
- BGG rank
- BGG #3,719
- BGG rating
- 6.5
Iliad
- 2–6 players
- 45 min
- Complexity 2.1/5
- 2006

1982
Rules assistance for Hand and Foot
Plain-language explanations of turns, card effects and disputed situations, with official source references and saved question history.
For 2 players

What would you like to know?
Answers come from the official rulebook, with the page to check.
Hand and Foot is a board game released in 1982 for 2–6 players, 120 minutes per game, and ages 12 and up. Its main mechanics are Hand Management, Set Collection, and Team-Based Game.
Hand and Foot is a predominately a North American standard deck playing card game with many variations. It is a set building game, normally played with four people in two teams. It typically uses four or five regular poker decks including the jokers. Each player starts with two piles of eleven cards. One pile is their hand, the other, their foot. The players draw two cards a turn, playing some if they choose and then discarding one at the end of each of their turns, except if they want to go out, when they will have to play every card. Once a player has played all the cards in their hand they will pick up their foot. Sets are comprised of 7 cards of the same number. Sets may have wild cards in them, jokers and twos, but then the set is no longer clean, it would then be considered dirty. A team needs two clean sets and two or three dirty sets to go out. Hand and Foot is also commonly known as clean and dirty.
Hand and Foot supports 2–6 players according to the catalogue. This range comes from the publisher’s listed player count, so the game can be set up for any group size within it. Some setups, rules and scoring details may still vary by player count, so check your edition’s rulebook for the exact configuration.
The listed playing time for Hand and Foot is 120 minutes. This is the publisher’s estimate for a full game. The actual duration depends on the group, the player count and familiarity with the rules: first sessions usually run longer, while experienced groups often finish faster. Setup and teaching time are not included in this estimate.
The catalogue lists Hand and Foot for ages 12 and up. This is the publisher’s recommendation and reflects reading demands, rule complexity and small components rather than theme alone. Younger players can often join with help from an adult, so check the age guidance on your edition and consider your group’s experience with board games.
Hand and Foot has a complexity rating of 1.9 out of 5 from BoardGameGeek players, which makes it a light game. The rating reflects how much rules knowledge, planning and decision-making a typical game demands. Expect a longer first teach for heavier games, and use a preparation guide before game night.
Hand and Foot belongs to these categories: Card Game. Its main mechanics are Hand Management, Set Collection, and Team-Based Game. Categories describe the theme and setting of a game, while mechanics describe what players actually do on their turns. Each mechanic links to a catalogue hub with similar games, which helps when you want something comparable.
The catalogue lists Hand and Foot as a base game. It can be played on its own with the components in the box and does not require any other title. Expansions, if any exist, add new content or rules on top of it and are listed separately in the catalogue with a link back to this base game.