Goal: Be the firsts player to reach 7 points (or more) and declare "Stop" before your opponent reaches 7 points.
Also Goal: Be the player who has the highest running cumulative score across multiple games of Go Stop.
In addition to the basic goal above, in states and countries where it is legal, Go Stop is frequently played as a casual wagering game where players exchange money based upon player scores.
The dealer deals the hand (hands to each player and 8 cards to the community field)
The non dealer begins the turn order. Each turn is 2 steps:
Step 1 - Player plays one card from their hand to the field (matching or not matching a card already in the field)
Step 2 - Player draws the top card from the draw pile and plays it to the field (matching or not matching a card already in the field)
Player collects matched card pairs and gathers/sorts them into their collected card grouping.
Player tallies running point total and decides to go or stop if necessary.
If player did not decide to stop, the turn passes to the next player.
Turn order progresses (steps 1 through 5 above) until one player having reached 7 or more points (as determined in step 4) decides to Stop. (Also, see Go section below).
Figure 1: Look mom! I drew this myself.
After shuffling the deck (... have fun! 😉 ) the deal begins with your opponent and proceeds counter clockwise:
Deal three cards to opponent.
Deal 2 cards to left community field.
Deal 3 cards to yourself.
Deal 2 cards to right community field.
Repeat steps 1 through 4 above one more time.
Deal 2 additional cards to your opponent.
Deal 2 additional cards to yourself.
Repeat steps 6 and 7 above one more time.
Place remaining deck in a pile, face down, in the center of the community field to create the draw pile.
Turn all community cards (there will be 8) face up.
In the community card area, group matching cards by their "month" or "flower" -- matching cards can be stacked and fanned slightly to provide an easy view of how many matching cards are grouped.
After dealing, each player should have 10 cards in their hand, and there should be 8 community cards face up in the community field with the draw pile in the center (see Playing Area illustration above).
On each turn:
The player will play a card from their hand, attempting to match one of the cards that is face-up in the community field. Cards are matched by month (flower type) If no match can be made, the card is played to an open (unmatched) position in the community field.
The player will then draw the top card of the draw pile and determine if the card matches any of the cards in the community field.
The player will collect any matched cards (except ppeok) and sort them into their collection. Cards are sorted/grouped into their card types: gwang (shiny), tti (ribbons), kkeus (animals), and pi (junk). Use the card suit/type table reference on this web page as a matching guide.
There are several potential outcomes of matching card combinations played from the player's hand and the draw pile. Refer to the Table of Turn Outcomes and the "Special Sauce" section below for guidance on special situations and how/when to collect matched (and bonus) cards.
The player will assess their running score (see Turn Scoring below). If the player has achieved 7 or more points, they will determine if they wish to "Go" or "Stop". If player elects to "Stop" then score is determined as described in Final Scoring below.
Points are earned by collecting matched cards, and grouping them into sets and sub-sets of card types (gwang, tti, kkeut, and pi) and also through obtaining special combinations of cards. Each group of card types and special combinations each have their own point values.
Card Types:
Gwang (Shiny)
Set of 3 : 3 points (if one is willow, then 2 points)
Set of 4 : 4 points (if one is willow, then 3 points)
Set of 5 : 15 points (more than enough to win the game alone)
Tti (Ribbon)
Set of any 5: 1 point
One additional point for each card after 5
Kkeut (Animal)
Set of any 5: 1 point
One additional point for each card after 5
Pi (Junk)
Set of any 10: 1 point
One additional point for each card after 10
Some pi cards are "double" and counted as 2 pi cards:
November (paulownia)
December (willow)
September (chrysanthemum) (can also be played as kkeut)
May (iris) (can also be played as kkeut)
Special Collections:
Cheong dan - 3 points (set of 3 blue banners)
Hong dan - 3 points (set of 3 red banners with poetry)
Cho dan - 3 points (set of 3 red non-willow banners without poetry)
Godori - 5 points (February, April, and August birds)
Five Gwang - 15 points! (plus, opponent will have Gwang Bak [no gwang] meaning double score)
If a player has reached 7 or more points on their turn they can decide to Go. On a go, the player must add at least 1 point to their current score before their opponent reaches a score of 7 or more points. A successful Go will allow the player to achieve additional points and bonuses (but Go is a sword that cuts both ways). At the end of each subsequent turn in which the player has added at least one point to their score, they may elect to Go again (2 Go, then 3 Go, and so on) until they decide to Stop (or until they are set by their opponent reaching 7 or more points).
Scoring in GoStop is as simple as A, B, C... (D). When a player elects to Stop, their collective hand score is tallied, and bonuses are awarded to determine the final point score for the hand. Here is a summary of the scoring steps:
A) Calculate base points
B) Add 1-Go and 2-Go bonuses (if any)
C) Multiply the sum of Base Points and Go Bonuses by 10 (optional)
D) Determine and apply any doubles and re-doubles (if any)
Base points are determined by summarizing the players points according to the Turn Scoring section above.
To the player's hand score, add the following:
1 Go - One point is added for 1 Go.
2 Go - One (additional) point is added for 2 Go.
Players can a optionally agree that the sum of the winner's base points plus Go bonuses is multiplied by 10.
