Rules for War

War is a classic, simple card game for 2 players, though it can be played with more. It requires no prior knowledge and works for all ages. All you need is a standard deck of cards and a bit of time.

The goal is to win all the cards. The player who ends up with the entire deck wins.

Start with a standard 52-card deck (remove the jokers, unless you want to include them as the highest cards).

Shuffle the deck thoroughly and deal the cards as evenly as possible:

• 2 players: 26 cards each
• 3 players: 17 cards each (1 card set aside)
• 4 players: 13 cards each

Each player places their cards in a face-down pile in front of them. Nobody looks at their cards.

In War, the card ranking is straightforward:

• Highest: Ace (A)
• Then: King (K), Queen (Q), Jack (J), 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3
• Lowest: 2

All suits (♠️ ♦️ ♣️ ♥️) have equal value. Only the rank matters.

If you play with jokers, they beat every other card.

War is easy to play:

1. All players flip the top card from their pile at the same time.
2. The player with the highest card wins all the flipped cards.
3. The winner places the won cards face down at the bottom of their pile.
4. Everyone flips the next card, and the game continues.

Play continues until one player has collected all the cards.

When two or more players flip cards of the same value, war breaks out.

How it works:

1. The players with matching cards declare "WAR".
2. Each of them places 3 cards face down (the "stake").
3. Then they each flip a fourth card.
4. Whoever has the highest fourth card wins all the cards involved.

If the fourth card is also a tie, the war continues. Each player places 3 more cards face down and flips another deciding card.

There are several ways to vary the game:

• Three-card war: During war, only 1 card is placed face down before the deciding flip (speeds up the game).
• Five-card war: During war, 5 cards are placed face down before the deciding flip (longer stakes).
• Team war: 4 players split into 2 teams and cooperate.
• War with points: Play in rounds where winning a war gives extra points.
• Speed war: First to win 10 tricks wins the game.
• Double deck: Use two decks shuffled together for longer games.

Some situations that can come up:

• Too few cards for war: If a player does not have enough cards to complete a war (4 cards), that player is out.
• War between multiple players: If 3 or more players flip equal cards, all of them take part in the same war.
• Last card: If your last card leads to a war and you lose, you are out.
• Empty pile: When a pile runs out, the player turns over their won cards and continues from there.

War is mostly a game of luck, but here are a few things to keep in mind:

• Notice which high cards have already been played.
• Shuffle your won pile well before flipping it back over.
• With younger children, let them see the cards before playing to practice recognising numbers.
• Play best of 3 or 5 rounds if you want a quicker game.

The game ends when:

• One player has collected all 52 cards (or all cards in play).
• A player runs out of cards.
• Players agree to count cards after a set amount of time.

War works well as:

• A first card game for children.
• A quick two-player game when you have a little time to spare.
• A warm-up before playing something more involved.

Since the outcome depends on luck, everyone starts on equal footing.