Ultimate Book of Card Games: The Comprehensive Guide to More Than 350 Games (88 page)

1. DIFFICULTY
   :
   low
   
2. TIME LENGTH
   :
   long
   
3. DECKS
   : 1
   

Card games do not get much simpler than this. War requires no strategy or special skills, which makes it the perfect introduction to cards for first-time players.

NUMBER OF PLAYERS
2

HOW TO DEAL
Use a fifty-two-card deck, and deal each player twenty-six cards. Card rankings are standard, with aces always high.

WINNING
The goal is to capture every card in the deck. If you do this, you win the game.

HOW TO PLAY
Don’t look at your cards! Leave them in a face-down pile in front of you. Next, you and your opponent simultaneously turn up a single
card. Whoever turns up the higher card wins both; the winner places the two cards face down at the bottom of her pile.

War is declared when the two turn-up cards are of matching rank. When this happens, leave the matching cards on the table. Both players now deal one card (face down) and one card (face up) on the table. The higher face-up card wins the war (and captures all six cards). If there’s another tie, another set of face-down and face-up cards are dealt, and the process is repeated.

The game ends when either one player captures all fifty-two cards, or if a player runs out of cards at any point.

VARIATION: MULTIPLAYER WAR

You may also play War with three players (deal seventeen cards each) or four players (deal thirteen cards each). The only difference is that, in case of a War, all players compete—not just the two with matching cards.

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