its row fits, or a seven to start a new row. At the very start of a deal only the seven of diamonds may be played.

Can I knock when I still have a card that fits?

No. As in the standard rules, you must play when you can. The Knock button only appears when nothing in your hand fits.

How do the levels differ?

On Easy the computer plays any card that fits. On Medium it plays toward its own cards but holds nothing back for your sake. On Hard it sits on the sevens, sixes and eights that would only help the others, and it notes who has knocked, without ever looking at your cards.

What is the Daily match?

Every day everyone plays the same eight deals against the Medium computer, so scores compare directly on the leaderboard.