How to play El Shayeb

Clear your hand, pass El Shayeb on, and avoid being the last player holding him.

At a glance

• Players: 2–4.
• Match length: 3 deals in Tricks or Rounds; one deal in Classic.
• Modes: Tricks is the default, followed by Rounds and Classic.
• Play in a private lamma, at public tables, or in bot practice; bots can also join your lamma.

Goal

Clear your hand and avoid being the last player holding El Shayeb. In the scored modes, escape early to collect more points over 3 deals.

On your turn

1. Choose a face-down card from the indicated player.
2. Take the card into your hand. Matching pairs are removed automatically.
3. Once your hand is empty, you have escaped that deal.

In Tricks and Rounds, everyone sees who holds El Shayeb, but not where he sits in that player's hand. Classic does not reveal his holder.

Ending and scoring

A deal ends with one player left holding El Shayeb. In Tricks and Rounds, points follow the order in which players clear their hands:

• 2 players: 1 point for the player who escapes, 0 for El Shayeb's holder.
• 3 players: 2 points for first out, 1 for second, 0 for El Shayeb's holder.
• 4 players: 3 points for first out, 2 for second, 1 for third, 0 for El Shayeb's holder.

After 3 deals, the highest total wins. Players sharing the highest total tie.

In Classic, everyone who clears their hand wins; the last player holding El Shayeb loses. There are no points.

Modes

Tricks

Play 3 scored deals with two tricks, each available once per deal:

• Peek: look at one card in the hand you are drawing from, when it holds 4 cards or more. Only you see its face; everyone sees which position you looked at. That hand cannot be rearranged for the rest of this draw. You can't peek into 3 cards or fewer, so the last draws of a deal are never a sure thing.
• Switch: before touching a card, choose another player to draw from instead of your indicated neighbour.

Rounds

Play 3 scored deals without Peek or Switch. Escape early for more points.

Classic

Play one deal without tricks or points. Whoever is left holding El Shayeb loses.

Arranging your hand

Hold and drag to arrange your cards. Tap a card to raise it in your own hand, or use Shuffle my cards. Your arrangement is the order other players see when choosing from your face-down cards. Once the drawing player touches a card or uses Peek, you cannot rearrange that offered hand until the draw ends.

Host options

The host chooses the mode before play. In a lamma, the host can set turns to 30, 45, 60 or 90 seconds, or choose Open for no turn time limit; the default is 45 seconds.