A card game by Adomas Milius consisting of a series of battles between two players, in which the aim is to play the fourth equal card to a battle as your last card.

• Introduction
• The Deal
• Battles
• Winning the Game
• Communication, Conventions and Etiquette

♠️ Introduction

This game is for 2 to 8 players using a standard 52-card pack, cards ranking from King (high) down to Ace (low). Players can play individually or in teams, for example 2 against 2 or 3 against 3.At the start of the game each player has a hand of 4 cards. Cards are played in a series of battles between two players, during which other players can also throw in cards. After each battle players with fewer than 4 cards replenish their hands to four cards. To win the game a player has to complete a set of four equal ranked cards on top of the battle pile, and have no other cards left in hand at that moment.

♥️ The Deal

To begin the game four cards are dealt to each player, one card at a time, clockwise, beginning with the dealer. The remaining cards are stacked face down to form a drawing deck.For the first game the dealer and the starting player (who begins the first battle) are chosen at random. In subsequent games the loser of the previous game (or a member of the losing team) will shuffle and deal and the winner of the previous game will start the new game.During the game there will be (up to) three piles of cards on the table:

♣️ Battles

In each battle there is an attacker and a defender. The defender is the player sitting to the left of the attacker. The starting player is the attacker for the first battle.To begin a battle the attacker plays a single card or any number of equal cards face up to the battle pile. There is a short pause during which any players other than the defender, in clockwise order beginning to the defender's left, can play cards of the same rank as the attacker's card(s) on top of the battle pile if they wish to. Then it is the defender's turn, and there are two possibilities.

Case 1. The defender beats the attack

The defender beats the attack by playing either

After this, all players (except for the defender), again in clockwise order, beginning to the defender's left, may if they wish throw in further cards equal in rank to the top card of the battle pile.
The defender may throw in further cards equal in rank to the top card of the battle pile, only if new card(s) have been added to it by other players after the defender beats the attack. If the defender chooses to throw in further cards, now other players once again have the opportunity in turn to throw in further equal ranked cards. This can go for as long as the players have equally ranked cards and are willing to throw them in.There is now an opportunity for any player other than the one who most recently played a card to pick up the whole battle pile and add it to their hand. If more than one player wants it, the attacker has the highest priority, then the other players in clockwise order. In practice, the attacker either takes the battle pile or pauses briefly to see whether anyone else wants to take it. If no one claims the battle pile, the attacker sets aside all the cards played in the battle, placing them face down on the discard pile.After the battle pile has been cleared (discarded or picked up), all players who have fewer than 4 cards in hand must draw cards from the deck (the "new cards" pile) until they have 4 cards again. The attacker draws first, then the defender, then the other players in clockwise order. After everyone who needs to has drawn cards, the defender becomes the new attacker and begins the next battle.Example. The attacker plays the ♣️7 and another player throws in the ♦️7 on top of it. Now in order to beat the attack, the defender can play an equal card, in this case the ♥️7 or ♠️7, or the defender can play a diamond higher than the 7, for example the ♦️10. If the defender played the ♦️10 everyone can now throw in 10's. If the defender played a 7, then the only card that can be thrown in is the fourth 7.

Case 2. The defender concedes

If the defender cannot or decides not to beat the attack, all the cards played to the battle pile are picked up and added to the defender's hand. That ends the battle.All players holding fewer than four cards must now draw cards from the top of the deck so that they have four cards again. The attacker draws first, then the other players in clockwise order. (The defender will always have more than four cards after picking up so does not draw any.) Having lost the battle, the defender does not get a turn to attack. The next attacker is the player to the defender's left.

