Play El-Shayeb online with friends, free

How to play El-Shayeb

1. One 52-card deck without jokers. The Kings of spades, diamonds and clubs are taken out, leaving 49 cards. The King of hearts is the shayeb: the only card that can never pair.
2. The cards are dealt one at a time, starting with the player after the dealer. With 4 players that is 13, 12, 12 and 12.
3. A pair is two cards of the same rank, whatever their suits: 7♣ and 7♥ are a pair. Right after the deal, every pair in every hand goes to the middle by itself.
4. On your turn, the player before you holds out their cards face down. Tap one to take it.
5. If the card you take matches one in your hand, the pair goes out at once. Then the next player draws from you.
6. You may rearrange your hand or tap Shuffle at any time, so nobody knows where the King of hearts is hiding.
7. When your last card goes, you are out and take the next finishing place. Players who are out are skipped.
8. The round ends when one player is left holding only the King of hearts. That player is the shayeb and comes last.

El-Shayeb scoring at a glance

• Every round, points go by finishing place.
• 4 players: 300, 150, 75 and 25.
• 3 players: 300, 150 and 25.
• 5 players: 300, 150, 100, 50 and 25.
• The shayeb always gets the lowest score of the round.
• After the last round the highest total wins. Ties go to the player who was the shayeb fewer times, then to the better place in the last round.

El-Shayeb in Rayoosh

• Players: 3, 4 or 5, every player for themselves.
• Quick: 3 rounds, about 5 minutes. Full: 5 rounds, about 9 minutes.
• Pairs are thrown for you, so the game stays quick and nobody misses a pair.
• The King of hearts wears a little grey beard in your hand, so you never lose track of it. Drag your cards into any order or tap Shuffle.
• Pearls by finishing place: up to 30 for a Quick win and 45 for a Full win. Never bought, never cashed out.
• Works on phones, tablets, computers and TVs with a remote, in Arabic, English and Hindi.

Tips for El-Shayeb

• El-Shayeb is mostly luck, so enjoy it: what you control is where you hide the old man.
• Holding the King of hearts? Move it or tap Shuffle before the next player draws.
• Don’t leave it in the same spot every time: people remember.
• Watch the card counts. A player with one or two cards left is about to go out.
• Against computer players any spot is as good as another: they draw at random and never see your cards.
• In a Full game every place counts: coming second every round can beat one win and a few last places.

Play El-Shayeb with family and friends

Create a private table, share the link on WhatsApp, show the QR code or read out the room code, and your friends join in seconds with no download.

• Computer players fill any empty seat, for a table of 3, 4 or 5.
• Text chat with quick phrases, voice chat, emotes and gifts at the table.
• A short lesson and practice games against the computer, any time.
• Once Rayoosh is installed, you can play the computer even without internet.