User:Gscopes26/sandbox

Shithead

A hand during a game of Shithead
Alternative names	Numerous
Type	Shedding-type
Players	2–4 (recommended)/unlimited depending on the amount of cards available
Skills	Memory, quickness
Cards	52 or more
Deck	French
Rank (high→low)	Highly variable
Play	Variable
Playing time	5 mins.+
Chance	High
Related games
Paskahousu

Rules

There are many variations of the rules, and there is no universally accepted set.

Wildcards (always playable):

• 2 resets the pile and allows that player to play another card in their hand. This is the lowest-value wildcard in the game.
• 10 burns the pile. All cards in the middle are out of the game and the player who put the 10 plays again.
• 3 copies the card below, e.g. if a 3 is put over a 6, the 3 counts as 6.

Gameplay

A game of Shithead in its final phase

The beginning player is the first person to put a 3 in the pile from the cards in their hand. If no player has a 3 in hand, the player with the next lowest card number begins the game. The second player must then place a higher card (in numerical value) than the card played previously, this card is to be put on top of the play pile. All subsequent players are then to follow this rule. The player would then have to draw cards from the deck. Each player should have at least 3 cards in their hand at all times, unless the deck has run out of cards. The game continues sequentially in a clockwise direction unless certain wildcards are played, such as a Joker, depending on the rule set.

After a player has no more cards in their hand, and the deck is empty, they need to play from their three face-up cards. They cannot play from this set of cards until they have finished with their hand. Following the rule: the value of the face-up card must be higher than the value of the card on the top of the pile, if a player cannot play the face-up card, then they must pick up the pile. Once all of the face-up cards have been played, a player must then play their blind cards. These cards are played one at a time, without the player knowing the card until the moment it is played. As usual, if the chosen card is lower than the previous card played, they need to pick up the pile, and are required to play their entire hand again before progressing to the rest of their face-down cards.

Wildcards and rules in different versions of the game

Aside from the basic order of play, the core aspect of Shithead is the "wildcards". These vary greatly depending on regional variations, though the core of the rules remains the same. With certain exceptions, wildcards may be played on any other card.

All variants have the 2 and 10 as wildcards, which must be played onto any card, and must be followed by any card. If playing a 10 or a 4-of-a-kind to remove the play pile from the game, give the next player for another turn. Following a 2, the player adds another card from their hand. After a 10 is played, the same player may play any card, though without picking up a fresh card from the deck. Another variant of Shithead, called the Mangalore variant, designates 3 as a wildcard, in which it is treated as a blank Joker (for example, after a 3 was played over a King card in the play pile, the following player is play the next turn must still place a card is same to or higher than the King card in the play pile).

Another variation is if a player puts down a card, another player (whos turn isn’t necessarily next) can put down a matching card (regardless of color), skipping the player who was meant to go next. Following this, the player next in rotation after the person who did the skipping puts down their card from their hand.