Four Brights (no Rain Man)四光

8 pts

Shikō means capturing four Bright cards without the Rain Man. It is worth 8 points.

Cards

  • Crane on Pine

    January · Crane on Pine

  • Cherry Blossom Curtain

    March · Cherry Blossom Curtain

  • Full Moon

    August · Full Moon

  • Phoenix

    December · Phoenix

The cards

Any four of these: Crane and Sun (January), Curtain (March), Moon (August), Phoenix (December). The Rain Man (November willow) must not be one of them; four Brights including the Rain Man form Ame-Shikō instead.

How it scores

Shikō replaces Sankō: when your three Brights become four, the yaku upgrades and you score 8 points, not 5 + 8. If you later capture the Rain Man as well, the hand becomes Gokō (10 points).

When to go for it

Shikō usually appears after a Sankō. When you have three Brights and the fourth (non-Rain) Bright is still unaccounted for, it's worth watching the field and your hand for its month. Capture any card of that month you can, since a matching card on the field is how you will claim it.

Common mistakes

  • Grabbing the Rain Man too early when you're one Bright away from Shikō. It doesn't hurt the score (it leads to Ame-Shikō, 7 points), but it can change your decision about calling Koi-Koi.
  • Ignoring defence: four Brights in your pile tell your opponent exactly which month to block.

Reading the field

Track which Bright months are still live. If the Rain Man is already taken and you hold three non-Rain Brights, Shikō is the only four-Bright path left. If the Rain Man is still out, decide early whether you are aiming for clean Shikō or are willing to settle for Ame-Shikō at 7 points.

Playing it in Hanafuda Legends

Shikō uses the same Nintendo-style Koi-Koi scoring on Hanafuda Legends whether you play ranked, casual, private rooms, or vs computer. Set yaku replace smaller versions of the same family (you do not score Sankō and Shikō together), while unrelated yaku such as ribbons, animals and chaff still add to your total when you stop.

If you are new to the combination, practise in the tutorial or against the computer first, then take it into online play. How to Play covers the turn structure, matching, and when to call Koi-Koi versus stopping for points.

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