The summed score from above is the doubled for each of the following conditions:
3 Go - Winner's score doubles if they have achieved 3 Go.
4 Go+ - Winner's score re-doubles again for each additional Go level they successfully achieve.
Gwang Bak - Opponent has no gwang cards. Winner's score is doubled.
Pi Bak - If at the end of the game the losing opponent has fewer than 6 pi cards, this condition is called "pi bak" and winner's score is doubled.
Go Bak - If a player declares "go" (one or more times) but their opponent reaches 7 game points or more before they can declare "stop", the opponent "sets" the first player, and they themselves win the hand. This is called a "go bak". Points are scored and then doubled for the opponent player.
Meuong-dda - If the winning player has collected 7 or more kkeut (critter) cards, this is "meuong-dda" and their score is doubled.
Shake - The winner's score doubles for each time that the winning player "shook" their hand during game play (see Special Sauce conditions below).
Here are a few of the additional special rules and game mechanics in Go Stop. You can click on several of these conditions to see a video of how it is played.
Ppeok ("Puk" or "Pok" ... heck, anything close to "puk" or "pok" will do)
Play a card from your hand to match a single card in the field
Draw a card from the draw pile which matches the card just played from your hand...
Congrats, you've just been puk'd. Stack all three matching cards and leave in the field. Here are additional special puk rules.
Rule 1 - Count your ppeoks. Ppeoks stink, but if it happens to you 3 times in a single game, you win the game instantly and score 50 points.
Rule 2 - When ppeok happens, make a big show of how horrible it was to get ppeok'd. And REALLY make a big show of it if you are secretly holding the 4th card of the set in your hand. This will give your opponent false hope that they have a shot at drawing that 4th card to collect the whole set plus one of your collected pi cards as a bonus (when you know that just the opposite is the cruel truth -- mmuahahaha!!)
Collect em all
When you play a card from your hand (or from the draw pile) to a matching set of 3 cards in the community field, the player will collect all four of the matching cards along with a bonus pi card from their opponent.
Bomb (poktan)
Playing 3-of-a-kind (same month) from your hand to a matching card in the field is called a "bomb". At the end of their turn, along with any other matches made, the player will collect all four bomb cards plus a bonus pi card from their opponent.
Shake
If you're holding 3-of-a-kind, "shake" your hand to indicate this condition to your opponent immediately before playing one of the three cards to an open (unmatching) place on the field. If shaking player wins, their score is doubled.
Kiss (chok)
Play a card from your hand to unmatching place on the field. If the card drawn is the same month as the unmatched card played from your hand, collect the matching pair plus collect a pi card from your opponent's board.
Ghost
Play a card from your hand to unmatching place on the field. If the card drawn also matches no cards in the field -- it is just sad. It is called a "ghost". The ghost is sad too. Let's all just move on and pretend this didn't happen.
Ttadak
Play a card from your hand to match a pair on the board. Then draw the 4th matching card from the draw pile. This is called ttadak. The player collects all 4 cards plus one pi card from the opponent's collection.
Clear the board
If you match from your hand and from the draw pile, and you collect all remaining cards in the field (clear the board)... say "woo-hooo!" and also collect a pi card from your opponent's collection as well.
4-of-a-kind
If a player is dealt a 4 of a kind they immediately win the hand with 50 points.
If 4 of a kind are dealt to the field (community cards) the game is dead and redealt.
Not you, Guillermo (the willow gwang lady is "Guillermo")
If a player collects a book of 3 gwang cards, and one of them is willow (December, represented by the lady with umbrella) the 3 gwang cards are only worth 2 points (not three). If player later collects a 4th gwang, the set of 4 is worth 4 points (willow only affects set of 3 gwang).
Strategy: On your turn, it is generally a good play to match the last thing laid or flipped by your opponent.
Strategy: Save your "sure things" for last. When you have a choice between collecting a matching card that might be taken by your opponent, versus a card that you know your opponent cannot match, collect the "un-secured" card combinations first.
Grab a godori bird if and when possible. At the very least this will prevent your opponent from earning godori.
Similarly, it's not a bad idea to grab one of each type of banner simply to prevent your opponent from gaining any of the banner bonuses (cheong dan, hong dan, and cho dan)
Video walk-through: I made this video demonstrating the deal/setup, and the turn order of the most common plays you will encounter in Go Stop.
OGB Go-Stop Play mat (coming soon)
Forgive me. I truly despise the graphical elements (or lack thereof) of the table below, but it does work. Play a card from your hand and locate the outcome row down the first column. Then draw a card from the draw pile and track the outcome horizontally across the blue columns. Where the first and second outcome row and column intersect -- that is the outcome of your turn. It's like magic!! Big, ugly, blue-and-green magic. I probably shoulda used comic sans on it for that extra *chef's kiss*.
Here are some helpful videos. I like the first one best because it's mine (though a little hastily done, imbo). The second video is by koreaNerdKM on YouTube and provides a nice visual breakdown of card months/flowers, types (gwang, tti, kkeut, and pi) and combinations.