Have you felt tired of playing the same card games over and over again? UNO is fun but the cards are worn and crumpled somewhere under the bed, solitaire is lonely, and, let's be honest: Go Fish got old five years ago.
My cousins and I felt the same way last summer. Itching to run a game that was fresh, exhilirating and fast-paced, we scraped the internet for hours to find the perfect game. And when we couldn't, we decided we would do it ourselves, blending our favorite parts from the games we liked. And just like that, Slappy was born.
Setup
Shuffle the entire deck (jokers included). Deal out 3 cards to each player face-down: this is their Hand Deck. Pass out another 3 cards to each player face-down: they comprise their Reserve Deck.
Declare the first player and turn direction as a group. Put away the remaining cards; they will not be used.
Objective
The objective of Slappy is to take control of all the cards. A player wins the game when they are the only one left with cards.
Gameplay
The crucial factor in playing Slappy is ensuring that players are holding their cards properly. Players do not see their hand deck, as they instead hold it facing the center of play so all other players can view it. The Reserve remains face-down near the player, which no-one will see. When a player draws a card to play it, they draw from the open side, or, in other words, the card facing the center of play. This way, every player except for the one drawing can fully see what card will be placed.
A player's turn is simple: it consists of choosing to play a card from their Hand or their Reserve into the center pile. Then, the turn passes to the following player, and they repeat.
At any point, regardless of if it is their turn, a player may Slap the center pile. If any one of the multiple patterns have formed in the order of cards in the center pile, that player gains all of the cards and places them at the back of their Hand Deck.
Patterns
- Toppy-Bottom: A card of the same value or face as the bottom card is placed on top. Don't think too hard about the name.
- Twins: Two cards of the same face or value are placed on another.
- Marriage: A king is placed over a queen (or vis versa), regardless of suit. If you really want to you can call Queen-Queens or King-Kings as marriages too. Just don't call them twins then.
- Sandwich: A card of the same face or value as one twice below is played.
- Sequence: Three cards are placed in sequential order, in either direction. Aces wrap from King to 2.
- Joker: A joker is played. You know what to do.