Kozel (Goat Dominoes) rules

Kozel as it is played in courtyards and on PlayElephant: two pairs, 28 tiles, penalty points and a match to 101. At the end: "Sea Goat", "Donkey" and the every-man-for-himself game.

1. The set, the aim of the match

• The game uses a double-six set: 28 tiles from 00 to 66. A tile with the same number on both halves is a double.
• A tile is worth the sum of its two numbers. 00 is worth 0 and 66 is worth 12. The whole set holds 168 points.
• A suit is all the tiles that carry a given number: there are 7 of them. The double belongs to one suit.
• A deal runs from the shuffle to someone going out or to a fish. A match is a series of deals.
• In Kozel the points are penalty points. The pair that first reaches 101 points or more are called the "goats" and lose the match. The other pair wins.

"Kozel" ("goat") is the settled name of the game. There is no single official rulebook and courtyards play differently. This page describes one clear version, which is the default at our tables. The most common differences are gathered in a table.

2. Pairs and seats

• Four people play. Partners sit opposite each other, so the player after you is always an opponent.
• Play goes clockwise, to the player on the left.
• The pairs stay the same until the end of the match. Changing seats is not allowed.
• Partners may not give hints or signals. Between deals you can talk as usual.

3. The deal and the redeal

• All 28 tiles are dealt out, 7 to each player. There is no stock to draw from.
• Only the owner sees their tiles. When a deal ends, the tiles left in hand are shown to everyone so that the points can be counted.
• Redeal. If a player has five or more doubles or six or more tiles of one suit, the tiles are dealt again. The server does this itself and tells everyone "Redeal" without showing anyone's tiles. There is no limit to the number of redeals in a row.
• A redeal does not change who leads: if the leader was the player who went out or the fisher, they lead again. In the first deal of a match the player with 11 is found again.

4. The first move

• First deal of the match. The player holding the double 11 starts and plays exactly that tile. With four players somebody always has it.
• Later deals. The player who played the last tile of the previous deal starts. After a fish, the fisher starts, that is, the player who made the last move before it, even if their pair lost the fish.
• In later deals you may lead any tile ("coming in with the hunchback"). It does not have to be a double.

5. Play

The line

• The line has two ends. The value of an end is the number on the free half of the outermost tile. After a first tile 35 the ends are 3 and 5. After a first double 11 both ends are 1.
• A tile is placed at an end with the same number. The new end is the other half of the tile. A double is laid across the line; this does not change the value of the end.
• If a tile fits both ends, you choose which one to use.

Two doubles in one move

If the ends differ and you hold both doubles, for example 33 and 66 with ends 3 and 6, you may play them in one move, each at its own end. The ends do not change. This is optional: you may play just one double. If the doubles empty your hand, you have gone out.

Must play, and knocking

• If you have at least one move, you may not pass.
• If you have no move, you knock, that is, you pass. On PlayElephant the server knocks for you and shows it to everyone. There is no penalty for knocking.
• A tile that has been played cannot be taken back.

6. Going out and the fish

Going out

Whoever plays their last tile has gone out ("domino"). The deal ends at once: their pair wins and the other pair loses. The tiles still in the partner's hand do not count.

The fish

If after a move nobody has a tile that fits, the deal ends in a fish. This happens when both ends show the same number and all seven tiles of that suit are already on the table. The player who made the last move is the fisher.

• For each pair, the points in both players' hands are added up. 00 counts as 0 and 66 as 12.
• The pair with the lower total wins. The losing pair writes points (see Scoring).
• If the totals are equal, it is "eggs": nobody writes anything, and one pair's total is carried over to the next deal (see below).
• The fisher starts the next deal, even if their pair lost.

7. Scoring

Who writes

The pair that lost the deal writes points, and never both pairs at once. The winning pair gets 0.

How much is written

• After going out. The pair in which nobody went out writes. The amount is the points of the tiles in both its players' hands.
• After a fish. The pair with the higher total writes, and again only its own tiles. The winning pair's tiles do not count.

Special value of 00 and 66

This rule applies to each losing player's hand separately. If a player has only one tile left, it counts like this:

This rule is not used to decide who wins a fish: there the ordinary totals are compared.

