Hula-Hoo! rules: how to play and how to score

Hula-Hoo! quick rules

The goal

Each round, you try to be the first to get rid of all your cards, or the last player still in. The round winner scores one point for each card played in the middle of the table. The first player to reach 77 points or more wins the game.

A turn

Everyone has five cards in hand, face down, and five in front of them, face up; you can play any of them. The first player plays a card in the middle and announces “higher” or “lower.” The next player must play a higher or lower card, then announces in turn. If you play a 4 and say “higher,” the next player must play a 5 or more.

The double

Instead of playing higher or lower, you can play a card with the same value as the previous one: you say “double” and draw a card. Every following player must then play a double of the same value, and draw, until a player breaks the doubles.

Breaking a double and the joker

To break doubles, play a card exactly one value above or below the doubled value: tens are broken by a 9 or an 11. Or play a joker, the card of value 7: it’s the strongest, can be played any time and breaks doubles. When you break doubles, you don’t draw, and you announce “higher” or “lower.”

Limits and elimination

You may play a 13 and say “higher,” or a 1 and say “lower”: the next player must then play a double or a joker. If you can’t play, you pass, show your hand and are eliminated from the round. The constraint stays the same for the next player.

End of a round and scoring

The round ends when a player has no cards left, and their last card can’t be a joker. Otherwise, it ends when only one player isn’t eliminated, and they win; only they may finish on a joker. The winner scores one point per card in the discard pile. Gather the cards, the player to the winner’s left starts, and the game ends when a player reaches 77 points or more.

Beginner traps

Finishing your round with a joker as your last card: not allowed if you win by getting rid of your cards. Forgetting to announce “higher” or “lower” after breaking a double. And forgetting that the joker also breaks a double of jokers, with no draw.

How to score Hula-Hoo!

Round score

Only the round winner scores: 1 point per card in the discard pile in the middle. The others score 0.

Total

Points add up round after round. The game ends at the end of the round in which a player reaches 77 points or more.

Variant

The first player to win 3 rounds in a row wins the game.

Worked example

Emma has 58 points. She wins the next round with 21 cards in the discard pile: 58 + 21 = 79 points. Jake, Alex and Mia score 0 that round. Emma passes 77: she wins the game.

Common mistakes

• Giving points to the losers: only the round winner scores.
• Counting the cards left in hand: you count the cards in the discard pile, in the middle.
• Winning by playing a joker as your last card: not allowed, except for the last player not eliminated.
• Aiming for exactly 77: 77 points or more is enough.

How to set up Hula-Hoo!

Setup is repeated at the start of every round. The oldest player deals, and the player to their left starts the first round.