Khorol (game)

Khorol or Khorlo (Mongolian: Хорол or Хорло) is a multi-trick tile-based game played in Mongolia, Inner Mongolia, and Tuva, usually on Lunar New Year's. It is played between two and eight players with four being the most common. The game appeared during Manchu rule (1645-1912).

The most common set consists of 60 tiles, usually made from wood. There are 17 different types of tiles ranking from highest to lowest:

There are four copies of each rank except for the dragon, rooster, dog, and pig which only have two. Less common sets may forgo the Khas and Norov ranks in exchange for having every remaining rank with four tiles. Older sets may have more ranks taken from the Ashtamangala such as the endless knot, fish, and conch. Tuvans play the game with the Chinese zodiac tiles replaced with dominoes.

It can be played with or without partnerships. In four player games, tiles are shuffled face down and evenly distributed to all players. With 15 tiles in hand, the eldest can lead with the trick with one, two, three, or four identical tiles. In a clockwise fashion, the following players must put down an identical number of tiles but only sets of a higher rank will prevail. The winner of the trick will lead the next one. The goal is to capture as many tiles as possible.

In older versions of this game, only single and double tricks were allowed. Players were also able to sluff losing tiles face down (this is characteristic of some trumpless trick-taking games like Tien Gow and Ganjifa). The rules of Khorol and Tien Gow appeared to have evolved in tandem and the Mongol game may be a simplification of the Chinese domino game.

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Wikipedia