66805


And in particular, when you play with 2 players do you deal out all the cards
the from the deck? Or is there some undealt part that players draw from during
the game? I mean, if you deal them all then you'll just know what's in your
opponent's hand?

This is going to sound trivial, but actually it's part of this
theory/hypothesis I have for this anime/manga series [The Quintessential
Quintuplets](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Quintessential_Quintuplets),
where I think the game Sevens(/Fan Tan/Domino) is symbolic of something in the
series (namely something to do with the number 7). My thought is that the card
game Sevens (and thus the number 7) is so important that it even leads to a
mistake like this. So if this were a mistake, then it's possible that Sevens
is really important. Or something.

  * Actually there have been previous discussions of the game Sevens in this series. See: [The importance of "Sevens"](https://www.reddit.com/r/5ToubunNoHanayome/comments/axlujo/the_importance_of_sevens/)

From S02E12 of [The Quintessential
Quintuplets](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Quintessential_Quintuplets)

[![enter image description
here](https://i.stack.imgur.com/ys4dD.jpg)](https://i.stack.imgur.com/ys4dD.jpg)

The 2 kids pictured above, a young Nakano and the young Fuutarou, are playing

  * in the English dub version: 'Sevens'. (This is also in the English subtitles for the Japanese version.)

  * in the original Japanese version: '[Shichi Narabe (7並べ)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Domino_\(card_game\)#Japan)', which is what Wikipedia calls a(/the?) Japanese variation of Sevens. In the upper right part of the Wikipedia page, you can see that it says 3-8 players, so I guess that includes the Japanese Sevens.

You can even see how the cards are laid out that they really are playing (some
variation of) Sevens.

Other notes:

  1. I've read only a bit of the manga, but I'm pretty sure no other kids were playing with the 2.

  2. Additionally, Sevens has been played earlier in the series ([S01E09](https://i.stack.imgur.com/RReaF.jpg) where it's still Shichi Narabe [7並べ], but it's translated as 'Fan Tan' instead of 'Sevens', again by both the English dub and the subtitles for the original Japanese), but there were at least 3 players then.


CC BY-SA 4.0
2022-05-14T20:17:52.900
66802
2022-05-29T11:49:04.737
2022-05-21T12:02:33.337
4484
4484
question
culture japan the-quintessential-quintuplets
Are there Japanese 2 player variations of Sevens/Fan Tan/Domino/Shichi Narabe (7並べ)?


This game may be played with two players. It becomes less of a strategic
battle and more of a time-killer.

If you trust Wikipedia as a source, the [Japanese Wikipedia
article](https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/7%E4%B8%A6%E3%81%B9#%E4%BA%BA%E6%95%B0)
says it could even be played by one player.

I can imagine playing this game alone requires the highest level of patience,
strategy, tactic, and most of all a strong mentality, compared to playing
against three or more players.


CC BY-SA 4.0
2022-05-15T06:37:11.430
66803
2022-05-15T06:37:11.430
66802
answer


**Yes, it is possible to play _Shichi Narabe_ with only 2 players.**

First of all, there is no exact requirement for the number of players, though
most sites recommend at least 3 or 4 players:

  * [English Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Domino_\(card_game\)): 3-7 (intro body) / 3-8 (infobox)
  * [Japanese Wikipedia](https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/7%E4%B8%A6%E3%81%B9#%E4%BA%BA%E6%95%B0): **theoretically 1-20+** , preferably 4-10
  * [Nico Nico Pedia](https://dic.nicovideo.jp/a/%E4%B8%83%E4%B8%A6%E3%81%B9) (Japanese): usually 3-5
  * [Magic Door](https://magicdoor.jp/seven-rows/) (Japanese): preferably 3-4, **2 is not recommended**
  * [Trump Stadium](https://playingcards.jp/game_rules/sevens_rules.html) (Japanese): 3-8 (summary) / 4-7 (online in-game setting)
  * [Trump & Board Game Rule Book](https://sojudo.net/gamerule/trump/shichinarabe) (Japanese): 3-7
  * [Introduction to Trump Games from Small to Large Amount of Players](http://trampgame.blog.jp/archives/5937554.html) (Japanese): 3-8
  * [Sites about Killing Time](https://xn--68jza6c6j4c9e9094b.jp/category21/entry427.html) (Japanese): **2 is possible** , usually 3, preferably 4-6

(Emphasis added)

Japanese Wikipedia also mentioned an optional rule for games with **2-3
players** called
[combo](https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/7%E4%B8%A6%E3%81%B9#%E3%82%B3%E3%83%B3%E3%83%9C),
so it acknowledged that there is also a variation for 2 players.

Thus, while it is still possible to play with only 2 players, there are a few
reasons why it is not really recommended. Magic Door mentioned in short that
it is because both players know each other cards (because all the cards are
dealt). A more thorough discussion on [Yahoo!
Chiebukuro](https://detail.chiebukuro.yahoo.co.jp/qa/question_detail/q10113941205)
(Japanese) explained further that since both players know each other cards, it
is [a perfect information
game](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Perfect_information) and the winner can
already be decided since the beginning, given both players play perfectly. In
the end, it becomes a game to play without mistakes instead of a game of
strategy.


CC BY-SA 4.0
2022-05-15T08:35:37.440
66805
2022-05-29T11:49:04.737
2022-05-29T11:49:04.737
4484
2516
66802
answer