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Zheng Fen box art
Ranked #17,578

Zheng Fen

A Chinese climbing card game where players shed combinations while collecting valuable fives, tens, and kings. Going out first captures the last players tricks, but points rather than finish order decide the result.

Card Game Ladder Climbing Trick-taking Card Games: Climbing

Players

2-6

Play time

Not listed

Age

9+

Complexity

2.67/5

Rating

6.77

Harder to teach Highly interactive Deep strategy

Overview

At a glance

Is this game right for my group?

ABG editorial scores on a 1–5 scale.

Teachability 2.3/5

Harder to teach

Replay value 4.0/5

High replayability

Interaction 3.7/5

Highly interactive

Player scaling 4.0/5

Scales well

Strategic depth 4.5/5

Deep strategy

See all 5 specifications

How it plays

How does it play?

Chinese card game combining traditional "climbing/shedding" mechanic of games like Big 2 with point-card scoring of Chinese trick games like Da Bai Fen (Hundred) and Tuo la Ji (Tractor). The popular game Tichu took much of its rules and mechanics from Zheng Fen.

Core mechanisms

Key systems that shape the decisions players make.

Read the full game description

Chinese card game combining traditional "climbing/shedding" mechanic of games like Big 2 with point-card scoring of Chinese trick games like Da Bai Fen (Hundred) and Tuo la Ji (Tractor). The popular game Tichu took much of its rules and mechanics from Zheng Fen. Distinctive features: Deck includes two jokers, which function as wild cards if used in combinations and the highest two cards if used as singles. Players don't score for going out, but rather for collecting 5s, 10s, Ks. Five points for 5s; 10 points for 10s and Ks. Combinations include singles, pairs, trios, quartets, sequences of three or more pairs, trios, quartets; and a "trio plus two" (+ a pair, or any two pt cards, or any two cards in sequence). Sequences don't have to be the same length. Player going out first gets last player's tricks.

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Editions

Language and publisher variants currently recorded in the catalog.

Edition Year Language Publisher / Region
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Player resources

Rulebooks, player aids, FAQs, and solo resources.

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Game and edition data

All specifications (5)

Play and group

Players
2–6
Best with
2
Play time
30 min
Age
9+
Complexity
2.7/5
Credits and catalog connections

Credits

Designers

1
(Uncredited)

Publishers

1
(Public Domain)

Linked items

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