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Also known as

Getaway card game rules

Short answer
Getaway is the English name for the shedding card game known across South Asia as Bhabhi, Thulla, Laad and Bhabho. The name is literal: you win by getting away — playing out every card in your hand. Follow the suit that was led if you can; if you can’t, any card you play stops the round and forces whoever played the highest card of that suit to pick the pile up. The last player who fails to get away loses.

Where the name comes from

“Getaway” describes the goal rather than the punishment. Every other name for this game is built around the loser — bhabhi, donkey, kazhutha — but the English name is built around what everyone is actually trying to do: escape. Play your last card and you have got away.

It is the name used by Pagat, the standard online reference for card game rules, and the one most common among UK, US and Canadian players who learned the game in English rather than in Hindi, Punjabi or Gujarati.

The full rules

Setup. One standard 52-card deck, three to six players. Deal every card out clockwise, one at a time. Hands may be uneven — that’s expected.

The lead. Whoever holds the Ace of Spades plays it to start. After that, the winner of each trick leads the next and may choose any suit.

Following. Whoever starts a round plays any card they like, and its suit is the one everyone owes. You must then play a card of that suit if you hold one; holding several, you choose freely which. If everybody follows it, nobody takes anything — all those cards are set aside, permanently out of the game, and whoever played the highest of them starts the next round.

Failing to follow. No cards of that suit? Play anything. The round ends there and then, skipping everyone after you, and whoever played the highest card of the original suit picks the whole pile up into their hand.

Getting away. Play your final card and you are out of the round, safe. Everyone else keeps going. When only one player still holds cards, that player has failed to get away and loses the round.

One edge case worth agreeing before you start: if your last card is the highest of the round, you would have to start the next round with an empty hand. Some tables let you get away regardless; others make you draw a card from the discard pile or from the next player’s hand. The full rules page lists the variants.

Not to be confused with

“Getaway” occasionally gets used for unrelated games, and this one is specifically the trick-based shedding game in the Bhabhi family. If the game you’re thinking of involves collecting four of a kind and touching your nose, that’s a different game called Donkey.

FAQ

Getaway: quick answers

01What is a Thulla in the Bhabhi card game?
A Thulla is an off-suit card played by someone who cannot follow the suit that was led. It stops the round immediately — nobody after them gets to play. Whoever played the highest card of the original suit must then pick up the entire pile and add it to their hand.
02Is Bhabhi the same as Thulla, Getaway and Donkey?
Yes. Bhabhi, Thulla, Getaway, Laad, Donkey, Bhabho, Kazhutha, Kalutai, Tochoo and Cangkul are regional names for the same game. The core rule is identical everywhere: follow the suit if you can, and if you can't, your off-suit card ends the trick.
03How many players do you need for Bhabhi?
Bhabhi needs at least three players and works well up to six with a single 52-card deck, but four is the classic table and by far the most common. The Thulaa app plays it as a pure four-player game: every table, whether Quick Play or a private room, seats exactly four.
04Can you play Bhabhi online with friends?
Yes. Thulaa is a free app for iPhone and Android that runs live four-player Bhabhi games. Create a private room, share the code, and your friends join straight into your table. There is also Quick Play, which matches you with live opponents in about a minute.