Other namesBhabhi
Laad, Getaway or Donkey: the card game we call Bhabhi
If your family calls it Laad, Getaway or Donkey, you are almost certainly playing the game the rest of us call Bhabhi or Thulla. Here is what each name means and the one Donkey that is a different game.
3 min readUpdated By PlayNest team
One game, many names
Card games travel by word of mouth, and names change along the way. The game where you follow suit, a player who cannot follow throws a thulla, the highest card picks up the pile, and the last player holding cards loses, goes by several names across Pakistan, India and the diaspora.
On PlayNest it is called Bhabhi Thulla, because those are the names most people search for. If you know it as Laad, Getaway or Donkey, the rules on our site will feel familiar. The complete Bhabhi rules set them out step by step.
Laad and Gadha Laad
In parts of Punjab the game is called Laad, or Gadha Laad. The word comes from laadna, to load, as in loading goods onto a donkey. The picture is clear to anyone who has lost a few games: every thulla loads more cards onto one unlucky player, and the one left carrying the load at the end is the gadha, the donkey.
The play is the same as Bhabhi. Follow suit when you can. When someone breaks suit, the highest card of the led suit takes the pile. Empty hands are safe, and the last player with cards is laughed at. Only the name of the loser changes.
Getaway, or Get Away
Getaway is the English name you will see in rule books, card game websites and apps. The goal is in the name: get away from the table first. Most descriptions of Getaway match ours closely, with the Ace of Spades opening the first trick and the highest card picking up after a player breaks suit.
Where Getaway rules differ, they differ the way families do: whether the first trick is free, who leads first, and how losses are scored. Our game has switches for the two most common ones, and Bhabhi house rules and variants explains them.
Donkey: same name, sometimes a different game
Donkey is the tricky one. In South Asia, people who say Donkey often mean exactly this game, with the loser as the donkey, the same idea as Gadha Laad.
In Britain, America and many other places, though, Donkey usually means a different game: players pass cards round the table trying to collect four of a kind, and when someone succeeds, everyone races to grab a spoon or touch their nose. That game is also called Spoons or Pig. It has no tricks and no thulla, and it is not the game on our site.
A quick test: if your Donkey has tricks, following suit and a pickup when someone breaks suit, it is Bhabhi. If it has passing and grabbing, it is Spoons.
Other names you may hear
Thulla itself is a name for the whole game, taken from its most famous move. Bhabhi Thulla puts the two together. You will also see spellings such as Bhabi, Bhaabhi and Thula. They all point to the same family of rules.
Some people confuse the game with Uno, because both are about emptying your hand. They work very differently; see Bhabhi vs Uno vs Getaway for a side-by-side comparison.
What changes from name to name
Very little. Across Laad, Getaway, Donkey and Bhabhi the details that vary are:
- Whether the Ace of Spades must open the first trick.
- Whether a thulla on the first trick makes someone pick up.
- Whether players pass a few cards before the first trick.
- How losses are counted over an evening: a tally, letters of a word, or nothing at all.
Tip
In our Bhabhi game, open House rules on the setup screen to match the first two to your family's version. The computer fills any empty seats.
Questions people ask
- Is Laad the same as Bhabhi?
- Yes. Laad, or Gadha Laad, is a Punjabi name for the same game. The loser is loaded with cards like a donkey instead of being called the Bhabhi.
- Is the Donkey card game the same as Bhabhi?
- In South Asia it often is. In the West, Donkey usually means a passing game where players collect four of a kind and grab a spoon. That one is a different game.
- Where can I play Getaway online?
- Our Bhabhi Thulla game plays the same rules for free in your browser, with computer players for empty seats and a room link to play with friends.
