STEKIUS
Agonia online at STEKIUS: empty your hand first
Play nowAgonia is a quick card game, the kind played in every home and every group of friends. You play cards that match the suit or the number, use the Ace, the 7, the 8 and the 9 to turn the game around, and try to get rid of all your cards first.
At STEKIUS you play Agonia online for free, with friends or with AI players, even in teams. The deck has four colours, one for each suit, so that you see at once what matches. Below you will find all the rules, the special cards and how the points count.
The cards and the deal
Agonia is played with one deck of 52 cards. Here every suit has its own colour, so that you tell hearts from diamonds and clubs from spades at once.
In every round each player gets seven cards and one card turns up on the table to start the game.
How you play
On your turn you play a card of the same suit or the same number as the top card. If you cannot or do not want to play, you draw a card from the deck. If it matches, you can play it; otherwise you pass and the turn goes to the next player.
The special cards
Four cards have a special power and make Agonia what it is:
- The Ace goes on top of anything and you choose the suit that follows.
- The 7: the next player takes two cards and loses their turn, unless they answer with their own 7. Then the player after them takes four, and so on.
- The 8: you play again at once.
- The 9: the next player loses their turn.
One card!
When a player is left with one card, the suspense begins: the heart starts beating, and they must tap “One card!” within three seconds. If they do not tap it, they take two penalty cards. This is the moment that gives the game its name.
The table’s options
Before the start, the table can choose to play in two teams with four players, whether the 7s stack or not, and whether finishing with a special card, that is with an Ace, 7, 8 or 9, is forbidden.
Points and winning
Whoever is first left without cards wins the round and the points left in the others’ hands: the Ace counts 11, every face card and every ten 10, and the rest as much as they show.
The table plays either one single round, or rounds until someone reaches the points it chose.
With friends or with bots
You open a table and for every seat you choose whether it will be a person or a bot. For your friends you get a room code and an invitation link; you send them over and they join from their own device with their own account. You can also open a public table, where other players ask to sit down.
The bots have three levels, easy, medium and hard, and play by the same rules as you: they never see the others’ cards or the next card of the deck. They are the quickest way to learn when it pays to play each special card.
Chips and leaving
The winner wins virtual chips and every other player loses. When you play only with bots, the win pays according to their level. After the first cards, whoever leaves pays a leave penalty. As soon as there is a winner, you leave freely.
Tips
- Keep an Ace for the end: it saves you when nothing else matches.
- When someone has few cards, throw them a 7 or a 9 to hold them back.
- Get rid of face cards and tens early; they count a lot if you lose.
- Do not forget “One card!”: two penalty cards can cost you the round.
Questions
What does the 7 do in Agonia?
The next player takes two cards and loses their turn, unless they answer with a 7; then the player after them takes four.
What does the Ace do?
It goes on top of anything and you choose the suit that follows.
What happens if I forget “One card!”?
You take two penalty cards.
How many points does the Ace count?
Eleven. Face cards and tens count 10 and the rest as much as they show.
