Daihimi (Japanese for “Big Loser”) is a common game for college students. Here, I will try to present the rules as I learned them (though not necessarily consistent with the actual Japanese rules).
The objective of Daihimi is to be the first person to get rid of all your cards. The order of play for the next round is based off the order in which the players finish the current round.
The “low” card is the 3, incrementing through the normal 4-10,J,Q,K,A, then the 2, low Joker (usually b&w), then the high Joker (usually red or colored). The Jokers are also wild cards (able to be used as any other card), so people generally consider the 2 as the “high” card even though the Jokers can beat it.
Take a normal deck of cards (including Jokers), shuffle, and deal out to all players in a clockwise order. In the case of extra cards, keep dealing so that the first few players get the excess cards. The person to the left of the dealer starts the first game round.
Whichever player starts the round chooses a set of cards to play. The set of cards can be any number of a single Rank (a single 3, two 4s, three 8s, four 10s, or possibly even five or six of some Rank if using the Jokers) or a run (sequence of cards in the same suit – ie: 3,4,5 or 7,8,9,10,J) of three or more cards. In either case, a Joker can be used as if it were any non-Joker card.
The next player clockwise (to the left) then chooses whether to play or pass. If they are going to play, they have to play the same type of set, but of a higher rank. So, if the previous player played two 3s, the next player can play any pair of a higher rank (two 4s or two 8s, for example). If the previous player played a 3,4,5 of Hearts, then the next player could play a 4,5,6 of Diamonds, or a 10,J,Q or Hearts. You can not play more OR less than the previous player. Continuing these two examples, you could NOT play four 7s or a 5,6,7,8 of Clubs.
Note: You do not HAVE to play, even if you can. Passing is always an option.
Once everyone passes, this round is over. Thus, you can never play a set of cards on top of a set you previously played, unless someone else played in between. The dealer takes the cards from the center, and sets them aside, out of the game.
The person who last played (ie: did not pass) then starts the next round, choosing a set of cards to play.
Once a player plays their last card, they claim their title for the next round – and the other players continue until only one player is left. Titles are generally:
King (first player to go out)
Queen (second player to go out)
Middle Man (third)
Schmuck (fourth)
Daihimi (player who did not manage to go out).
If you have only 3 players, you would use King, Middle Man, and Daihimi. If you have 4, then King, Queen, Schmuck and Daihimi. If you have more than 5, add appropriate titles in the middle (where Middle Man currently is). The key is that you have an equal number of players on the Top and on the Bottom.
One important exception. If you played a Joker as part of the last set you played, you AUTOMATICALLY become the loser (Daihimi). This is to encourage you to use the Joker as a Wild card instead of holding on to it.
The titles from the previous game carry over into the new game. Players should sit clockwise, according to their title. Thus, Queen sits to the left of King, Middle Man to the left of Queen, et cetera – until the Daihimi is sitting to the right of the King.
The Daihimi will shuffle all the cards, deal them out, and be the person to remove the cards from play at the end of each game round.
Then, each pair of players (King/Daihimi, Queen/Schmuck, etc) will trade some cards. Generally, Queen/Schmuck exchange 1, and King/Daihimi exchange 2. However, these numbers should be modified so that each pair around the middle player exchanges 1 more card than the previous pair (King/Daihimi exchanging 3 in a 6-player game). When exchanging cards, the lower player (Schmuck/Daihimi) has to give the higher player (Queen/King) their HIGHEST card (Joker if they have it. If they have no Jokers, then their 2. If they don't have a 2, then an Ace, King, Queen, etc). The high player gives the low player whatever card(s) they choose. Generally, they will pass a “3”, since they are the hardest to get rid of (you have to start a round, since it is not higher than any other card), but in some cases (like if they already have 3 or 4 of them), the high player might give a different card to the low player. The low player, however, does not get the luxury of choice. It should be obvious at this point that this actually gives the high player a better chance to win than a low player – so win if you can.
The King (player to the left of the dealer) will be the player to start the first round.
In some circles, any player may command another player of a lower rank/title. Thus, the King can tell anyone else what to do, the Schmuck can only tell the Daihimi what to do, etc. In these circles, it is quite common for the Daihimi to be the one to get drinks, answer the phone or door, etc.
In addition, some circles also allow the King to make a new rule. After all, the King's word is Law ;)
Playing 4-of-a-Kind (ie: 5 of Hearts, Clubs, Diamonds and Spades [or replace one with a Joker]) reverses. Sometimes this rule is to reverse High/Low so that 3 is now High and 2 is Low. Sometimes it is to reverse the order of play (go counter-clockwise). Sometimes, it does both. Make sure to specify what it does.
You are allowed to play the SAME set as the previous player (instead of a higher set). In some circles, this rule is expanded so that playing the same set as the previous player automatically skips the next player (think of it as forcing the player to PASS).
The first player (or two) that pass during the game (ie: first round after shuffling deck) loose an article of clothing... or.....