Goita

Overview

Goita is a 4-player partnership game from the Noto region of Ishikawa. Players form two teams by opening draw; each team then consists of two players.

The goal is to be the first team to reach 150 points.

Tiles

There are 32 tiles in 9 types:

Tile	Kanji	Count	Base score
King (1)	王	1	50
King (2)	玉	1	50
Rook	飛	2	40
Bishop	角	2	40
Gold	金	4	30
Silver	銀	4	30
Horse	馬	4	20
Lance	香	4	20
Pawn	し	10	10

Setup

Before dealing, each player draws one tile from a set of: し, し, 王, 玉. The player who draws 王 becomes the first attacker. The player who draws 玉 sits opposite as a teammate. The two players who draw し form the other team.

Each round is dealt with all 32 tiles face down. Each player gets 8 tiles.

At the start of each round, the player who drew 王 is the first attacker.

Gameplay

Play runs counterclockwise. Rounds continue until one team reaches 150 points.

Attacking

The dealer starts and plays two tiles:

• one face-down tile (discard),
• one face-up tile (attack).

If all three other players pass, the attacker discards one tile face down and attacks again.

Receiving

After an attack, the other three players may respond in counterclockwise order:

• Receive with a legal receive tile, then play a new attack tile.
• Pass, even if they hold a tile that could receive the attack.

Receive and Cutting Rules

• For most tiles, receive with the same tile type.
• 王 and 玉 are both worth 50 points and share the same rank, so they are treated the same when receiving.
• Receiving with 王 or 玉 is called “cutting”. King tiles (王 and 玉) can cut any attack except Lance (香) and Pawn (し).
• A King tile can be used as an attacking tile only when:
  • you hold both King tiles (王 and 玉), or
  • one of the King tiles is already face-up on the table, or
  • it is your final 8th tile played to go out.

Scoring

The first player to empty their hand wins the round. Scoring for normal round win is the point value of the final attack tile.

If you go out with two identical tiles and the attacker's receive tile was played face down, the round score is doubled.

Special Hands

Special hands are checked at deal time.

• 五し (5 pawns)
  • A player who has 5 pawns may choose whether to declare “五し” (declaration is optional).
  • If a team declares, play waits until their partner chooses “Redeal” or “Continue”.
  • If both teams declare “五し”, each partner chooses “Redeal” or “Continue”.
  • Redeal happens only if both teams choose “Redeal”; if either team chooses “Continue”, play continues.
• 六し (6 pawns)
  • Score is based on the two non-pawn tiles:
    • same tile: double that tile’s base score,
    • different tiles: higher tile value.
• 七し (7 pawns): 2 × the score of the remaining tile.
• 八し (8 pawns): 100 points.
• Goshi-Goshi (same-team double 五し): both partners on the same team have five pawns. That team wins the entire game immediately, regardless of the 150-point target.

Winning Condition

The first team to reach 150 points wins.