Palia Hotpot Card Game Explained: How To Play, Rewards And More

The Maji Market: Luna New Year Celebration event is off to an explosive start as players make their way to the Kilima Village Fairgrounds to join in on the festivities. From new quests to the return of the Chapaa Chase and more fireworks to launch, the event also marks the debut of the Hotpot Card Game.

Developer Singularity 6 hasn’t been entirely transparent in explaining the gameplay rules for this Mahjong-inspired game; however, after a few games, players will slowly learn the game’s mechanics. We’ve provided a detailed guide on what players should know about the Hotpot Card game, including where to find the tables, how to join and play, plus rewards and more in Palia.

What Is The Hotpot Card Game Explained In Palia?

The Hotpot Card Game is a new event activity that players can participate in exclusively when the Maji Market is open in-game. Players looking to join a game of the Hotpot Card Game can locate several hotpot tables near the docks at Kilima Village, which requires up to four players to start the session.

Players cannot join games currently active as they must find an available table or wait for the next session to begin, for which they have 90 seconds to join the game. These hotpot tables will be available between 6 pm and 3 am Palian time when the Maji Market is open, but games can continue past these times until a winner has been declared.

How To Play The Hotpot Card Game In Palia?

The primary objective for players is to create three sets; each set consists of three tiles of what's in their hand and picked from the Discard pile. These sets can be Three-Of-A-Kind, meaning three tiles of the same category and ingredient, or a Category set, three tiles of three different ingredients but from the same category.

The categories and colors for the Hotpot Card Game are Carbs (Grey), Fish and Seafood (Blue), Green Vegetables (Green), Meat (Red), Mushrooms (Purple), Noodles (Beige), Spices (Orange) and Vegetables (Yellow). The category is visible as an icon at the top right of the tile, which is extremely helpful for color-blind players with the color bordering the tile and the ingredient pictured at the center.

The Hotpot table consists of a Draw pile where players can draw any tile from the center Hotpot area when it's their turn or pick one from the players' Discard pile. They'll have their Hotpot Play Area, where they can view their eight tiles throughout the rounds through which they are to make their sets.

Players will have limited time to draw a tile from the pile to trade it with a tile they wish not to keep, which is sent to the Discard pile, or if they choose not to keep the tile they drew, it will return to the Draw pile. This process will be repeated by every player playing the Hotpot Card Game in several rounds until a player creates a Three-Of-A-Kind set (three tiles of the same category and same ingredient) or a Category set (three tiles of the same category but three different ingredients).

It's important to note that the first player to achieve these sets to create either set with nine tiles, in which the ninth tile will be drawn from the Draw or Discard piles, will win the Hotpot Card Game. Additionally, they can view their gameplay controls at the bottom left of the screen if playing on PC or Nintendo Switch to make their experiences more user-friendly.

Nevertheless, once the game ends, players can view the Hotpot results, including all scored points and tiles in other players' hands. This table will provide all the relevant game information, the points breakdown, and the rewards all participants will receive at the end of each game.

The Hotpot Card Game Scoring And Rewards In Palia

Every player participating in the Hotpot Card Game will be a winner as the points scored will be tallied based on all players' matches at the end of the game, which are called Table Points. Additionally, the first player to draw the ninth tile to create either a Three-Of-A-Kind set or a Category set will be awarded the Winning Hand Bonus, which is tallied on their Winning Hand set, either Three-Of-A-Kind set or Category sets.

The scoring breakdown for the Three-Of-A-Kind set is three tiles of the same category, and the ingredient awards them 120 points per set. If they had three tiles of the same category but three different ingredients or the Category set, they'd be awarded 60 points per set to get a total view on the Hotpot Results page.

These points will be converted into the exact number of Lucky Envelopes, which players can then spend at any of the stalls at the Maji Market. Additionally, they can unlock certain Stamp Cards by participating in Hotpot Card Games and earn additional rewards, which we've provided this information in the table below:

Players have from 30th January to 27th February 2024 to visit the Maji Market at Kilima Village Fairgrounds to participate in the Hotpot Card Game, earn Lucky Envelopes, and exchange them for rewards. During this same period, they must participate in other activities, including three new quests, and complete their Stamp Cards for the Maji Market.

Palia is currently available via the Epic Games Store and in Open Beta for PC, as players can install the game launcher detailed in this guide. The game is now available to download for Nintendo Switch as of 14th December 2023.