Egyptian Ratscrew

Egyptian War

Players	2+
Setup time	1 minute
Playing time	10-20 minutes, although games may last for many hours
Chance	Very high
Age range	All competent ages, normally ranging 9+
Skills	Speed, counting

Egyptian War (commonly known by Egyptian Ratscrew, ERS, Egyptian Rat Slap, and many other names) is a card game of the accumulation family, reminiscent of Slapjack and Beggar-My-Neighbour, but more complex. The game is played with a standard 52-card deck (or with multiple standard decks shuffled together with large numbers of players). As a variation, one or more jokers may be added.

The gameplay appears to be a combination of Beggar-My-Neighbour, a game known in Britain as early as the 1860s, and the concept of slapping for cards on certain combinations, possibly derived and expanded from the gameplay of Slapjack. The origins of the name are unknown. The game gained popularity in the mid-to-late-1980s and is now widely known throughout the United States, especially among schoolchildren. It is known to have existed at least back to the mid-1970s.

Gameplay

Players are dealt equal packs of cards from the deck. If there are a large amount of players then multiple decks may be used. Excess cards are placed in the central pile as a bonus for the first player to slap the stack. Alternately, in the case of three players, the nine of diamonds can be removed from the game or both Jokers can be added so player packs will be equal. Players are not to look at their cards at any time, including while placing them upon the center pile (players should flip cards outwards from the top of their pack).

A player begins by placing a card face-up to start a central pile. Play proceeds in a pre-defined order and each player lays down a single card on the pile until a face card or ace is played. The next player 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. Some variants reverse this, so an ace allows only one chance, a king two, a queen three and a jack four (this is more in keeping with the traditional rank of face cards; an Ace thus becomes the most valuable card to have). The player plays their cards, one at a time, until they either flip another face card on the pile or exhaust their chances. In some variants, a 10 blocks any face card or ace. If the player is able to play another face card, play proceeds and the next player must attempt to play another face card, with a number of chances determined by the new face card played. If a player is unable to lay down a face card in the allotted chances, the most recent player to play a face card or ace claims the pile and adds it to their pack. In addition, if a player has fewer cards than chances left and thus runs out without playing a face card, either the next player finishes the play or the pile goes to the player who laid down the face card by default.

Slapping

In addition to the basic progression of play, the players agree beforehand on certain card combinations that, when played consecutively, entitle the first person to slap a hand on the card-pile to claim all of the cards in play. The simplest and most common combination is double cards (any two cards of equal rank, including face cards), though other common "slappable" combinations include "sandwiches" (a double with one card of a different value in between)and "Sevens" (a number 7 card). A wide range of different slappable combinations is in use, varying in popularity by geography and demographics.

Depending on the pre-agreed rules, either the first person to slap the pile or the person whose hand is on the bottom of the resulting pile of hands claims the cards. In the case of a slap tie, where each slapper's hand is equally on the card and the hands hit at indistinguishable times, play proceeds as if a slap did not occur. If the successful slapper had no cards before the slap, this is called 'slapping in', and can thus be used to allow an eliminated player back into the game. Note, most rule-sets require that any jewelry (such as rings, bracelets and watches) be removed from hands and wrists, as a hard slap with metallic or sharp-edged objects in place can cause injuries.

There can be penalties or punishments for players who slap the pile when the card combination does not actually allow a slap, such as "burying" a card by putting it at the bottom of the pile, or putting four of that's player's cards in the pile. When Jokers are used, house rules generally define their role; they can be wild, unslappable or always slappable. In some cases, players might want to make the joker a face card.

References

• Hoyle's Rules of Games, Third Revised and Updated Edition, Albert H. Morehead, Geoffrey Mott-Smith, Philip D. Morehead, 2001

External links

• Oxymoron's Egyptian Ratscrew Page
• Egyptian Ratscrew on ModernSoapbox.com