Tien Len

About this board game

Tien Len is a Vietnamese climbing card game for 2–8 players, with a playing time of about 20 minutes. Using a standard 52-card deck without Jokers or wild cards, players aim to get rid of their cards as quickly as possible by beating combinations played by their opponents.

The game’s name means “Go Forward,” and Tien Len is often considered Vietnam’s national card game. It has also spread to parts of the United States, where it is sometimes called Thirteen. The official description identifies the game as being for four players.

Cards rank from highest to lowest as Two, Ace, King, Queen, Jack, Ten, Nine, Eight, Seven, Six, Five, Four, Three. Within each rank, suits are ordered from highest to lowest: Hearts, Diamonds, Clubs, and Spades. This ranking gives the high deuces a notable presence in every contest.

Tien Len stands out among climbing games through its distinctive “bombing” mechanic. Long pair-runs—repeated consecutive ranks such as 4-4, 5-5, and 6-6—can trump powerful combinations of twos.

• A 3-finger run, such as 4-4-5-5-6-6, beats a single 2.
• A 4-finger run beats a pair of 2s.
• A 5-finger run beats a trio of 2s.
• A 6-finger run beats four 2s.

With its race to empty your hand, carefully ranked cards, and unusual pair-run bombs, Tien Len offers a compact card-game challenge built around climbing over the combinations already in play.