The beloved Persian partnership game — the first game on our From Home shelf. You and Nilu 🌸 against Kaveh and Shirin. The Hakem names the trump, partners must take 7 of 13 tricks, and a clean sweep is a kot. First team to 7 points.
Turn —Score 0–0Hand –Trump –Tricks 0–0Matches won 0
How to play — the exact rules at this table
The table: four seats, two partnerships. You sit at the bottom; Nilu 🌸 sits across from you and is your partner. Kaveh 🦁 (left) and Shirin 🌙 (right) are the opposing team. Play runs in turn order around the table: you → Kaveh → Nilu → Shirin. There is no card-talk — your partner plays only by what she can see on the table, exactly as you do.
The match: a race to 7 points. Each hand is worth 1 point to the team that wins it — or 3 points for a kot (below).
The Hakem: one player per hand wears the crown — the Hakem (the ruler). For the first hand of a match, the crown is found the old way: cards are turned one at a time around the table until an Ace appears, and that player is Hakem. After that, the crown has a memory: if the Hakem's team won the hand, he keeps the crown; if his team lost, the crown passes to the next player in turn order. The deal rotates one seat every hand.
The deal: five cards to each player first, dealt in turn order starting with the Hakem. The Hakem looks at his five and names the trump — the hokm — which must be a suit he actually holds. Then the rest of the deck is dealt out, four and four, so everyone holds 13 cards.
The tricks: the Hakem leads the first trick. Each player in turn plays one card. You must follow suit if you hold a card of the suit led; if you are void in it, you may play anything — a trump, or a discard. The trick is taken by the highest trump played, or, if no trump was played, by the highest card of the suit led. (There is no duty to beat the cards before you — following suit is the only law.) The winner of a trick leads the next one.
Winning the hand: the Hakem's team must take at least 7 of the 13 tricks. If they do, their team wins the hand; if they don't, the other team wins it. Either way the winning team scores 1 point. Once a hand is fully decided — a team has its 7 and both teams have taken at least one trick, so no kot is still alive — the table concedes the remaining tricks and the hand is scored.
Kot — the sweep: a team that takes all 13 tricks scores 3 points instead of 1. Looked at from the other side, a Hakem whose team takes no trick at all has been kot — his opponents score the same 3. Both names describe the same 13–0 hand.
The match: first team to 7 points at the end of a hand wins the match. 💡 Tap the hint button any time for a suggested play — it thinks the way your partner does. Sound is off by default — tap 🔊 to enable.
Trump · Hakem · Tricks
Pick a table below to start.
👑 YOU ARE THE HAKEM — NAME THE HOKM (TRUMP)
👑
Hokm
Four players, two partnerships — you and Nilu across the table. The Hakem sees five cards and names the trump — the hokm. His team must take 7 of the 13 tricks; take all 13 and it's a kot, worth 3. First team to 7 points takes the match.
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About Hokm
Hokm is the game of the Persian family table — played in Tehran front rooms and, just as fiercely, in living rooms in Los Angeles, Toronto and Tel Aviv by the families who carried it with them. Four players, two partnerships, one ruler: the Hakem studies his first five cards and names the trump — the hokm, the ruling — and from that moment his team carries the burden of the crown: at least 7 of the 13 tricks, or the hand belongs to the other side. And hanging over every hand is the word every player at the table knows: kot — the clean sweep, all 13 tricks, worth 3 points and a story told for years.
This is the first game on VRMatch's From Home shelf — the games people grew up on, set for the table so friends across an ocean can sit down to the same childhood game. You play with Nilu across from you, against Kaveh and Shirin, under one clean documented rule set: the crown found by the Ace on the first hand and kept or passed by results after that, trump named only from the Hakem's first five, follow suit always, and the table conceding the tail of a hand only once it is decided and no kot is alive. No card-talk, either: your partner reads the table, not your hand — exactly like the real game.
Quick tips
Never waste a card over your partner's trick. When Nilu is taking it, feed the trick your junkiest loser — the Ace you throw away there is a trick you don't win later.
As Hakem, name length before beauty. Four medium trumps rule a hand better than two gorgeous ones; count the suit, then look at its face cards.
When an opponent is winning and your partner still has to play, think twice before trumping in — Nilu may be holding the winner of the suit, and a trump spent early is a kot that gets away.
Watch the kot lines. If your team has taken every trick so far, the hand is worth three, not one — play the tail like it matters, because it does.
Frequently asked questions
Is online Hokm free here?
Yes — free in your browser, no download, no signup, and no account needed.
What is the Hakem?
The Hakem — the name means "ruler" — is the player who names the trump suit (the hokm) for the hand, from his first five cards. His team must then take at least 7 of the 13 tricks. For the first hand of a match the Hakem is found by turning cards until an Ace appears; after that, a Hakem whose team wins keeps the crown, and a beaten Hakem passes it to the next player.
What is a kot?
A clean sweep: one team takes all 13 tricks and scores 3 points instead of 1. When the swept team is the Hakem's — he took no trick at all — it is called a hakem kot; it is the same 13–0 hand seen from the losing side, and it scores the same 3 points to the winners.
Do I have to beat the card led?
No — the only law is that you must follow suit if you can. If you are void in the suit led you may trump or discard. The trick goes to the highest trump played, or to the highest card of the suit led if no trump appears.
Why did the hand end before all 13 tricks?
Once a team has its 7 tricks and both teams have taken at least one trick, nothing can change: the winner is known and no kot is still possible. The table concedes the rest and scores the hand — the same courtesy a real table extends.
How does the match end?
Hand by hand, the winning team banks 1 point — 3 for a kot — and the first team to 7 points at the end of a hand wins the match.