Teaching Card Distribution in Dou Dizhu with Python

Dou Dizhu, also known as Fighting the Landlord, is a popular Chinese card game enjoyed by millions. In this game, three players compete, with one player acting as the “landlord” and the other two as the “farmers.” The objective for the farmers is to collaborate and defeat the landlord, while the landlord aims to defeat both farmers individually. To simulate this game in Python, we need to understand its basic rules, especially the card distribution mechanism.

Step 1: Understanding the Deck

A standard Dou Dizhu deck consists of 54 cards: 52 regular playing cards (excluding jokers in some variations) and two additional cards labeled as “大王” (Big King) and “小王” (Little King). The cards are ranked as follows:

1. Big King
2. Little King
3. 2
4. A
5. K
6. Q
7. J
8. 10
9. 9
10. 8
11. 7
12. 6
13. 5
14. 4
15. 3

Each suit (hearts, diamonds, clubs, spades) follows this ranking.

Step 2: Preparing the Deck in Python

To start, let’s create a deck in Python. We’ll represent each card as a string and store them in a list.

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suits = ['hearts', 'diamonds', 'clubs', 'spades']
ranks = ['3', '4', '5', '6', '7', '8', '9', '10', 'J', 'Q', 'K', 'A', '2']
deck = ['Big King', 'Little King'] + [f'{rank} of {suit}' for suit in suits for rank in ranks]

Step 3: Shuffling the Deck

Before distributing the cards, it’s crucial to shuffle the deck to ensure fairness. Python’s random module can help with this.

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import random
random.shuffle(deck)

Step 4: Distributing the Cards

Each player gets 17 cards, and the remaining three cards are left as the “bottom cards” which are not used in the initial gameplay.

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player1 = deck[:17]
player2 = deck[17:34]
player3 = deck[34:51]
bottom_cards = deck[51:]

Step 5: Assigning the Landlord

Traditionally, the landlord is determined by bidding or randomly. For simplicity, let’s randomly assign the landlord.

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landlord = random.choice([player1, player2, player3])
farmers = [p for p in [player1, player2, player3] if p != landlord]

Step 6: Playing the Game

Now that the cards are distributed and roles are assigned, you can start implementing the game logic. This includes letting players take turns, playing cards according to the game’s rules, and determining the winner.

Conclusion

Simulating Dou Dizhu in Python involves understanding the game’s mechanics, preparing and shuffling the deck, distributing cards, and managing gameplay. This project can be a fun way to practice programming skills and learn more about Chinese culture.

[tags]
Python, Dou Dizhu, card games, programming, simulation, game development