A Beginner's Guide to Mastering Tong Its Card Game Rules and Strategies
I still remember the first time I sat down to learn Tong Its - the colorful cards spread across the table, the unfamiliar symbols, and that overwhelming feeling of not knowing where to begin. Much like navigating the complex Remembrance system in Nightreign, where players sometimes struggle to coordinate objectives, learning this traditional card game requires understanding both the fundamental rules and the subtle strategies that separate beginners from masters. Let me walk you through what I've discovered after countless games and numerous cups of coffee.
The basic setup is straightforward enough - you need three players, a standard 52-card deck, and the willingness to embrace a game that's equal parts luck and skill. Each player receives 13 cards, with the remaining 13 forming a draw pile. The goal? To be the first to empty your hand while collecting valuable combinations along the way. Think of it like trying to complete your Remembrance objectives while other players are pursuing their own - sometimes your paths align, other times you're working at cross purposes. I've found that the most successful players are those who can adapt their strategy based on what others are doing, much like how in Nightreign, you need to adjust when someone else's Remembrance takes priority over yours.
What makes Tong Its particularly fascinating is the scoring system. You earn points through various combinations - pairs, three-of-a-kind, straights, and the coveted four-of-a-kind. The highest possible combination, what we call the "royal straight flush," occurs only about 0.00015% of the time based on my rough calculations from tracking 2,000 games. I've only seen it happen twice in all my years playing! When it does appear, the entire dynamic of the game shifts dramatically, similar to how encountering a Night Lord in the middle of an Expedition completely changes your priorities and approach.
The strategic depth really reveals itself in how you manage your hand. Do you hold onto cards hoping for better combinations, or do you play aggressively to force your opponents into difficult positions? I personally prefer a balanced approach - maintaining flexibility while applying steady pressure. This reminds me of the pin system in Nightreign's matchmaking, where you can map out routes without verbal communication. In Tong Its, you're constantly reading your opponents' plays like they're leaving visual cues about their strategy. The cards they discard, the combinations they form, even the slight hesitation before playing a card - all these tell a story about what they're holding and what they're planning.
One of my favorite aspects is the psychological element. You're not just playing cards - you're playing people. I recall this one game where I deliberately avoided completing a obvious straight combination because I noticed my opponent was collecting cards that would benefit from me forming it. By withholding that move, I forced them into a position where they had to abandon their strategy entirely. It's moments like these that echo the coordination challenges in Nightreign's Remembrance system - sometimes the optimal play isn't about what you accomplish, but what you prevent others from accomplishing.
The learning curve can feel steep initially. My first ten games were downright embarrassing - I lost consistently, often without understanding why. But around game number 11, something clicked. I started recognizing patterns, anticipating moves, and understanding when to take risks versus when to play conservatively. This progression mirrors the experience of Nightreign players who initially struggle with matchmaking for specific Remembrances but eventually find their rhythm. The game becomes significantly more enjoyable once you move past that initial confusion phase.
What I appreciate most about Tong Its is how it balances traditional elements with dynamic gameplay. While the rules provide structure, each game unfolds differently based on player decisions and card distribution. It's not unlike how Nightreign's Expedition system offers framework while allowing for emergent storytelling through player interactions. Both systems understand that the most memorable moments often come from unexpected developments rather than scripted sequences.
If I had to give one piece of advice to newcomers, it would be this: don't get discouraged by early losses. Every game teaches you something new about probability, psychology, and pattern recognition. Start by focusing on basic combinations, then gradually incorporate more advanced strategies like card counting and bluffing. Remember that even experienced players continue learning - after what must be 500+ games, I still discover new nuances regularly. The beauty of Tong Its, much like any great game system whether card-based or digital, lies in its endless capacity to surprise and challenge those willing to dive deep into its mechanics.
We are shifting fundamentally from historically being a take, make and dispose organisation to an avoid, reduce, reuse, and recycle organisation whilst regenerating to reduce our environmental impact. We see significant potential in this space for our operations and for our industry, not only to reduce waste and improve resource use efficiency, but to transform our view of the finite resources in our care.
Looking to the Future
By 2022, we will establish a pilot for circularity at our Goonoo feedlot that builds on our current initiatives in water, manure and local sourcing. We will extend these initiatives to reach our full circularity potential at Goonoo feedlot and then draw on this pilot to light a pathway to integrating circularity across our supply chain.
The quality of our product and ongoing health of our business is intrinsically linked to healthy and functioning ecosystems. We recognise our potential to play our part in reversing the decline in biodiversity, building soil health and protecting key ecosystems in our care. This theme extends on the core initiatives and practices already embedded in our business including our sustainable stocking strategy and our long-standing best practice Rangelands Management program, to a more a holistic approach to our landscape.
We are the custodians of a significant natural asset that extends across 6.4 million hectares in some of the most remote parts of Australia. Building a strong foundation of condition assessment will be fundamental to mapping out a successful pathway to improving the health of the landscape and to drive growth in the value of our Natural Capital.
Our Commitment
We will work with Accounting for Nature to develop a scientifically robust and certifiable framework to measure and report on the condition of natural capital, including biodiversity, across AACo’s assets by 2023. We will apply that framework to baseline priority assets by 2024.
Looking to the Future
By 2030 we will improve landscape and soil health by increasing the percentage of our estate achieving greater than 50% persistent groundcover with regional targets of:
– Savannah and Tropics – 90% of land achieving >50% cover
– Sub-tropics – 80% of land achieving >50% perennial cover
– Grasslands – 80% of land achieving >50% cover
– Desert country – 60% of land achieving >50% cover
