Moon Rules

The basics

Moon is a popular three-player relative of 42. Unlike standard Texas 42, which is played by four players in fixed partnerships, Moon is a partnerless game where three players sit as individual combatants. Players draw tiles from a reduced deck and bid on the number of tricks they can win. The highest bidder takes a single face-down tile (the widow), discards one tile, and names the trump suit.

The scoring in Moon is built around tricks only, with no count dominoes. Each hand has exactly seven tricks, and each trick is worth one point. The winner of the auction tries to score enough trick points to satisfy their bid, while the other two players act as temporary defenders to set the contract. Cumulative scores carry across hands; the first player to reach 21 points wins the game.

The Moon set

Moon is played with a reduced double-six set of 22 tiles. To prepare the deck, remove all blank-bearing tiles except the double-blank (0-0). This means you discard the 0-1, 0-2, 0-3, 0-4, 0-5, and 0-6. The seven doubles remain in the deck, alongside the 15 remaining non-double tiles.

Seven doubles (all seven are in the deck)

Fifteen non-doubles

Removed blank-bearing tiles (6 tiles excluded from play)

No count dominoes

The single largest mechanical difference between Texas 42 and Moon is the points system. In Moon, there are no count dominoes. The five count tiles from standard 42 (such as the 5-5 or 6-4) have no special pip value in Moon. They are played and followed like any other tile. The only points available on a hand are 1 point per trick won. With seven tricks in play, there are exactly 7 points available on every hand.

Because there are no count tiles, players do not need to keep track of pip totals. Trick count is the sole currency of the game.

Dealing and seating

The three players sit in a triangle around the table. Shuffle the 22 tiles face down. Deal seven tiles to each player. You may view your own hand only. The remaining single tile is placed face-down in the center of the table and is called the widow (or kitty).

Three-player table layout

Bidding and Widow

Starting with the player to the dealer's left and proceeding clockwise, each player has a single opportunity to bid or pass. Bids are strictly increasing on the bid ladder. The bid space consists of numeric trick contracts and two special shoot contracts:

• Numeric Bids (4 to 7): You promise to capture at least that number of tricks. A bid of 7 requires you to win all 7 tricks and is worth ±7 points.
• Shoot it Over: You contract to win all 7 tricks, worth ±21 points. This has the identical trick requirement as a bid of 7 but carries higher stakes.
• Shoot it Under: You contract to win zero tricks, worth ±21 points. This is a nil contract.

The bidding hierarchy is 4 < 5 < 6 < 7 < shoot (Over/Under). Because both shoot contracts carry the maximum value of 21 points, they sit side-by-side at the top of the ladder. Bidding ends immediately when any player declares a shoot contract.

If all three players pass, the hand is redealt. Under some custom rule sets, the dealer is forced to bid 4 (referred to as the "force dealer" rule).

The Widow Exchange

The highest bidder wins the contract and gets to view the single face-down widow tile. The bidder may swap any one tile from their hand for the widow. They then discard one tile face-down. This discarded tile is permanently removed from play for the hand. The bidder's hand is restored to seven tiles, and they declare the trump suit.

Moon Bid Ladder: Numeric Contracts and Shoots

Trump and the shoots

The winner of the bidding chooses the trump contract. There are three types of trump declarations:

• Pip Suits (0–6): A chosen pip number is trump. Every tile containing that number is a trump tile. Because blanks are removed from the deck (except 0-0), blanks (0) is a degenerate suit containing only the 0-0 tile.
• Doubles: The seven double tiles are trump, ranked from 6-6 (high) down to 0-0 (low). Non-double tiles are non-trumps.
• No-Trump (Follow Me): There is no trump suit. Tricks are won by the highest tile of the suit led. Doubles are highest in their own suits.

Shoot it Under (Nil) Trump Rules

When playing a Shoot it Under contract, the bidder does not name a trump suit. The hand is played under a special no-trump format where doubles rank low. In this mode, doubles are demoted to the lowest rank of their respective suits (below the 1-end). This allows the bidder to play doubles safely without being forced to win tricks.

Playing tricks

The highest bidder leads the first trick. Trick play proceeds clockwise, consisting of exactly three plays per trick. On a non-double lead, the tile belongs to the suit of its higher pip end. When a double is led, players must follow with that double's pip number.

Players must follow suit if they can. A tile in your hand belongs to either pip suit shown on it, provided that suit is not trump. If a suit is trump, that tile is exclusively a trump and cannot follow a non-trump suit. If a player cannot follow suit, they may play any tile (including trump). If a player reneges (fails to follow suit when they hold a legal tile), the hand ends immediately and is forfeited.

Trick Resolution in Shoot it Under

In a Shoot it Under contract, the rules of play are inverted: the highest tile of the led suit loses the trick. The bidder's goal is to avoid winning any tricks. If the bidder is forced to win even a single trick, the contract is set immediately.

Example trick (twos are trump; first tile is not trump)

Result: Player 3's 2-1 is a trump tile (twos are trump). Since trump beats non-trump, Player 3 wins the trick and scores 1 point. The 6-4 counts as sixes (higher end is 6) and is followed by the 6-3.

Scoring

The game is a race to 21 points. Payouts are resolved at the end of each hand as follows:

• If the bidder makes their contract:
  • Numeric Bid (4–7): bidder scores their bid (e.g. +5 points for a 5 bid). There is no extra credit for overtricks.
  • Shoot it Over / Under: bidder scores +21 points.
• If the bidder is set:
  • Numeric Bid (4–7): bidder loses their bid value (e.g. −5 points).
  • Shoot it Over / Under: bidder loses 21 points (e.g. −21 points).
• Defenders (non-bidders) score every hand:
  • Regardless of whether the bidder makes or fails, each defender scores +1 point per trick they personally won.

Scores can go negative. A successful shoot contract from a negative score only wins the game if the bidder's new total actually reaches 21 points or above.

Scoring worked example

Let's walk through a three-player game to 21 points:

Custom variations

Follow Me 42 supports a variety of historical and local variations under Custom Moon settings:

• Double-blank in deck: When turned off, the double-blank is removed from the set (leaving 21 tiles). All 21 tiles are dealt, and there is no widow or card exchange.
• Widow timing: Some circles play that the bidder must choose trumps before looking at the face-down widow tile.
• Minimum bid: The minimum opening bid can be configured as 3, 4, or 5 tricks.
• All-pass handling: When all players pass, the hand is redealt, or the "force dealer" rule forces the dealer to make a bid of 4.
• Scoring style: Switch from points to marks (marks7), where a made contract yields 1 mark, a set gives 1 mark to each defender, and the first to 7 marks wins.
• No-trump hand control: When a no-trump lead is made, the leader declares which of the two pip ends of a non-double tile is in force, and players must follow that named suit.
• Aggie Dice: Two dice are rolled before the deal. The bidder is restricted to naming one of the two shown numbers as the trump suit. Shoot it Under remains unaffected by the dice.
• Match play: Play games in matches, such as a best-of-three series.

Trump reference card