hwatu

The most popular pastime game in Korea is called Hwatu. People play hwatu cards almost anywhere there is a gathering.

2006, Ju Brown, John Brown, “Chapter Five: Points of Interest”, in China, Japan, Korea: Culture and Customs, BookSurge, →ISBN, page 171

The deck or Hwatu, is divided into twelve suits with four cards per suit. Each suit is decorated with a different flower or tree.

2012, Matthew Waterhouse, “Everything but the kitchen sink”, in Konglish: The ultimate survival guide for teaching English in South Korea, iUniverse, →ISBN, page 281

Halmoni loved to smoke, drink, and gamble, and especially loved partaking in all three around a deck of hwatu. Hwatu are small hard plastic cards roughly the size of a matchbook. The backs are a solid, brilliant red, and the faces are decorated with colorful illustrations of animals, flowers, and leaves.

2021, Michelle Zauner, “Double Lid” (chapter 3), in Crying in H Mart, Pan Macmillan, →ISBN, page 29

In Korea we used to play Hwatu, which means, literally, “the battle of the flowers”, but there were also other games such as Koi-Koi and Go-Stop.

2015, Anthony Horowitz, “ ‘Pick a Card...’ ” (chapter 10), in Trigger Mortis: A James Bond Novel, Orion, →ISBN

We played billiards during the daytime, and at night, he suggested me to play Hwatu (Korean poker).

2020, David Choi, “Thinking about stealing $20.”, in The Autobiography of a 25-year-old: From Prison to Seoul National University, David Choi Publishing Company, →ISBN

"Have you ever played hwatu?" she asks as she deals their cards.

2024, Elaine U. Cho, Ocean's Godori, Zando, →ISBN