Play WHOT online with friends

What is WHOT?

WHOT, often called Naija Whot, is a traditional Nigerian card game played at home, in school, at parties and anywhere friends gather. Its deck has no suits. Instead there are five shapes (circle, triangle, cross, square and star) with numbers between 1 and 14, plus wild cards marked WHOT with the number 20.

Everyone races to get rid of their cards, and the special cards make it fun: a well-timed Pick Two or a WHOT card that switches the shape just as someone is about to finish can turn a round in a second.

How to play WHOT

1. Everyone is dealt the same number of cards (4 by default; the host can choose 2 to 10). The rest form the market, and one ordinary card starts the pile.
2. Turn order is random. On your turn, play a card that matches the top card's shape or number: a circle 7 goes on any circle or any 7. Cards you can't play are dimmed.
3. Can't play, or don't want to? Go to market: you draw one card and your turn ends.
4. The first player to play their last card wins the round.

The WHOT deck

Each deck has 54 cards, and the host can shuffle up to 10 decks together for a big room.

• Circle and triangle: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 7, 8, 10, 11, 12, 13 and 14.
• Cross and square: 1, 2, 3, 5, 7, 10, 11, 13 and 14.
• Star: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 7 and 8.
• WHOT: five wild cards numbered 20.

Special cards

• 1, Hold On: you play again straight away. With "Hold On: play any card" on (the default), your next card doesn't have to match.
• 2, Pick Two: the next player draws two and misses their turn.
• 5, Pick Three: the next player draws three. With Pick Three transfer on, they can answer with a 5 of their own; the total grows by three each time until someone draws it all.
• 8, Suspension: the next player misses their turn.
• 14, General Market: everyone else draws one card, and you play again.
• WHOT 20: the wild card. It goes on anything (unless a Pick Three is waiting on you), and you call the shape the next player must follow.

You can also put down several cards of the same number at once, as long as the first one matches, and their effects add up: two Pick Twos make the next player draw four.

Winning a round

The round ends the moment someone plays their last card. By default you can't check up (finish) with a special card, apart from answering a Pick Three with a 5, so keep an ordinary card to finish on. If the market runs out first, the lowest total in hand wins.

WHOT house rules on Ping44

The host sets these in Game settings, and everyone can check them during play. "Use recommended settings" restores the defaults in one tap.

• Starting cards: 2 to 10 (default 4).
• Turn timer: off, or up to 5 minutes a turn (default 30 seconds). When time runs out, the player goes to market automatically. "No timer for first round" lets new players learn at their own pace.
• Rounds: 1 to 20, or unlimited (the default).
• Decks: 1 to 10.
• 5 is Pick Three, 8 is Suspension, 1 is Hold On: switch one off and that number becomes an ordinary card.
• Pick Three transfer, Allow WHOT cards, Play multiple cards: on by default.
• Can end with special card: off by default.
• Penalty for wrong card: a card that doesn't match, or one played out of turn, costs you two cards instead of just being refused (on by default).
• Game over if market empty: the round ends when the market runs out and the lowest total wins (on by default). Switch it off and the played cards are reshuffled into a new market.

Scoring on Ping44

When a round ends, each player adds up the cards left in hand. A card is worth its number, a WHOT card 20, and stars count double, so a star 8 is worth 16. The winner's total is zero.

Each player then scores the gap between the highest total at the table and their own: the winner scores the most, and whoever holds the biggest hand scores nothing. Points add up round after round on the room's scoreboard, and each round's winner gets a win on their stats.

Tips and strategy

• Keep a WHOT card for emergencies. It gets you out of a dead end, and the shape you call can block a player who's about to finish.
• Watch the market. With the default market rule, the lowest total wins if it runs out, so when it runs low, dump stars and high numbers first.
• Save a 5 for defence when Pick Three transfer is on: it's the only way to throw a Pick Three back.
• General Market hits harder in a big room. At a table of ten, one 14 hands out nine cards and gives you another turn.
• With two players, Suspension gives you another turn: your opponent is skipped, so it comes straight back to you.

How to start a game of WHOT on Ping44

1. Go to ping44.com, sign in (free, with email or Google) and create a room, choosing whether to switch on voice chat. Friends don't need an account: they join as guests with just a name.
2. Share the invite link, the 6-character room code or the QR code.
3. In the lobby, pick Card, then choose WHOT in Game settings.
4. Set your house rules, or tap "Use recommended settings", and start the game.

Why play WHOT on Ping44

• A fair deal. The server shuffles with a cryptographically secure random source, deals every hand and checks every card. Your cards are sent only to you; the others just see how many you hold.
• Your house rules, from Pick Three transfer to the market rule, so the game plays the way it does at home.
• Room for everyone. Up to 20 players a round, and anyone else in the room (up to 100 people) can watch.
• Talk while you play with built-in voice chat and text chat with emote reactions.
• The table never waits. A player who drops offline keeps their hand while their turns are played for them.
• More games in the same room. Switch to UNO, Poker or Blackjack without a new link, or browse all our card games.
• Free, with no ads, in English, French and Vietnamese, on phones, tablets and computers.

Frequently asked questions