01-022 Kung Tsai Ji

01-022
Kung Tsai Ji

Last week, I took my wife and kids to the Hong Kong Heritage Museum. It is my first time visiting there.

The museum sits on a beautiful river bank in Shatin. It is in between 2 metro stations and is quite far away from my home. For me, going there is not as convenience as going to other museums. And that is why I have never been to there before even though the museum has been opened for more than 2 decades.

As its name tells, the museum mainly focuses on the heritage of Hong Kong. And as an essential part of every culture, there is a section about toys inside. I found many old toys that I have been playing during my childhood. Good old memories came back. I have forgotten most of them. Most of the exhibits are not possible to find now. And among them is a very special card game called “Kung Tsai Ji” (公仔紙).

Kung Tsai Ji

“Kung Tsai Ji” literally means picture cards. It is organized from cigarette cards. In the early 20^th century, competition between tobacco factories was fierce. To attract more customers, manufacturers started to include a small piece of cardboard in each cigarette pack. Original cigarette cards measure 3.7 cm × 6.7 cm. “Kung Tsai Ji” circulating here are usually smaller in size, at around 3cm x 5cm approximately.

Theme of cigarette cards can be anything from animals to plants and to Hollywood stars. All are colourfully printed. Like stamps, cigarette cards are intended for collection only. People smoked more simply because they want to collect more cards. Some became loyal to a certain cigarette brand because they wanted to collect the whole set. Manufacturers are very smart in marketing!

Then somehow those cards ended up in children’s hands. And instead of just collecting, children created a way to play with them. “Kung Tsai Ji” then became a popular “card game” among boys. Actually, instead of calling it a card game, “Kung Tsai Ji” is more a dexterity and coordination game.

From the 60s, the cards and the cigarettes divorced. Newspaper kiosks started selling standalone sheets of “Kung Tsai Ji”. A sheet is around A5 in size and normally printed with 15 to 25 pictures on it. Pictures are normally characters from Chinese folk legends. But sometimes Hollywood stars or Japanese animes are featured.

Parents bought the whole sheet back home and cut them into many smaller cards. Children would get a piece from their parents if, for example, they got good grade in exam.

Kung Tsai Ji exhibits in the Hong Kong Heritage Museum

According to the museum, “Kung Tsai Ji” was popular until early 80s. But I have no memory of playing them. My mum did, but cannot remember how to play. Luckily, the museum told me how.

"Official" ways of playing

Like many traditional games, the ways of playing vary. But the museum is run by the government, I considered rules published by them are the official ways of playing.

Will I play “Kung Tsai Ji” with my kids?

No way! “Kung Tsai Ji” does not belong to this age. Some people are still printing them but you can hardly find anyone playing. Children all stick their eyes on Nintendo Switch nowadays.

General Information

Player	2+
Playing Time	5 to 10 mins
Age	5+
Year Released	1950s?
Designer	(Public Domain)
Publisher	(Public Domain)
Family	Dexterity and coordination
Score	?

Specifications

Card size	Not specific, down to the printer.
Deck size	Not specific, down to the printer.
# of suits	n/a
Details	Not specific, down to the printer.

The game play

Game for Two

1. Each person puts a printed card in his palm, then raises it and hits the other person’s hand with it.
2. When the cards fall from their palms onto the table, whoever’s card that lands upward would win and the winner can take the opponent’s card.

Game for many

1. All participants take out an equal number of picture cards. One of the cards is designated as the “king”.
2. The “king” is put on the table. The other cards are placed on top of it to form a stack.
3. One by one, the players clap their hands to form an air current to displace the cards. Those that are blown off the stack would go to the player each time.
4. The one who blows away the “king” out of the stack wins and can take away the rest of the cards.

Where to buy?

In the Hong Kong Heritage Museum, you can get a sheet of “Kung Tsai Ji” for free. Drop me a message if you are interested.

Go back to the Lobby ...

02-006 Twisted Farkel

02-006
Twisted Farkel

If the most expensive part of a game is its design, the cheapest way to publish your own game is to get something from the public domain and remake it under your own brand. There are plenty of titles available to grab, Chess, Chinese Checkers, Go, Domino, Poker Dice, just to name a few.

If you like tabletop games, you should have come across many of this kind of publishers. They mainly publish games under public domain, with almost none of their games are designed by themselves.

The only problem is, if you can make it, others can also make. How to make sure people buying your product but not the other’s is always a challenge.

