Objective
Get rid of every card in your hand after the draw pile runs out. Players who empty their hands leave the contest. The last player who still has cards loses and becomes the durak.
Deck, card order, and setup
Durak uses a 36-card deck, from six through ace in all four suits. Every player receives six cards. The next card determines the trump suit and remains visible beneath the draw pile (the talon).
Low → 6 · 7 · 8 · 9 · 10 · J · Q · K · A → High
On the first bout, the player holding the lowest trump attacks. After that, who attacks next depends on whether the previous defender succeeded or had to take the cards.
Attacking
The attacker opens the bout with one card. Once cards are on the table, an attacking-side player may add only a rank that already appears on an attack or defense card. The table will not allow more attacks than the defender can legally receive.
In the online game, select or drag a legal card and choose Attack. Illegal cards stay in your hand and the action hint explains why they cannot be played.
Defending
The defender must cover every attack card. A card is beaten by a higher card of the same suit, or by any trump when the attack is not already a trump. A trump can be beaten only by a higher trump.
Each defense card covers one specific attack. Drag it onto that attack card, or select the card and use Defend.
Transferring an attack
Before covering a card, the defender may transfer the bout by playing another card of the same rank as an attack on the table. The next eligible player becomes the defender and must handle all transferred cards. A transfer is unavailable when the next player cannot legally receive that many cards.
Taking cards or ending the bout
If the defender cannot or does not want to cover everything, they choose Take cards. The attacking side may add any remaining legal throw-ins, then the defender takes every card on the table.
If every attack is covered and the attacking side is finished, the bout ends and the table cards are discarded. Players then draw back toward six cards while the talon still contains cards, and the next bout begins.
Four-player teams
With four players, opposite seats form teams. Partners cannot attack one another; the defending team works to avoid leaving either partner as the final card holder. The result screen reports the winning and losing team.
Rooms, bots, and rematches
Quick Play vs Elektronik starts a private two-player game against the bot. Human games support two, three, or four players. With four players, opposite seats form the teams described above.
Public rooms appear under Open tables while they are waiting. Private rooms do not appear there, but anyone with the six-character code or invite link can join. A public lobby is removed after it fills, starts, waits for two hours, or has no activity for 30 minutes.
Player identity is stored in the current browser tab. If the connection drops, that tab can rejoin with its saved player session. After a game ends, the host can deal a rematch with the same players, room code, and privacy setting.