Play Tonj online, 1 vs 1, free

How to play Tonj

1. Two players, each with their own 52-card deck and their own colour of back. Each player has a reserve of 13 cards with the top card face up, 4 cards dealt face up to the houses, and the other 35 as a face-down stock.
2. The player whose face-up reserve card is higher starts (the Ace is low). If both are the same rank, a coin toss decides.
3. Centre: the eight foundations start with Aces and build up in one suit to the King. Cards from both decks mix there.
4. Houses: build down in alternating colours, a red 8 on a black 9. Both players may use all eight houses, any card can go into an empty house, and only one card moves at a time.
5. Loading: your reserve top or your hand card may go on your rival’s reserve or fire if it is the same suit and one higher or one lower.
6. When you have nothing else to play, turn a card from your stock as your hand card. Play it, or put it on your fire, which ends your turn. When your stock runs out, your fire is turned over as a new stock.
7. Priority: a card that can go to the centre must go there first, and while your reserve top can move you may not turn a card, fire or pass.
8. The first player to empty their reserve, stock, fire and hand card wins.

Tonj at a glance: “Tonj!” and the end of a game

• Break a priority rule at a Tonj table and the table calls “Tonj!”: the move is cancelled, your hand card goes back on your stock and the turn passes. The card you should have played lights up.
• At a Guided table the wrong move is simply refused with a hint, and your turn goes on.
• Your cards to play: your reserve top, your hand card and the top card of any house. Your rival’s reserve, stock, fire and hand card are never yours.
• House cards can’t be used to load your rival.
• If 8 turns in a row pass with no card reaching the centre and no player’s cards going down, the game ends as a stalemate.
• A game also ends after 30 turns each (Quick) or 60 (Full). Then the player with fewer cards left wins, then fewer reserve cards; still equal is a draw.

Tonj in Rayoosh

• 1 vs 1, against a friend or the computer.
• Tonj: faults are called by the table and cost you the turn. Guided: wrong moves are stopped with a hint, for learning, and a Hint button is there too.
• Quick: one game, up to 30 turns each, about 12 minutes. Full: one game, up to 60 turns each, about 20 minutes. Many games end well before the cap.
• Pearls by finishing place: 30 for a Quick win and 50 for a Full win, 5 and 10 for second. A draw pays both players the second-place Pearls. Never bought, never cashed out.
• Tap a card for its best move, or drag it to any target; targets glow while you drag. Works on phones, tablets, computers and TVs with a remote, in Arabic, English and Hindi.

Tips to win at Tonj

• Before you touch your stock, check every card for the centre: Aces first, then anything that follows a foundation.
• Work on your reserve. Those 13 cards are the hardest to get rid of, and the reserve top comes before your stock.
• Load your rival whenever you can: every card you put on their reserve or fire is one more for them to clear.
• An empty house is valuable. Fill it with your reserve top to dig into the reserve.
• Think before you fire: once your hand card goes on the fire, your turn is over.
• When your rival’s reserve gets small, load it to slow them down.

Play Tonj with a friend

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

• No friend online? The computer plays a fair game and never breaks a rule.
• Start at a Guided table to learn the priority rules without losing turns.
• 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.