The deck and the deal
Matatu is played with a standard 52-card deck plus two Jokers — 54 cards. Each player is dealt seven cards; the rest form the face-down draw pile, and one card is turned face-up to start the discard pile. In the app's Classic ruleset the Jokers are removed and a few cards behave differently — the differences are listed at the bottom.
Playing a turn
On your turn you must play one card that matches the top of the discard pile by suit or by number. If you have no legal card, draw one from the pile and your turn ends. First player to empty their hand wins outright.
The special cards
| Card | Effect |
|---|---|
| 2 | Attack — the next player draws two penalty cards, unless they defend with another penalty card that stacks the attack onward. |
| 3 | Attack — the next player draws three penalty cards. Stacks the same way as a 2. |
| 8 / Jack | Skip — the opponent's turn is skipped and you play again. |
| Ace | Wild — play on anything and choose the next suit. |
| Ace of Spades | The master card — also cancels any penalty aimed at you. |
| Joker | The bomb — a five-card penalty. Another Joker passes it on; the Ace of Spades defuses it. |
| 7 | The cutting card — ends the round immediately (see below). |
The cutting card
Playing a legal 7 cuts the round on the spot. Every player counts the value of the cards left in their hand, and the lowest total wins. If the totals tie, the player who cut loses the tie — so never cut unless you're confident your hand is lightest.
Counting card values
| Card | Value when counting |
|---|---|
| 4 – 10 | Face value |
| Jack / Queen / King | 11 / 12 / 13 |
| Ace | 15 |
| 2 | 20 |
| 3 | 30 |
| Joker | 50 |
| Ace of Spades | 60 |
Why it matters: attack cards are powerful in play but poison in a cut round. Holding a Joker and the Ace of Spades when someone cuts costs you 110 points. That tension is the heart of Matatu strategy.
Classic ruleset differences
The app also offers a Classic (no-Jokers) table: the Jokers are removed from the deck, the 3 is an ordinary card worth 3, and the Ace of Spades is an ordinary Ace worth 15 — only the 2 keeps its 20-point sting. Everything else plays the same.
Prefer learning by doing? The step-by-step beginner's guide walks a full first game, and you can practice risk-free against the AI.
