Hez2 rules — how to play
Hez2 is a fast shedding game on the 40-card Spanish baraja deck — Oros, Copas, Espadas, Bastos. Match suit or number, use the action cards, and be first to empty your hand. At three or four players the round plays on past the first player out, until everyone is ranked.
Overview
Played with the 40-card Spanish deck (1–7 then Sota, Caballo, Rey in each suit). Each player starts with four cards and plays a card matching the open suit or number.
How to play
- Match — On your turn play a card matching the open suit or number, or an action card.
- Action cards — The 1 (as) skips the next player, who may counter with an as of their own to pass the skip along. The 2 forces the next player to draw two, and stacks with another 2. The 7 changes the active suit: play it as a normal match, then declare the suit that must follow. Every other card, the Sota and Rey included, is ordinary.
- Draw — If you can’t play — or would rather hold your hand — draw exactly one card from the stock. Your turn then ends, even if the card you drew was playable. When the stock runs out, the discard pile is reshuffled into a new one.
- Shed out — The first player to get rid of all their cards takes 1st place — any card can be your last, the as included. Your finishing card penalises nobody: a finishing 1 skips no one and a finishing 2 makes no one draw. A finishing 7 still declares the suit the others must follow.
- Placements — At three or four players the round does not end when the first player goes out: their seat is skipped and the rest keep playing for 2nd and 3rd, with whoever is left holding cards finishing last. Head to head, the first shed-out ends the round on the spot.
Scoring & winning
- You win by shedding all your cards first — no card points in the base game.
- The order players go out IS the result: 1st, then 2nd, then 3rd, with the last player still holding cards finishing last.
- On staked tables the pot is split by placement among the players who actually staked — bots never stake: two stakers 100% to the best-placed; three 70/30; four 60/30/10 — and the last of them takes nothing.
Strategy
A 7 still has to match by suit or number — it is not a play-on-anything wild. Save one for a moment you can actually land it, then lock the table to a suit your opponents can’t follow.
FAQ
A 40-card Spanish deck with four suits: Oros, Copas, Espadas and Bastos.
Not at three or four players. The first to shed takes 1st place and leaves the round, then the rest keep playing for 2nd and 3rd. If only bots are still in, their placements are settled immediately rather than making you watch.
It forces the next player to draw two and skips them; it can be stacked with another 2.
It skips the next player, who may counter with an as of their own to pass the skip along. Head to head there is only one other player, so the turn comes straight back to you — which is why the as feels like a play-again at two players, though it is really a skip.
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