Minhato A Korean Card Game Copyright© 1996 - 2023 Randy L. Pearson

Game Help File

• Step 1: Learn the Suits


• Step 2: Learn the Special Points


• Step 3: Come back and read this


• Step 4: Play the Game

The game of MIN-HA-TO is one of several Oriental card games played in Japan and Korea. A special deck of cards, called HA-TO, is used to play the game. The deck has 12 suits of four cards each. Each of the 12 suits has a picture which relates the suit to one of the twelve months.

In this game you will play against the computer. Each of you is dealt ten cards to your hands and eight cards are placed face up to form a playing area. The rest of the cards in the deck are used as draw cards during the game.

Your hand is at the bottom and the playing area is at the right edge of the screen. The computer's cards are at the top. Of course you can't see the computer's cards, just the backs of the cards.

The computer and you will take turns matching cards from your hand with one of those in the playing area. Once a card is played from your hand, you then draw from the deck and attempt to match the card to one of those in the playing area. You must play a card from your hand every turn, even if no match is made. A match is two cards from the same suit.

Once all the cards have been played, the computer will display all the point value cards and total the scores. The loser of the hand will deal the next hand, and the winner will play first. Going first usually gives an advantage. Scoring is as follows:

In addition, there are six special combinations of cards that give bonus points. The points for these combinations are not only given to the winner, but they are subtracted from the oppenent's score also. See help for Special Cards to view the combinations.

Playing with a mouse is easy and direct. Move the pointer over the card you wish to play then press and hold the left button to select the card. Then drag the card to the playing area and when the card you are dragging is over the top of the matching card you wish to play, release the button. The cards will then move to your win area. Your win area is just above your hand, until you collect more than 12 cards. Any additional cards are moved to the right of your hand.

If a match cannot be made, drop a card on any of the play cards and the card will move into the play area. If there are no cards left in the play area you must drop a card on top of the deck to add a card to the play area. Please note that you must drop a card on top of a card to make a play. To cancel the move, drop the card anywhere on the background color. If you attempt to drag the card outside of the window, the move is also canceled.

When you make a play, the computer will check to determine if you made a match. If no match is made, the computer will check to see if a match could have been made. If a valid play could have been made, the move is cancelled and the card is sent back to your hand. If a valid play was not possible the card is added to the playing field.

For example, if you play a 'December' card on top of a 'January' card, the computer looks for another 'December' card in the playing field. If one is found, you attempted an illegal move and the computer will send the first 'December' card back to your hand. If a second 'December' card is not found in the playing area, the card is added to the playing area.

Once you move a card from your hand to the playing area, the next draw card is displayed. If that card matches the two cards you just won, SUL-SA occurs. All three cards are added to the play area and the fourth card is needed in order to win all four cards. A message will pop up to remind you of this. NOTE: Need to add pop-up. If no SUL-SA occurs, you may then use the draw card to make another play aganist the playing area.

If three cards of the same suit are ever dealt to the playing area, playing the fourth card will win all the cards. The computer will check for this and move all four cards to the winning hand.

If four matching cards are dealt to the playing area, all four cards are given to the dealer. This will occur before the first play is made. Also, if either your hand or the computer's hand is dealt four matching cards, a 100 point bonus is given and all four cards are immediately transferred to the win area. In this case your hand will be empty before the end of play so you will only play from the draw stack for the last several rounds.

The computer's strategy is very straight forward and will not be provided here. It may be simple, but, since the computer never misses a move, it is effective. My suggestion is to prevent the computer from ever completing any of the special card groups. These groups are where the real points are won or lost. Remember, both skill and luck are needed.

Good Luck!