Speed

_players: 2, materials: 52 card deck

Introduction

Speed is a commonly a two-player card game in which both players are dealt an equal number of cards and must place all cards in the center piles to win. Given practice and the right opponent, it can be a very nerve-wracking game that gets adrenaline pumping. All it takes to play is (at least) one deck of cards, two players, and the knowledge of how the game works.

Preparation

Set 2 cards in the middle of a table face-down, make 2 piles of 5 cards to either side of those cards and deal out the remaining cards to each of the players as a draw pile (each of the players should get 20 cards each). Then each player then grabs 5 cards to hold and look at.

Play Game

To begin the game, each player reaches to one of the center cards on the table and turns it face-up. The players can now start placing cards. Cards placed on one of the piles must be either one greater or one less than the face value of the uppermost card on the pile.

The order of the cards is the standard Ace, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, Jack, Queen, King, where the values loop from highest back to lowest (i.e. Aces placed on Kings, Kings placed on Aces).

After a card has been placed on a pile, the player picks up one of the remaining cards from the draw pile (15 cards at the game’s start) so he always has 5 cards in his hand.

If neither of the players can place another card on a center pile, both players pick up a card from the piles placed to either side of the center piles and places it in the nearest center pile. If both players still cannot move, they repeat this process until all cards are gone, in which case, cards from the bottom of the center piles are placed on top.

End Game

The game ends when one player runs out of cards in his hand. By this point, the center piles often conglomerate into a single mess of cards that only the players can distinguish individual piles from.