Kot Piece or Court Piece?

Court Piece · Kot Piece · Coat Peace · Rang · Rung · Hokm

It is one game. The four-player, two-partnership, trick-taking card game where one player looks at five cards and names the trump for the table has collected a different name in every place it is played. The rules to the card are the same everywhere; only the word on the door changes.

The six names, and where they live

NameWhere you hear itWhat it points at
Court PieceEnglish, books, most appsthe court cards, and the court that ends a round early
Kot PiecePunjab, Haryana, Delhi, spokenthe same word, said the way it is said
Coat PeacePakistan, older paper packsthe same word, spelt by ear
Rang / RungHindi, Urdu, Punjabi householdsthe trump suit itself — "rang kya hai?"
HokmIran, the Gulfthe trump, in Persian

What a kot is

Seven haath in a row from the first trick of a round, or all thirteen. A kot ends the round on the spot and is worth more than an ordinary win; in the older scoring it wipes the other side's courts. It is the moment players remember for years, and it is almost certainly where the game's English name came from.

The rules in one minute

  1. Four players, two teams, partners opposite. A standard 52-card pack.
  2. Five cards each. One player names the rang (trump) from those five alone.
  3. The rest is dealt: thirteen cards each.
  4. Follow the suit led if you can; if you cannot, a rang card cuts and wins.
  5. Highest rang wins the haath, otherwise the highest card of the led suit. The winner leads next.
  6. Seven haath wins the round. Seven in a row, or all thirteen, is a kot.

The full rules, scoring and the house rules people argue about are on the Court Piece rules page — also in Hindi, Punjabi and Urdu. The Gujarati and Marathi cousin with the tens is Mendikot.

Play it, whatever you call it

Rung Royal plays every one of these under one roof: Single Sir, Double Sir, Hidden Rung, Be-Ranga and Mendikot, offline against three bots or online with family through a WhatsApp link, in eight bolis.

Play Rung Royal free on Android →

Rung Royal on the App Store for iPhone.

Questions people ask

Is it Kot Piece or Court Piece?

Both. "Court Piece" is the English spelling; "Kot Piece" and "Coat Peace" are how the same name is heard and typed across Punjab, Delhi and Pakistan. In Hindi, Urdu and Punjabi the game is usually just called Rang or Rung, after the trump suit. One game, one set of rules.

What does "kot" mean in Court Piece?

A kot is the game's big score: winning seven haath (tricks) in a row from the start of a round, or all thirteen. The name of the game most likely comes from it — the round ends on a court.

Is Hokm the same game?

Hokm is the Iranian form of the same game — hokm means the trump. The deal (five cards, name the trump, then the rest) and the seven-trick round are the same; some house rules differ.

What is Rung Royal?

Rung Royal is a free Court Piece app for Android and iPhone by VybePlay: offline against three bots with real styles, or online with family through a WhatsApp link, in Hinglish, Hindi, Punjabi, Urdu, Gujarati, Bengali, Marathi and English.

Which spelling should I search for?

Any of them finds the same game. Apps and books mostly use "Court Piece"; players mostly say "Rang" or "Coat Piece". Search results for "kot piece" are thinner, which is why this page exists.

Play Rung Royal free on Android →