# How to Play Palace Written: 2023-01-04 Players: 2-5 (no limit in theory, use multiple decks for 5+) Type: card-shedding, meet-it-or-beat-it Time: 5-15m ## Quick Pitch Palace is one of my favorite 2 player card games. It's very much luck based, but it's quick enough that you can play multiple games to turn your luck around. I've probably played it the most while hiking, sitting on sleeping pads with cards in the headlamp light in the center of the tent. ## Goal Be the first player to play all your cards. ## Play ### Setup Each player is dealt 9 cards. The first 3 are dealt face down *and must not be looked at*. They form your "back row". The remaining 6 become your hand, and should be looked at. Of the 6 cards, pick 3 cards to place face up on the "back row". This will be your "final hand" later in the game (more on that later). The remaining 3 cards form your starting hand. Choose who should start (it's courteous to let someone vocal about how bad their hand is start). ### Gameplay Players take turns clockwise playing cards from their hands and picking up to maintain a hand limit. On your turn: If you can't meet or beat the value of the card on the top of the pile, pick up the pile (add it to your hand) and end your turn without playing a card (you are skipped). The next player begins a new pile (any value card can be played). If you can meet or beat it you may play *any number* of the same card that is equal or higher to the pile. Example: * Pile: 5 * Play: two 6's Note that unlike President, playing duplicates doesn't impose any constraints on subsequent players plays. Finally, end your turn by picking up cards from the draw pile until you have 3 cards in your hand (if you have 3 already, don't pick up). When the draw pile becomes empty, we enter the final phase of the game, where players "final hand"s and "back rows" become their own personal draw piles. Before picking up any cards from your "final hand", you must drain your hand fully. Once you have no cards, you pick up all 3 cards of your "final hand", which you can begin playing on your next turn. Play your "final hand" as normal (meet or beat, picking up the pile on failure) until you run out of cards, at which point you begin playing cards from your "back row". These cards are played one at a time (do not pick them all up and look at them--they do not form a regular hand). If a "back row" card fails to meet-or-beat the pile, your hand becomes the pile plus the back row card. (It does not go back into your back row once picked). As a house rule, if you play a back-row card and it fails to meet the pile, you do not have to show it to the opponent (leave them guessing its value). The first player to play all cards from their back row wins. ### Card Value * Aces are high * 2's are "resets"; if you play a 2, you can immediately play a second card on top of it (of any value). * 10's are "bombs"; playing a 10 clears the pile. Immediately after played, start a new pile with any card of your choosing. NOTE: for both 2's and 10's, our house rule is that if playing them causes you to dip below the 3 card hand limit, you can pick up from the draw pile before playing your next card. ### Other Misc. Rules * You have to play if you can (no picking up the pile if you could meet-or-beat, even with special cards). * If there are ever 4 of a kind at the top of the pile (even if played by multiple players), the pile clears and the player who completed the set gets to play again, starting a new pile. * If you ever have enough of a card in your hand to complete a set of 4 (as described above), you can play them out-of-turn, skipping all players between the current player and you, clearing the pile, and starting a new pile. Example: players A, B, and C, A plays 3 4's and C has the fourth 4 in their hand. C can play the 4, provided B hasn't played yet, clearing the pile and skipping B's turn. C starts a new pile. ## General Strategy * Put high value or special cards in your "final hand". Nothing worse than getting stuck with a 3 at the end. * Pairs are also great for a final hand (especially if combined with a 2/10) since they can be played simultaneously -> one less turn before you get to your back row. * You don't *have* to play more than one of a kind if you have it. For higher cards especially, it can be wise to not play pairs/triplets but to instead play them one at a time; the odds of you picking a better card from the draw pile are low (and if really high, like an Ace, you're likely just putting the cards into your opponents' hands if they have to pick up!). This rule obviously changes if the draw pile is gone / you're trying to get to your back row. * Generally it's wise to play your lowest card that meets or beats the pile, but there are times when you know the contents of your opponent's hands (due to final hand being public) or it's critical that an opponent loses (i.e. is on the back row) that it makes sense to play a medium-to-strong card to make them pick up the pile.