Friendly – A Game of cards for 2-4 Players

This is a game about choices. First, players secretly choose whether to play aggressively or defensively (by picking either a black or red ace). Then, on each turn, a player must choose whether to increase the size of the two pots, or to take the smaller pot for himself.

Set Up:

You need two decks of cards shuffled together with aces set aside. Give each player a black ace and a red ace.

Each Round:

Each player must choose to place either the black or red ace face down in front of him. He should place the other ace off to the side. (See End of Round for the effects of choosing black or red.) The first player starts by dealing three face down cards to the player on his left and one face down card to himself.

Each Turn:

The player who has the smaller pile of cards in front of him must choose either to deal another face down card to each pile and then pass each pile one player to the left OR to end the round.

End of Round:

Once the round has ended, turn both piles face up. Each player must now reveal whether he chose a black or red ace.

•          If all players chose red aces, all players gain points equal to the smaller pile. This is called a “Friendly” round.
•          If all players chose black aces, each player gets points equal to the pile in front of him. This is called a “Vicious” round.
•          If some players chose black aces and some chose red aces, the losing player gets points equal to the smaller pile. This is called a “Rough” round.

Scoring:

Cards have a value equal to their number. Face cards are worth ten. Aces have been removed and do not have a value.

Next Round:

Each player must again choose to play either a  red or black ace. The rest of the cards are shuffled, and the player to the left of the one who ended the last round is the new first player.

Play at least two rounds and until at least one player has fifty or more points.