LastiKadi Kadi
Kadi, rebuilt
for the next table.
A 2 is a debt. A 7 is a wall. A Jack asks for whatever it likes. LastiKadi is a careful, modern rebuild of Kadi — the matching card game that survives on its own rules.
It is not finished. We are building it in the open, and we would rather you found the rough edges with us than in a store listing.
- Pre-launch
- Free to play
- No prizes
- Android first
No account, no payment, nothing to install. This page sets no cookies and runs no analytics; it loads only its own files.
Where it stands
The honest state of the build.
Most game pages pretend to be finished. This one tells you what exists, what is being built, and what has not been designed yet.
-
Done
The rules are written down
Kadi’s rules are pinned to a written contract and a versioned rules module, so two devices playing the same hand cannot disagree about what is legal.
-
Done
One rules authority, shared
The game logic lives in a portable runtime that the phone app consumes. The app is not allowed to keep a second opinion about the rules.
-
Playable
The browser build is playable now
Practice against the machine runs in your browser on the same portable engine the phone app will use. The Android app is still in development and is not on any store, so there is still nothing to install.
-
Not designed yet
Competition is still on the drawing board
Ranking, seasons and prize structures are being worked out separately and are not part of what exists today. Nothing here is for sale, and there are no prizes.
How Kadi works
Four ideas. That is the whole game.
Kadi looks like ordinary playing cards and plays nothing like them. Everything follows from these four rules.
-
Match the family or the rank
Play a card that shares the top card’s family, or shares its rank. Those are the only two ways in.
-
Jack and Joker are wild
A Jack can land on anything. So can a Joker.
-
Draw, and your turn is over
Draw when you cannot play, or when you would rather not. Either way the turn passes, and a penalty resets once it has been paid.
-
Empty your hand to win
The first player with no cards left takes the round. A special card cannot be your last card, so you keep playing until a normal one finishes it.
Special cards
This is where the game is won.
Five cards in a 54-card pack decide most hands. Each one changes what the next player is allowed to do, which is why a Kadi table talks in penalties, walls and dares.
-
Two of Spade. 2 · Spade
Adds a debt
Each 2 adds two cards to a penalty that carries across the table. Twos stack on twos.
-
Seven of Mavi. 7 · Mavi
Builds a wall
A 7 stops the next player dead. They pass, or they answer with a 7 of their own.
-
Eight of Kisu. 8 · Kisu
Turns the table
An 8 reverses direction. The next player still has to answer it, with an 8.
-
Jack of Heart. J · Heart
Calls its shot
A Jack goes anywhere, then names what comes next: Heart, Kisu, Mavi, Spade, Special or Free. The next player has to satisfy it.
-
Joker. Joker
Only a Joker answers a Joker
A Joker wipes out the penalty coming your way, adds five to the table, and can only be blocked by another Joker.
The table
A table is not a tournament.
Kadi is a social game first. Most of what you will do is sit down with people you know, deal six cards, and argue about a 7.
-
Up to twelve on one pack
One pack of 54 cards seats up to twelve players. Bigger family tables deal extra packs rather than cramming more people in.
-
People and machines share a seat
Any seat can be a player or the machine, in any mix. Practice against the machine runs entirely offline.
-
Private tables are invite-only
A private table is not listed and not searchable. You join with an expiring code, and the host can see exactly who is in.
-
One screen for the whole room
A shared display can follow any table on one screen or several, showing the public state of the game to everyone at once.
-
Your hand stays on your phone
The big screen is a public projection. It never shows another player’s cards, and every phone keeps its own private hand.
Names
Two of the four families are Kiswahili.
Kadi travels, and each place that plays it names the families its own way. Ours keeps Kisu and Mavi, because that is what the rules call them, and we would rather be honest about where the game comes from than flatten it.
- Heart
- Kisu
- Mavi
- Spade
Chosen before your first hand
- Kiswahili
- English
Language is picked alongside your accessibility settings when you start, not buried in a settings menu afterwards.
Formats
Two shapes of play.
-
Building this first
Table
A normal game with the people you came with. This is the default shape of LastiKadi.
-
Format settled, product not
Knock-out
A defined format for more than two: everyone scores the cards left in their hand, the highest score leaves the table, and the survivors deal again until two remain. The format is written down; the competitive product around it is still being designed.
Games
One product, a flagship and its portfolio.
