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About Hana Klo
Hana Klo (Hanafuda Klondike) is a solitaire card game played with hanafuda cards.
Like Klondike, it consists of Rows, a Deck, Opened cards, and Slots.
Clear the game by filling all Slots with cards from January to December.
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Terminology
| Name | Description |
|---|---|
| Rows | Seven columns containing 1, 2, ... 7 cards from left to right. The top card in each column is face up. |
| Deck | The face-down draw pile in the upper-right corner. |
| Opened | Cards drawn from the Deck. |
| Slots | The card slots in the upper-left corner. Fill them with cards from January to December in order to win. |
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Row Stacking Rules
You can place a card from another Row or from Opened onto a face-up Row card if it is one month lower.
However, cards of the same card type cannot be stacked.
A correctly ordered sequence of face-up cards can be moved together to another Row. The card at the connection to the destination Row must also follow the Row stacking rules.
Only a December card can be placed in an empty Row. A correctly ordered sequence beginning with a December card can also be moved there.
When all face-up cards above a face-down card in a Row have been removed and that face-down card is exposed, turn it face up.
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Slot Rules
There are four Slots. Each Slot can be started with a January card.
In each Slot, cards can be placed in month order from January through December, regardless of card type.
Only the top card in a Slot can be moved back to a Row. Only one card can be moved at a time. The card must follow the normal Row stacking rules at its destination.
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Deck and Opened Variations
How cards are drawn from the Deck is a variation chosen by the players or the implementer. It is not fixed to a single method.
In physical play, all Deck cards may be turned face up. Other variations include drawing one card at a time into Opened, or drawing groups of three, five, or another chosen number.
In Hana Klo, drawing one card at a time is the most difficult variation. It demands more memory because players must remember the order of previously drawn cards while playing.
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Differences from Klondike
| Item | Hana Klo | Klondike |
|---|---|---|
| Cards | 48 cards (12 months x 4) | 52 cards (13 ranks x 4 suits) |
| Card types | Kasu (24), Ribbons (10), Animals (9), Lights (5) | Spades, Clubs, Diamonds, Hearts |
| Row stacking rule | Cannot stack the same card type | Must alternate colors |
| Slot storage rule | Store January to December | Store 1 to 13 by suit |
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Deadlocks, Stalemates, and Undo
As in ordinary Klondike, Hana Klo can produce patterns that cannot be cleared, known as deadlocks.
Specifically, the game cannot be cleared when all four cards of month n are in Rows, and all four cards of month n-1 are face-down cards underneath them.
When playing with physical cards, you can treat the game as successful once you determine that it is deadlocked.
When implementing a digital game, it is recommended to avoid deadlocks algorithmically, for example by reshuffling.
A deadlock caused by the initial arrangement is different from a stalemate caused by the player's sequence of moves.
If the player's moves cause a stalemate, Undo is allowed. Undo reverses the immediately preceding move, one move at a time, and can be used repeatedly until the necessary earlier position is restored.
Undo is also allowed in physical play. However, it is more difficult than in a digital version because players must remember and reconstruct previous arrangements and moves themselves.
References
- Demonstration video YouTube
- First known digital game implementation Battle Hanafuda
Revision History
update 2026.07.13
- Clarified the rules for Slots, Row sequences, empty Rows, and turning cards face up.
- Added Deck and Opened variations and the difficulty of drawing one card at a time.
- Distinguished initial-arrangement deadlocks from progress-based stalemates and added Undo.