The threshold of 13

A pair's scoring does not "open" at once. Until the pair has written anything, it writes the deal's total only if it is 13 or more. A smaller total is lost. Once scoring is open, the pair writes any amount, even a single point. The threshold works for each pair separately.

"Eggs"

The total of one pair left after a tied fish is added to the points of the pair that loses the next deal that has a loser. The threshold of 13 is applied to the combined amount. If the next deal also ends in "eggs", the totals add up.

8. End of the match

• The score is checked right after each deal is written. A pair with 101 points or more are the "goats", and the match is over. A deal that has started is always played to the end.
• "Naked goats": the losing pair, when the winners have not written a single point in the whole match (they have 0).
• "Bald goats": the match ended by going out, and the last tile played was 00.
• These titles do not change the score. They are shown in the match results.

9. Every man for himself

A game for two, three or four players without pairs. The basic rules are the same, with these differences:

• Deal. 7 tiles each. With two players the stock holds 14 tiles, with three it holds 7, and with four there is no stock.
• Drawing. If you cannot play and the stock holds more than one tile, you draw one tile at a time until you get one that fits. The last tile of the stock may not be taken: if only one is left, you knock. A tile that fits may be played at once, or you may choose another tile that fits.
• First move. The holder of the lowest double starts with it. If nobody has a double, the holder of the heaviest tile starts with it. With four players, 11 starts.
• The fish. The player with the lowest total in hand wins.
• Scoring. Each loser writes the total of their own hand with the threshold of 13 (as in Scoring); tiles in the stock do not count. The winner of the deal writes nothing.
• End of the match. The "goat" is the player who reaches 101 or more. If several do, the goat is the one with more points. The other places go by points from lowest up: fewer is better.

10. Sea Goat

The same Kozel with a bigger score and a different way of writing. Whatever is not mentioned is as in the ordinary game: four players, 7 tiles each, first move 11.

• Who writes. Only the losing pair writes, as in Kozel.
• Threshold 25. Writing starts from 25 points in a deal.
• One score for both. At any moment only one pair has a score. If the other pair gets 25 or more in a deal, the first pair's score is wiped out and the second pair opens a new one. If it gets less than 25, nothing changes. While a pair's scoring is open, it takes any amount.
• Target 125. A pair that reaches 125 or more are the "sea goats" and lose the match.
• Going out on 00. If someone goes out and 00 is among the tiles of the last move, the match ends at once: the pair that went out wins, whatever the score. If the last move played both doubles, 00 and 66, the result is the same.
• Going out on 66. If 66 is among the tiles of the last move (and 00 is not), the losing pair writes 100 points instead of the total in hand.
• The other courtyard extras for this variant are not switched on at default tables.

11. Donkey

The "Cross" variant: the first double of the deal becomes the "house" with four open sides, and doubles can be closed. Everything else is as in Kozel: four players, 7 tiles each, to 101, losers write.

• The house. The first double played in the deal (not necessarily the first tile) is open on all four sides. If it is the first tile, there are four ends at once. Other doubles behave as ordinary ones.
• Several doubles in one move. In one move you may play from one to four doubles, each at a free end with the same number, but only one double at each end. This is optional.
• Closing. When you play a double, you choose: leave it open or lay it face down. Nothing can be attached to a closed double, its end is "dead". A double can be closed only at the moment it is played, and it cannot be opened later.
• Early closing. If the first tile of the deal is not a double, say 24, and the next player plays 22 and 44 on both ends and closes them, no open ends remain. The deal ends as a fish, and the fisher is the player who closed.
• The fish happens when nobody has a move, taking closed ends into account.
• Remembered points. The threshold of 13 works in every deal. If the losing pair has less than 13, the total is not written but remembered and added to the next loss. If that pair does not lose the next deal, the memory is cleared. After "eggs" the memory is kept.

12. Examples

13. Courtyard differences

Kozel is not standardised: every courtyard has its own habits. Here are the most common differences from the rules on this page. At a PlayElephant table, what the table settings say applies; by default it is the rules above.

The games "Telephone" and "General" are like Kozel only in name and in the tiles used. They are not described here.

14. Glossary

Play Kozel