Kestrachern

At the 2009 Florida PreHeat I was gifted the game of Go Stop. It was a bit of a confusing game to learn in the afternoon after little sleep and with the instructions in Korean. After getting home I poked about the Internet and learned some about the gameplay.

Players capture cards from a central layout by playing a card of the same month (flower). The aim is to collect scoring combinations among the cards captured. When a player’s captures have a sufficient value, the player can stop the game and claim payment, or can continue the game (go) in the hope of winning more, but risking that an opponent will win meanwhile. It is this decision to stop or go that gives the game its name.

Rules seem fairly simple:

• Any player who has triples (three cards of the same month) can show them to the other players and this is known as “heundeum”. If you choose to show them and succeed in collecting all four cards from that month, your final points are doubled.
• Any player who has quads (four cards of the same month) can show them to the other players and win the game immediately.
• If there are triples on the center of the table, then combined into one stack. The player who takes the pile with the fourth card of that month will take the stack and collect a one junk card (“pi”) from each player.
• If there are quads on the center of the table, then the cards are reshuffled and dealt again by the same dealer.
• If there is a bonus card in the center, then the dealer may collect the bonus card and turning the top card of the stock face up and place it on the center of the table.

Time for me to find some willing people and start playing!