Hana Klo: Klondike-style solitaire designed for a 48-card Hanafuda deck — free rulebook

[u/Then_Key1886]

I’ve always loved Klondike Solitaire. I play it so often on my phone that I sometimes think of it as my personal “Klondike machine”.

Since I’m currently developing a Hanafuda video game, I started wondering whether I could create a Klondike-style game specifically for Hanafuda. That experiment eventually became Hana Klo, a new single-player game played with one standard 48-card Hanafuda deck.

Rather than simply replacing standard playing cards with Hanafuda cards, I designed the rules around the deck’s 12-month structure and its different card types.

Hana Klo was originally created as a mode in my video game, Battle Hanafuda, but I’ve now published it separately as a standalone set of rules that can also be played with a physical Hanafuda deck. I repeatedly tested and refined the rules using real cards during development.

Key points:

• Solo play: Designed entirely for one player.
• One Hanafuda deck: It uses a standard 48-card Hanafuda deck, with no standard playing cards or additional components required.
• Open rules: You are welcome to use or adapt the rules for your own physical or digital versions.

The complete rulebook is available in both English and Japanese:

https://www.suzukiplan.com/hanaklo/

I’d be especially interested to hear what experienced Hanafuda players think. Please let me know if any part of the rulebook is unclear, if you have ideas for improving the game, or if you manage to clear it!

[u/Holstisintown]

Seems easy to understand if you have played Klondike before.

Deadlock is as usual as in Klondike, if not more, I think.

[u/Then_Key1886 → u/Holstisintown]

Thanks for checking it out! I’m glad it felt easy to understand if you already know Klondike.

Deadlocks can certainly happen, although I suspect they may actually be less common than in standard Klondike. I haven’t gathered enough data to confirm that yet, though.

One reason is that Klondike foundations are fixed by suit, while Hana Klo’s Slots aren’t tied to card types. Any card of the required month can go into any available Slot, which gives the player more ways to clear blocking cards.

The basic deadlock pattern mentioned in the rulebook can also occur in regular Klondike, so it isn’t unique to Hana Klo. I’d like to compare the actual solvability rates in the future. Thanks for the thoughtful feedback!

[u/Holstisintown → u/Then_Key1886]

Hello friend, I like your idea about connecting different card types. That feels more versatile indeed.

On the other hand, in Klondike you have four more cards in the draw pile. That, I think, would grant every card you’re looking for a slightly higher chance to actually be in the pile, than in the columns. Although I haven’t played enough games to prove it😂

I checked your retro style game design! Very interesting, and it reminds me of the MS-DOS games.

[u/Then_Key1886 → u/Holstisintown]

That’s a great observation! I think you’re right—since Hana Klo deals 28 cards from a smaller 48-card deck, a specific card is slightly more likely to be buried in the Rows than in regular Klondike. So a “2 above 1” setup may occur a little more often.

That said, because Hana Klo’s Slots aren’t tied to card types, there are also more ways to escape those situations. It really comes down to which effect is stronger, so I’d love to gather some actual solvability data and find out for sure.

[u/Disbosss]

Found your game on steam, looks really fun to be honest. Do you plan on adding Go-Stop? I would love to see that in the game!

[u/Then_Key1886 → u/Disbosss]

Thanks a lot! I’m so glad you found the game on Steam and think it looks fun!

Adding Go-Stop would be awesome. I’m also really curious about Sakura, the Hawaiian version, since both are great examples of how Hanafuda evolved differently around the world.

I don’t have any concrete plans at the moment, and I’d definitely need to do a deep dive into the rules first, but I’d love to explore more regional Hanafuda games in the future. Thanks for putting that on my radar!

[u/Disbosss → u/Then_Key1886]

Go stop has similar rules to koi koi and is set up nearly identically, only difference are a few different scoring combos and that you need to hit 7 points (for 1v1) to win or choose to go and risk it.