Teh Tarik Game - How To Play

COMING SOON: Instructions in Bahasa Melayu, Mandarin Chinese, & Tamil. Video guide & gameplay examples.

[1/12] Objectives

2 teams compete to PULL THE LONGEST CUPS of Teh Tarik (Malaysia's national drink), MINIMISE how much you SPILL, & SABOTAGE your opponents to force them to spill their cup.

[2/12] Cards List

 4x  [Ready To Drink, Boss!]

 4x  [Change Direction]

 2x  [Reference]

40x [Number] (1 - 40)

[3/12] Setup

- Place both [Reference] cards in the centre. 

- Distribute [Ready To Drink, Boss!] cards. 

- Shuffle the deck ([Number] cards & [Change Direction] cards) then distribute those cards based on the number of players. 

- Place the remaining deck of cards in the centre.

For 3 players game, Player 1 plays 2 separate hands.

[4/12] 1st Player

- To decide the starting player, everyone chooses a number card from their hand & simultaneously reveals it.

- Biggest number player starts first.

- Players take turns in a clockwise order. 

- All communication with your team mate while playing must be public.

[5/12] Your Turn

- During your turn, take one card from the deck of cards (if the deck still has cards), and you MUST play one card.

- You can play your card either to: your team’s cup OR to your opponent’s cup (ONLY IF they already have a card in their cup).

[6/12] Pulling Tea

- Players pull teh tarik by playing number cards to the cup.

- There are 40 number cards from 1 until 40 (1 card for each number).

- Every cup starts in ascending order so every number card that you play must be bigger than the previous number card in that cup.

[7/12] Change Direction

- Play the [Change Direction] card to change from ascending order to descending order or vice versa. 

- When the order changes to descending order, each number card that you play must be smaller than the previous number card in that cup.

- There are 4 [Change Direction] cards.

[8/12] Ready To Drink, Boss!

- Play this card to complete your team’s cup and score points.

- Place all cards (except Reference Card) in the completed cup into a separate pile.

- Every card in a completed cup is worth 1 point (including non-number cards).

- You CANNOT play this card on your opponent's cup.

[9/12] SPILLing Your Tea

- During your turn, if you CANNOT play a card OR if you CHOOSE not to play a card, then all cards in your team’s cup will SPILL.

- Place all cards that have SPILLED in a separate pile except for the reference card. Each spilled card is -1 point.

- Then you MUST immediately start a new cup by playing a number card to your empty cup before your turn ends.

[10/12] Ending The Game

- The game ends when ALL cards have been played (the cards deck is empty & players have no more cards in their hands). 

- The game still continues even after all [Ready To Drink, Boss!] cards have been played.

- At the end of the game, any remaining cards in both teams’ cups will automatically SPILL.

[11/12] Counting Final Score

- COUNT the number of card in your 2 completed Cups & SUBTRACT the number of cards that you SPILLED.

- Each card is worth 1 point (including [Change Direction] cards & [Ready To Drink, Boss!] card BUT excluding the [Reference Card].

- The winner is the team with the highest score. You can get negative points!

[12/12] Using Teh Tarik Game To Teach Counting

- For kids who don't know how to count yet, use the [Number] cards as flashcards to teach counting from 1-40.

- For kids who can already count, play Teh Tarik Game as usual to practise using bigger and smaller numbers.