Nanatoridori is a ladder-climbing card game focused on tactical hand management and adjacent card play. Players make careful choices each turn, adapting to shifting hands and evolving game states while navigating placement restrictions.

In Nanatoridori, you are a guide at a castle where a bird party has just concluded, and now you are helping the birds return home, the "birds" being cards in your hand.

From a deck of 63 cards, with nine copies each of 1-7, players get a hand of cards that they cannot rearrange. The starting player leads a card or set of cards with the same value — but they can play multiple cards only if the cards are adjacent to one another in their hand. If cards have been played on the table, to play you must play the same number of cards with a higher value or a larger set of cards, e.g., 2 < 5 < 3,3 < 6,6 < 2,2,2 < 1,1,1,1. When you overplay someone, you can pick up the cards you beat and add them to your hand where you wish, or you can discard them.

If you cannot or choose not to play, you must pass, drawing a card from the remaining cards in the deck, then either adding it to your hand where you wish or discarding it.

If all but one player pass, clear the table, with the player who last played leading to an empty table. When all but one person has emptied their hand, the last player loses one of their two lives. When a player loses their second life, the game ends, and everyone else wins.

Playing Time: 10 to 20 mins
Players: 2 to 6
Age Range: 6+


Released: 10 November 2026