Some people go a bit further. They grab a traditional game from public domain, twist it a little bit, register a new name for it, and publish it under their own brand. Then people cannot copy. “Those people just try to make money from nowhere.” That is what I used to think about them. “I will never pay to buy their games.” Not until I watched the story of “Mr. Farkel”.

I have not heard of this game in my area. But Farkle is popular in America. It is a traditional dice game with only a few components. It is easy, fun and fast pace. However, just like you can’t find a rope designated for “Tug of War”, it is sometimes difficult to find a dedicated copy of a traditional game. And this is why Charlie Potter decided to become “Mr. Farkel”.

Story started in the mid-90s when Charlie Potter found that, as such a popular game, no one in America was actually manufacturing Farkle. So he decided to make his own. He gave up his farming career and changed his chicken shed to the world’s first “Farkel” factory. He had no experience in game making, no equipment, and no connection at all. Everything was started from sketch. I was impressed by his passion. As a man with a family, this act is a real adventure. I decided to get a copy of Farkel from him.

Charlie did added some twists to the original game. He changed some of the game play and registered it with a new name “Farkel”. Yes, Farkle is a traditional game. But Farkel is copyrighted. You can’t copy, although many people are doing.

Now, many people are making Farkle, including some big manufacturers. But if you would like to get a copy of Farkle, I would recommend you to get one from “Mr. Farkel”, The Legendary Games Inc.

Twisted Farkel

The Farkel I got is a family version called “Twisted Farkel”. Unlike the original pocket version, it comes with six standard 16mm dice and a 19mm special “determinator” die. It is much easier to read the number of pips from large dice. Twisted rules are also included.

So, what are the differences between Farkel and Farkle?

There are only 2 difference. First, “Mr. Farkel” has brought down the score of 3 ones from 1000 point to 300. Also, he has introduced a “High Stack” mode described as follow:

PLAYING THE HIGH STAKES™ VERSION

After all players are in the game, you may pick up any dice left unrolled by the previous player and roll those dice. If you roll any scoring dice, you receive the same score that the previous player rolled plus the points you have rolled. In High Stakes, stopping after you make all six dice count for score will leave all six dice eligible for the next player.

Can I play Farkle with Farkel?

Yes, sure. The components are the same. Just stick to the original rules will do.

What are the differences between Farkel and Twisted Farkel?

Twisted Farkel is different from Farkel in 3 parts:

1. There is no fixed point for entering the game. Instead, all player roll a die at the beginning of the game and start the game with 100 times their roll, i.e., “1” = 100 points, “2” = 200 points, etc. Players who tie for high score must re-roll to determine who starts the game.
2. There is a penalty of 500 points per Farkel.
3. [The main difference] The introduction of the Determinator die. At the end of each roll, player will roll the Determinator die. According to the outcome of the roll, player will pass their points to the “determinated” player as follow:

• “RIGHT ONE”: The player immediately to your right
• “RIGHT TWO”: The player two places to your right
• “LEFT ONE”: The player immediately to your left
• “LEFT TWO”: The player two places to your left
• “HIGH SCORE”: The player with the highest score
• “LOW SCORE”: The player with the lowest score

Yes, the rule of the game is totally twisted. In Farkel, player gets the highest point wins. In Twisted Farkel, player gets the lowest point wins.

Can I play Farkel with Twisted Farkel?

Sure, just stick to the original rule and ignore the “Determinator” die.

General Information

Player	2 to 6
Playing Time	15 mins
Age	8+
Year Released	2011
Designer	?
Publisher	Legendary Games, Inc.
Family	Dice Rolling, Paper and Pencil
Score	5.1 (Board Game Geek)

Specifications

Dice size	16mm and 19mm
# of dice	7
Faces	6
Details	The game contains 6 standard 16mm dice and 1 specialty marked 19mm “determinator” die. The “determinator” die is a d6 die with its six faces marked as “LEFT ONE”, “LEFT TWO”, “RIGHT ONE”, “RIGHT TWO”, “HIGH SCORE” & “LOW SCORE” respectively. In additional, there are 20 pieces of scorepad and a dice cup.

The game play

 

Where to buy?

Amazon.

Hacking

Farkle is a traditional game and can be played with 6 standard d6 dice. Scorepad is widely available on internet.

Farkel is very similar to Farkle with the same components. Farkel scorepad is also widely available on internet.

Twisted Farkel requires a special die and cannot be hacked.

Go back to the Lobby ...