Card games for more than four people

In this variation, reported by Henry Lee, it is permissible to move the card from the top of your pay-off pile or play a card from your hand onto the top of your opponent's pay-off pile. The card must be the same suit and one rank higher or lower than the card on which it is placed.

For example if the top card of your opponent's pay-off pile is a 8 you can load a 9 or a 7 onto it. It is sometimes possible to give your opponent a series of cards in this way.

Note that you are not allowed to load cards from your discard piles onto your opponent's pay-off pile - the card must come from the top of your own pay-off pile or out of your hand. Since this version is played with unlimited centre stacks and compulsory play of aces, the question of whether aces can be loaded on kings or vice versa does not arise.

Some people play with a different number of cards in the initial pay-off piles - for example 21 or Some people prefer to play with the cards in the side stacks overlapped rather than stacked squarely, so that players can see the cards buried in the stacks rather than needing to remember them.

Some people play that if the stock runs out the winner is the player with fewest cards remaining in their pay-off pile. Only if the pay-off piles have equal numbers of cards is the result a draw. Some people include jokers in the deck for Spite and Malice.

The jokers are wild and can represent any card. Some play that the kings remain wild as well; others play that only the jokers are wild, and that 13 cards are needed top complete each centre stack, ending with the king.

Some play that a wild card King, or Joker if used cannot be used to represent an ace. Others play that a wild card cannot represent an ace or a seven. Jeffrey Jacobs suggests that if a series of games is played, the same scoring system as in the " book version " below can be used. The proprietary game Skip-Bo also uses a similar system. The winner of a hand scores 5 points for winning the hand plus 1 point for each card left in the opponent's pay-off pile.

For example, if you win and catch your opponent with six cards, you score 11 points 5 for winning the hand plus 6 for cards. In a stalemate the player with fewer cards scores the difference between the numbers of cards each player has left. The winner could be the first player to reach a target score, such as Benjamin Arnoldy has reported a rather different version of the game, played in Massachusetts. The main differences are:.

When Spite and Malice is found in card game books, the versions described are normally rather different from the one described on this page. The main differences in the book version are as follows. Games4All has published a free Spite and Malice app for the Android platform.

At Solitaire. Spite and Malice This is a kind of competitive patience solitaire game for two players. Deal, layout and terminology The layout of the game is shown in the following diagram: To begin the game both packs are shuffled together and 20 cards are dealt face down to each pay-off pile , and a further 5 cards are dealt to each player as their hand. The play The object of the game is to be the first get rid of all the cards in your pay-off pile by playing them to the centre stacks.

You may then make a series of moves, the possible moves being: To play an ace to an empty centre stack, or to play to a centre stack the next higher card than the card showing for example a six on a five, or a jack on a ten, irrespective of suit.

The card played may come from your hand, from the top of one of your side stacks, or from the top of your pay-off pile, and is played face-up on top of the centre stack. To play a card from your hand face-up on top of one of your side stacks. This ends your turn. A player cannot have more than four separate side stacks at one time; if you have no empty side stacks then you must discard onto a side stack that already contains cards, making the card you cover temporarily unavailable for play.

End of the game The game ends when someone wins by playing the last card of their pay-off pile to the centre. More than two players Spite and Malice can easily be adapted for any number of players. Variations Number of Centre Stacks Some players allow an unlimited number of centre stacks but never more than four side stacks for each player. Some play other limits on the number of centre stacks - for example a maximum of four.

Compulsory play of aces Some play that aces cannot be retained in your hand but must be played as soon as drawn to start new centre stacks. Loading the Opponent's Pay-off Pile In this variation, reported by Henry Lee, it is permissible to move the card from the top of your pay-off pile or play a card from your hand onto the top of your opponent's pay-off pile. Size of pay-off piles Some people play with a different number of cards in the initial pay-off piles - for example 21 or Spread side stacks Some people prefer to play with the cards in the side stacks overlapped rather than stacked squarely, so that players can see the cards buried in the stacks rather than needing to remember them.

Watch the video to learn how to play, and get more tips here: How to play California Speed. War may be the easiest card game around, which makes it great for playing with kids. Watch the video for instructions:. Spit is a fast paced, easy card game for two players. Kings in the corner is a game for players that is based on luck and skill, not speed.

Each player plays in turn, drawing a card and then playing as many cards from their hand as they can. Cards are played on piles with numbers going down, alternating red and black, and piles can be moved on top of each other when the right number is reached.

The first person to play all her cards wins. Golf is an easy card game for players. The catch? Your cards are face down and you only get to look at 2 of them, plus you never know what cards your opponent has. Each round is fairly quick, with the idea being that you play 9 rounds and total your scores.

Watch the video for full instructions:. Scat is similar to golf, in that game play consists of drawing and discarding cards, but in this game you are trying to get a higher score than your opponent, and you can only score points if the cards in your hand are all in the same suit.

This is a great one to play with kids to help reinforce early math skills! Rat Slap is another super fun card game that involves speed. It can be played with two or more players, and you begin by dividing the cards between all the players. The object of this game is to collect all the cards in the deck by winning them from your opponents.

At the end of the day the ladies ask their respective gentlemen for more money to shop with. Playing with gender norms has never been so much fun.

Two Rooms and a Boom players. Everyone has a role printed on a card they receive at random that identifies them as a member of the red team or the blue team. The red team wins when the player with the role of President and the player with the role of Bomber are in the same room together. The blue team wins if they can keep that from happening. What did I miss?

These five are my favorites, but leave your best recommendations for big groups in the comments. This is a BETA experience. You may opt-out by clicking here. More From Forbes. Oct 28, , am EDT.