Tabletop Tuesday - Standard Playing Card Deck Games

Welcome to another edition of Tabletop Tuesday - Your weekly exploration into games of dice, cards, luck and more of the Tabletop world.

With summer on the near horizon, and with it likely visits to your favorite watering holes, be it the pool, beach or other dives, I thought it be fitting to showcase a variety of games played with your handy go-to: The standard 52 playing card deck.  This week's games, a few of my favorites: Spit, Cheat, and Egyptian Rat Screw.

Players: 2+
Time: 10-20 minutes
Genre: Casual Card Games

Spit

Spit is a game specifically designed for only 2 players in mind, and is particularly enjoyable due to its quick paced, reflex-focused gameplay.  To play, each player is given half the desk (26 cards).  Each player then makes 5 piles of cards face down in front of them, each pile containing 1, 2, 3, 4, and then 5 cards respectively.  The remaining cards are kept as each player's spit deck, while the top cards of each pile are flipped face up.  Once both players are ready, they'll say "Ready, Spit", in which both will flip a card from their spit deck into 2 separate spit piles in the center of the play area between them.  Both players will then play at the same time, taking cards from their five piles and stacking them on either spit pile should they be one rank higher or lower than the other card (for example, you could put a "6" onto a "7" or "5"; the "Ace" can work as either rank, bridging the "King" and "2").  Each time a card is moved from a pile, the card beneath it can be flipped up and then used if able.  Players can also shift the cards in their piles if there is an empty pile slot, or if the cards have matching rank they can be stacked.  Once both players run out of available moves, they repeat and spit again.  Once one player runs out of cards (or both players run out of moves and spits), both players are then to slap down on the two spit piles, of which whomever slaps first gets to claim the slapped pile as their new spit deck (so you'll want to pay attention and go for the smaller of the piles).

The basic layout of Spit.

The game then repeats until one player's spit deck ends up being less than 16 cards.  Because of such, they will be unable to make a spit deck after creating their 5 piles.  This means there will only be one spit pile this next round, to which the first player to play all their cards that round will not have to take the spit pile.  Should that player have no cards after that round as a result, they win the game!

Cheat

Also commonly known as BS or "I Doubt It", Cheat is a fun game of bluffs and mischievous play for 3-10 players.  To play, the 52 card deck is dealt evenly (or as evenly as possible) to every player.  Players may then want to take a moment to sort through their cards.  Whomever has the Ace of Spades begins play, to which players will then take turns placing 1-4 cards down of a given rank, starting with Aces and moving one rank up with each player (until it eventually circles back to Aces).  Players may put down cards other than what is the current rank of their turn in an attempt to squeeze out some other / extra cards (or sometimes out of necessity should they not have the needed cards).  At any time before the next play should occur, players can call out "Cheat!" (or any other equivalent phrase of the game) to which, the player will then need to reveal if they played the true cards or if they were lying.  Should they be lying, they'll take the entire deck played thus far and add it to their hand.  Otherwise, were they telling the truth, the accuser instead takes the deck.  Play continues until one player runs out of cards and wins the game.  Just be sure not to make too bold claims as other players have their own hands to help deduce what you say to be true or not.

Not Cheat, but a good demonstration of how not to poker face.

Some variants of this game include Jokers which act as Wild cards, counting as any value.  Other variant rules allow players to skip, or choose to play ranks above / below the previous rank played.  A more devious house rule allows players to lie about the number of cards being played, requiring a keen eye from players to call them out.

Egyptian Rat Screw

Last but not least, we have the slap fest that is Egyptian Rat Screw, which is fun for all (2 or more players).  Like Spit, this game is meant to be played at a fast, intense pace to test players' careful attention and wary reflexes.  To play, the 52 card deck is dealt evenly (or again, as evenly as possible) to every player.  Players then take turns putting down cards from the top of their deck into a pile at the center of the play area.  If a royal is dealt, the next player has a certain number of opportunities to produce another royal (4 cards for Aces, 3 for King, 2 for Queen, 1 for Jack), or else the player that put out the royal gets to take the pile of cards played and add it to their deck.  There are other means in which to obtain those cards though from the center pile.    If two cards of the same rank are played consecutively, players can slap down on the double to claim the pile.  Likewise, if there's a sandwich of ranked cards (for example, a "7" then "4" then "7" again), players can also slap down.  In this way, players are always on the lookout for fortuitous gain off their turns or saving grace for royals played against them.  If any player should falsely slap down though, they have to burn one card to the bottom of the pile.  The game ends when one player obtains all 52 cards.

A bit over-dramatic of a warning, but seriously, make sure everyone at least trims their nails before the slapping begins.

Even when one player should be eliminated, they can remain active in this game, looking for opportunities to slap in and rejoin the competition.  And there are many additional variations / house rules in which how players can slap down, such as Top Bottom (when the top and bottom card of a pile match), Tens (when two consecutive card adds up to 10), Four in a Row (when four cards ascend or descend in ranked order), or Marriage (when the Queen and King are touching).  The more house rules you add to this game, the more hectic it can become as players juggle the brisk pace and attention for slapping opportunities.

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If you have any questions about any of these card games, let me know in the comments.  Otherwise, look forward to future installments of Tabletop Tuesday.  And happy gaming!