Red book
Seven natural cards of one rank. Red describes a clean book, not the card suits.
Hand and Foot
Rules and beginner guide
New setup and the tutorial use Common Partnership. These notes explain those rules and the optional Family Table variant. Saved tables keep their chosen rules. Use them to learn the flow, then choose Guided tutorial from the game menu to practice one move at a time.
Use drawn and held cards to form melds, build those melds into books, play through your Hand and Foot, and finish with the most points after four deals.
Basics
Hand and Foot is a variant of Canasta. It is played over four deals. Each player receives an 11-card Hand and an 11-card Foot. In the default online game, four players sit in partnerships: South and North against West and East.
- Both built-in partnership presets use six decks for four players. Two-player practice games use four decks.
- Twos and jokers are wild. Threes cannot be melded; in pickup variants, a three on top blocks the pile.
- Your partnership builds books from cards of the same rank. Runs and all-wild books are not part of these rules.
- The opening minimums by deal are 50, 90, 120, and 150 card points.
Turn
On your turn, draw two cards from the Stock, play any legal melds, then discard one card. Discarding ends your turn. When fewer than two Stock cards remain, Common Partnership ends the deal. Family Table instead recycles the discard pile when possible.
Common Partnership lets you take up to the top seven discards instead of drawing; Family Table does not allow pickup. A wild card or three on top blocks pickup. The visible top card must immediately meld with two matching natural cards from your hand. Buried pickup cards join your hand, but they do not count toward that immediate opening package.
Opening
Before your team is down, your first lay-down must reach the deal's opening minimum using complete melds. Book bonuses do not count toward opening points. Cards in your hand at the start of the turn and cards drawn from the Stock may count; in a discard-pile pickup, only the visible top discard and eligible held cards count.
Melds and books
A new meld needs at least three cards in Common Partnership or four in Family Table: matching naturals with optional wildcards. A completed meld of seven or more cards is a book.
Black book
A book with one or more wildcards. Naturals must always outnumber wildcards.
Adding on
Completed books can accept matching natural cards. Wildcards cannot be added to completed books.
Hand and Foot
When your Hand is empty, you pick up your Foot. If you empty the Hand by melding, you keep playing immediately. If you empty it by discarding, you pick up the Foot and your turn ends.
To go out normally, your partnership needs at least one red book and one black book, you must be in your Foot, and you must empty your last card by melding or discarding. Partner permission is not required in this game.
Scoring
At the end of a deal, teams score card values for cards they laid down, book bonuses, and the going-out bonus. Cards left in a Hand or unplayed Foot count against the holder. A rare forced-out finish, used only when no legal discard can avoid ending, scores card values only for the outgoing side and withholds book and going-out bonuses.
| Red book | 500 |
|---|---|
| Black book | 300 |
| Going out | 100 |
| Joker | 50 |
| Two | 20 |
| Ace | 15 |
| 10 through King | 10 |
| 4 through 9 | 5 |
| Held red three | -300 |
| Held black three | -50 |
Variants in this game
Choose Family Table in setup for four-card starting melds, no discard pickup, and recycling the discard pile when Stock runs short. Whole-pile pickup is also available as a high-variance custom-style option. Scoring can use Family default or Traditional values; Traditional changes Aces to 20 and the held black-three penalty to -5.
Individual two-player and four-player bot games are supported for practice. Online multiplayer currently uses four-player partnership play.
FAQ
How can I play Hand and Foot online?
Open handandfootgame.app in any modern browser and choose Play. There is nothing to download or install, and no account is needed. You can play against computer players right away, start a private table for friends, or learn with the guided tutorial. Start playing.
How can I play Hand and Foot with friends online?
Open Play and create a private table. The game gives you a room code. Share the code, and your friends join from their own browsers on a computer or phone. Online tables seat four players in two partnerships. Playing with friends is free and always will be, and no account is needed. Create a table.
Is there a free Hand and Foot card game online?
Yes. Hand and Foot at handandfootgame.app is free to play in your browser. Solo games against computer players are free, and playing with friends is free. Playing with friends will never be paywalled. Optional paid extras are planned, but you will never need them to play. See what is free.
What is the best Hand and Foot card game app?
It depends on how you like to play. If you want to play with your own family and friends, handandfootgame.app is made for that. It runs in the browser, so everyone can join from a computer, an Android phone, or an iPhone without installing anything. It has computer players for practice, a guided tutorial for new players, and the full rules written out. Read the rules.
Is there a Hand and Foot card game for iPhone?
Yes, and you do not need the App Store. Open handandfootgame.app in Safari on your iPhone and play in the browser. There is no app to download, so there is nothing to install or update. The same game works on Android phones and on desktop computers. Play on your phone.
How do you play the Hand and Foot card game?
Each player gets an 11-card Hand and an 11-card Foot, and a game is four deals. On your turn you draw two cards, meld matching cards into sets, then discard one card. A set of seven cards is a book. When your Hand is empty you pick up your Foot. If you emptied your Hand by melding, you keep playing. If a discard emptied it, your turn ends. To go out, your team needs at least one red book (seven natural cards of one rank) and one black book (a book that includes wildcards), and you must be in your Foot. Read the full rules.
How do I start the tutorial?
Open Play, then choose Guided tutorial from the menu. It never starts automatically.
Can I discard wildcards?
Yes under the default rules. Custom setup can change that.
What should beginners remember?
Draw before playing, open with enough points, keep naturals ahead of wildcards, finish one red and one black book before going out, and watch whether a move empties your Hand by meld or discard.