Kachuful — widely known as Judgement — is an Indian trick-taking card game of prediction. Each round you predict exactly how many tricks you will win, the trump suit rotates, and you only score when your prediction is spot on. Play now against the computer, or learn the rules first.
Predict the exact number of tricks you will win, follow the rotating trump, and score when you hit your prediction.
Also known as Judgement
Families search for this game as Kachuful, Kachufool, Kachooful, Kachaful and Judgement. It is the same exact-prediction trick-taking game, though households differ on how many rounds to play and whether a no-trump round is included.
Each round every player is dealt the same number of cards and a trump suit is set. Going clockwise, players predict how many tricks they expect to win. Then play begins: follow the led suit if you can, otherwise play anything, and the highest trump — or the highest card of the led suit — wins each trick.
Look at your hand and the trump suit, then predict the number of tricks you think you can win. The dealer predicts last under the 'hook' rule: the predictions are not allowed to add up to the exact number of tricks in the round, so at least one player is guaranteed to miss.
You score only if you win exactly the number of tricks you predicted — usually a bonus plus one point per trick. Win one trick too few or too many and you score zero for the round. After the final round the highest total wins, so judgement matters more than raw card strength.
Play Kachuful against the computer anytime, or start a private family room and invite family from their own phones.
Kachuful — the game most families know as Judgement, and spell everything from Kachufool to Kachooful to Kachaful — is the Indian trick-taking game where predicting right matters more than holding the best cards. You predict exactly how many tricks you will win, the trump changes every round, and one trick too many hurts just as much as one too few. Learn how to play Kachuful below, then play Kachuful online free — no download, straight in your browser.
Kachuful is best with 3 to 7 players and a single standard 52-card deck. There are no fixed teams — every player predicts and scores for themselves, which is exactly what makes it such a fair fight between generations.
Each round every player is dealt the same number of cards. On Lazy Patta a match runs 7 rounds, counting down from 7 cards each to just 1. The trump suit rotates round by round — spades, diamonds, clubs, hearts, then a no-trump round — so no one gets to rely on the same suit twice.
Before any card is played, look at your hand and the trump, then predict the number of tricks you think you can win. Predictions go clockwise around the table. Count your sure winners — top trumps and off-suit aces — before you commit.
The dealer predicts last, and their prediction may not make the table’s predictions add up to the exact number of tricks in the round. That is the famous hook rule: it guarantees at least one player cannot hit their prediction, which keeps every single round tense.
The player to the dealer’s left leads the first trick. Everyone must follow the led suit if they can; otherwise they may play any card, including a trump. The highest trump wins the trick — or, if no trump is played, the highest card of the led suit — and the winner leads the next one.
When all tricks are played, each player is scored against their prediction. Hit it exactly and you score 10 plus your prediction; win even one trick too few or too many and you score zero for the round. Yes, winning an extra trick can be as costly as missing one.
Add up every round’s points as the hand size counts down. After the final one-card round, the highest total wins the match — and earns the right to be insufferable about their judgement until the next game.
Ask anyone who grew up playing Judgement and they will tell you about the arguments — the uncle who always overbids, the grandmother who quietly calls two and makes exactly two every single time, the cousins sprawled on the floor recounting tricks on their fingers. Kachuful is the rare game where a ten-year-old can genuinely beat the adults, because it rewards honest judgement over lucky cards. It was made for slow power-cut evenings and long family afternoons, and because every round resets with a new trump, there is always one more round — just one more — before dinner.
Play Kachuful right in your browser — completely free, no download, no app store, no sign-up hoops. Practise against the computer to sharpen your predictions, or start a private family room and invite everyone with a simple link, even the cousins three time zones away. The table is always set at Lazy Patta.