Run a Command-Line Dou Dizhu Game on Linux: Full Setup Guide

1. Introduction

Ever wondered if you could play the popular Chinese card game Dou Dizhu directly from a Linux command line? This guide shows how to set up and run a CLI version of the game.

2. Deploying the Command-Line Dou Dizhu

2.1 Environment Preparation

Project is Java‑based, requiring Java runtime and Maven.

2.1.1 This experiment uses a CentOS 7.5 machine

[root@qll252 ~]# cat /etc/redhat-release
CentOS Linux release 7.5.1804 (Core)

2.1.2 Install JDK

1. Install JDK via yum (or from source)
[root@qll252 ~]# yum install java-1.8.0-openjdk* -y

2. Verify installation
[root@qll252 ~]# java -version
openjdk version "1.8.0_262"
...

2.1.3 Install Maven

1. Download Maven binary
[root@qll252 ~]# wget https://mirror.bit.edu.cn/apache/maven/maven-3/3.6.3/binaries/apache-maven-3.6.3-bin.tar.gz

2. Extract
[root@qll252 ~]# tar -zxvf apache-maven-3.6.3-bin.tar.gz

3. Move to /usr/local/mvn
[root@qll252 ~]# mv apache-maven-3.6.3 /usr/local/mvn

4. Set environment variables
export MAVEN_HOME=/usr/local/mvn
export PATH=$MAVEN_HOME/bin:$PATH

5. Reload profile
source /etc/profile

6. Verify
[root@qll252 ~]# mvn -v
Apache Maven 3.6.3 ...

2.2 Download Game Source

# git clone https://github.com/ainilili/ratel.git

Note: If git is missing, install it with yum -y install git.

2.3 Build the Ratel Project

# cd ratel/
# mvn install package

After several minutes the build finishes.

2.4 Launch the Client

Game follows standard Dou Dizhu rules, supporting various hand types. You can create a private server or join the public server 39.105.65.8 with the -h option.

# java -jar landlords-client/target/landlords-client-1.2.2.jar -p 8888

2.5 Play the Game

After the client starts, connect to a server, set a nickname (e.g., cnLinuxer), choose a mode (PvP, PvE, or Settings), select difficulty, and begin playing. Follow the on‑screen prompts to bid for the landlord and play cards.

Note: Use “10” as 0 and “XS” for the two jokers.

When the game ends, you can try other display modes. The project repository is https://github.com/ainilili/ratel.