LastiKadi is the game this platform is built around, and it is not the only one. Go, Shogi and Bridge are portfolio titles on the same shared rules runtime, and TV Table is the surface for the room they are played in. What follows is the whole list, with what each one can and cannot do today.
-
Flagship
The game the programme is built around first.
-
Kadi
EXPERIMENTAL PREVIEW
A careful modern rebuild of Kadi, the matching card game with Kiswahili families and five special cards. The rules are written and the portable runtime is built; practice against the machine is playable in the browser now. The Android app is still in development and not released, and there is nothing for sale.
-
-
Portfolio game
Another title on the same shared rules runtime.
-
Go
PLAYABLE IN THE BROWSER
Nine-by-nine Go against the machine, in the browser. Captures, the ko rule and suicide are enforced by the rules module, and the shared client host drives the board without knowing anything about it. Area scoring is reported; settling which stones are dead is left to the players.
-
Shogi
PLAYABLE, NO DROPS YET
Japanese chess against the machine. Movement, promotion, check and checkmate all come from the rules module. Drops are not implemented, so a captured piece cannot be returned to the board; the board says so rather than leaving it to be discovered.
-
Bridge
PLAYABLE, NO SCORING YET
Four-seat Bridge against three machine opponents: an auction that produces a contract, then trick play that follows suit. The rules module decides every call and every card. Scoring, vulnerability and dummy play are not implemented, and the client says so.
-
-
Shared room
A surface for the room, not a game of its own.
-
TV Table
A shared display can follow any table on one screen or several, showing the public state of the game to everyone at once.
-
- The game logic lives in a portable runtime that the phone app consumes. The app is not allowed to keep a second opinion about the rules.
- A shared display can follow any table on one screen or several, showing the public state of the game to everyone at once.
- Not yet. The Android app is the first target and a web build follows it. Asking to be told is how you hear about it when that changes.
Access
Built to be played by everyone at the table.
These are commitments about this page and about the game. The first five are things you can check right now, on this page.
-
Colour is never the only signal
Every card carries a glyph and a written name, so nothing depends on telling red from black.
-
Text scales without breaking
Type is sized in relative units, so the page holds together at 200% zoom instead of clipping.
-
Motion follows your system
If your device asks for reduced motion, the page stops moving. It never autoplays, flashes, or counts down at you.
-
Keyboard and screen reader
Every control is reachable by keyboard with a focus ring you can actually see, and every one has a name a screen reader can read out.
-
No pressure mechanics
The game is built to the same bar: no autoplay, no streaks that punish you, no artificial urgency, and leaving is always easy.
Playtest
Come and break it.
There is no app to download yet, so we are not going to pretend there is a button that starts a game. Playtest invitations are not scheduled. If you want one when they open, say so and we will write to you then — once, not weekly.
Opens your own email app with the message written for you. Nothing is sent until you press send.
Feedback
Tell us what you found.
This page is a preview. If something is unclear or wrong, send a note with your own email app. Nothing leaves this page until you press send in your own app.
Your note leaves only when you send it.
Contact is optional. Choosing a topic below opens your own email app with a pre-addressed note you can edit or discard. Leaving without sending means nothing is recorded. To do nothing is a real choice here, and it leaves no trace.
Preview signals stay on this page.
Counts for arrived, started, played and finished or left stay on this page only. They are not stored and not sent unless you include them in your note.
- Arrived: 0
- Started: 0
- Played: 0
- Finished or left: 0
Counting starts only after you tick the box above. Unticking stops it and clears the counts.
What this instrument cannot do yet.
There are no server-side totals yet and no published triage. Replies are manual. If you need a reply, say so in your note. This section promises a mailbox, not a dashboard.
Questions
Straight answers.
Is LastiKadi released?
No. It is in development. The rules are settled and the phone app is being built, but there is nothing to install yet and no release date to promise you.
Does it cost anything?
No. LastiKadi is free to play and there are no prizes. If that ever changes it will be a deliberate, announced decision, not something you discover at the table.
How many people can play?
One pack of 54 cards seats up to twelve players, and larger tables deal extra packs. Seats can be people or the machine in any mix.
Which languages?
Kiswahili and English, chosen before the first hand. Two of the four families are named in Kiswahili in the rules themselves: Kisu and Mavi.
Can I play on my phone?
Not yet. The Android app is the first target and a web build follows it. Asking to be told is how you hear about it when that changes.