Maximum card holding and elimination

If having picked up the battle pile the defender has more than 16 cards, the defender is immediately eliminated from the game. All the eliminated player's cards - both the cards picked up from the battle pile and the cards that the defender already held - are spread face up on the table. Each of the other players, beginning with the attacker and continuing clockwise around the table, can take any of those cards that they would like to have and add them to their hands (but must not increase their hand size to more than 16 cards). After all players have had a turn to draw cards, any remaining cards that belonged to the eliminated defender are discarded.In a non-partnership game the turns of an eliminated player are simply skipped. If it would have been that player's turn to attack or defend that turn is simply taken by the next player in clockwise order.In a partnership game it is not possible for a player to attack their partner. Therefore if it is a player's turn to attack a player who has been eliminated, the partner of the eliminated player must defend in their place. (In a team of more than two players the substitute defender will be the first surviving partner in clockwise order from the eliminated player.) Irrespective of whether this attack succeeds or is beaten, the eliminated player never gets a turn to attack. Therefore the next attacking player will be the next surviving player (of either team) in clockwise order from the eliminated player.
Example: in a 4-player game (North-South against East-West) West has been eliminated. Suppose East attacks North and North beats the attack. Next North attacks East (East taking the place of West), and after that, irrespective of the result, South will attack East (since it is now East's own turn to defend). If East beats this attack it will be East's turn to attack North again. So in this scenario South will never be attacked (unless at some point North is also eliminated, reducing the game to a two-player contest between South and East).

♦️ Winning the Game

The play continues until a player satisfies the winning conditions. In order to win you must

Play continues until some player satisfies both conditions and wins. In a partnership game, when a player meets the winning conditions, the player's team wins.

Some examples of winning situations:

Some examples of non-winning situations:

It is impossible to win if you have more than two different ranks in your hand. In any battle at most two different ranks can be played, so you cannot get rid of all your cards.Although an attack can be beaten by playing an equal card, it is impossible to win by this method. For example if you are attacked with an 8 and you hold the other three 8's you can win the battle by playing them all. This ends the battle but you have not won the game because you must have at least one card left over (you always have at least four cards in your hand at the start of a battle). So the game continues. You must replenish your hand to four cards and then it is your turn to attack.Your hand is J, J, Q, Q and you are neither the attacker nor the defender. The attacker plays two jacks. You cannot win by throwing in your jacks because you would still have two queens in your hand, so you wait. Defender beats the second jack with a queen. Now you can throw in your two queens, but you can no longer get rid of your jacks because the top card of the battle pile is now a queen, not a jack. Unless someone kindly throws in the missing queen, there is no way you can win the game during this battle. You can get rid of all your jacks and you can empty your hand, but your hand cannot be empty at the moment when you play the fourth jack.It is impossible to win if you are attacked by a king. Since the king is the highest card, no cards other than kings can be played. Normally it will be best to concede the battle and pick up the king to use later.

🂡 Communication, Conventions and Etiquette

Table talk is permitted throughout the game. This is particularly useful in a partnership game. For example the defender might ask a partner to throw a card of a different suit into the attack, if unable or unwilling to beat the original attack card. Or any player might ask a partner to throw in a card if this enables them to win the game by playing the remaining cards of that rank. Or a partner might ask the next attacker to attack with a particular rank, so as to get rid of some cards of that rank by throwing them in.Players are allowed to show their cards. In particular, when you know that an opponent is collecting a particular rank, and you have a card of that rank, you may like to reverse it in your hand, with the back facing you and the card value visible to the other players, to remind yourself not to give it to the player who wants it.Any information exchanged must be available to all players. Private conversations are not allowed and any card shown to another player must be shown to all players.The "new cards" (draw) pile and the "old cards" (discard) pile are kept face down and players are not allowed to inspect the cards in these piles.Players should hold their cards so that everyone knows how many cards each other player holds at all times. If asked how many cards you hold you must answer truthfully.

Four Kings are the highest ranked cards in the deck, which can be used to beat any other cards during a winning move.Four Aces are the cards ranked lowest in the deck and cannot be used to beat any other cards for a winning move.Sometimes picking up the battle pile is a sure way to confuse your opposition.Sometimes picking up the battle pile to take in some powerful cards can prove to be useful.Keeping Track of which cards remain in opponent's hand can be a good indicator of the cards they might be collecting.Keeping Track of which cards have been discarded can be crucial for assessing which cards opponent is potentially collecting and is also useful when adjusting your own collection strategy.When arranging cards in your hand, never arrange them from lowest to highest, because every time you pick up a new card, other players can approximately assess your hand.When arranging cards in your hand, never group together cards that you have collected, as that can indicate to other players how many cards of the same rank you have.

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Author: Adomas Milius
Publisher: John McLeod

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