Egyptian Ratscrew - Gameplay

Gameplay

The game is played with a standard 52-card deck, or with multiple standard decks shuffled together for large numbers of players. As a variation, one or more Jokers may be added.

Players are dealt an equal number of cards from the deck, using as many as possible. If two people are playing, each player will receive 26 cards from a 52-card deck; if there is a large number of players, multiple decks may be used. (As many players can play as can reach at arm's length into the middle of a general circle that they will all form for play.) Any excess cards are placed in a central pile.

Players are not to look at their cards at any time, including while placing them face-up on the pile.

The player to the left of the dealer begins by placing a card face-up, always from the top of his or her pack, to start a central pile. Play then proceeds in a preset order, clockwise or counterclockwise around a circle, and each player takes turns laying down one card on the pile at a time until a face card or Ace is played (making him or her the challenger for that moment in play). The next player (the challenged) then has a certain number of chances to play another face card or Ace, as follows: four chances after an Ace, three after a King, two after a Queen, and one after a Jack. The challenged player plays his or her cards, one at a time, until he or she either draws another face card onto the pile or exhausts all of his or her allowed chances. If the challenged player is able to play a face card, the next player after him or her must beat it; if the initial face card could not be beaten in its allotted chances, the challenger who placed it takes the pile.

Any player who takes a pile is always the one to start the next pile. When taken, piles are always added to a player's deck underneath, face-down. Cards are rarely or never shuffled.