How to play Spite and Malice - Jacks' Variation
The game Spite and Malice can be found lurking in certain circles, but it's not nearly as easy to find someone who knows how to play as with Spades or Bridge or ever Cribbage, so I want to help spread this popular game (at least in my family) with the world. Most recently, it's evolved into a commercial version called Skip-Bo.
The real rules of Spite and Malice can be found online, but the core rules can lead to really long (and even un-finish-able) games, so through years of evolution, my folks made this game their own. I wish to share their rules with you in document form so this may be shared easily with the world. Here we go!
The game is played with 2 people. There are multiple-player variations, which we can get into later. You also need two standard poker decks, including the jokers.
The Play Area and Setup:
The play area consists of a side for each player and a shared area. See Diagram:
Each player has their own play deck and four discard spaces. The shared area is between the player areas, and consists of the draw pile and four playable spaces.
Shuffle all cards together, and deal 30 to each player, face down. Turn over the top card of each of the 30-stacks. Place these stacks in the respective 'play deck' space. The rest of the cards (78) are placed faced down in the draw pile. The game is now set up.
Goal of the game:
To win Spite and Malice, simply be the first person to empty your own play deck before your opponent empties theirs (See ‘End Game’ for more details).
Card ranks:
All cards Ace to Queen are played as they are, in order, with Ace being 1, and Queen being 12. Jokers and Kings are equivalent, and are wild cards. (Interestingly enough, this game can be played with a Phase 10 deck, as the card counts are the same. Simply use the Skips and Wilds as Jokers and Kings, respectively, and it'll be the exact same. Alternatively, you can play with a Skip-Bo deck, with some modifications: You only need 8 sets of 1-12 ranks, and then 12 "SKIP-BO" (wild) cards.)
Determining who goes first:
The top up-turned card determines who will go first. Whoever has the higher rank goes first (as it'll be harder to get your card off the deck). Wild cards are the lowest rank in this matchup.
Examples:
Queen versus 5 -> Queen's player goes first.
Wild versus 10 -> 10's player goes first.
In the event of a tie in rank, you can determine by any of the following methods the two players agree on:
- suit (Spades, Hearts, Diamonds, Clubs are presented in descending order)
- cut down into the draw pile and flip over the card. This is your new determining value.
- age - youngest player goes first
- rock paper scissors
Other than (maybe) during this time, suit absolutely does not matter in Spite and Malice.
Game Play:
Your turn has three stages:
1. Drawing
2. Playing
3. Discarding
* Before continuing, I want to reiterate that the rules that follow are NOT core Spite and Malice rules, but variations and extensions brought in by my folks, as they played the game for years, and implemented their own ideas into the game to make it more fun and engaging. Many of these rules are not allowed in standard Spite and Malice, but I feel (as did they) that the revamped rules make for a better game. Let's continue.
1. Drawing.
You begin your turn by drawing cards until you have 5 in your hand. On your first turn, you will draw five cards. If you ended a previous turn with some cards in hand, you will draw less, of course, to reach your total of 5 cards.
2. Playing
If possible, your goal is to play cards in the middle common area. There are four available playable stacks, and must be started with 1 (Ace), followed by a 2, 3, 4 etc until 12 (Queen). Once a stack is completed, it's removed from the play area and set aside, and, when the draw pile is emptied, these completed stacks will be reshuffled to create more cards for the draw pile.
Available cards are in many locations:
a. Your hand - play these cards intuitively.
b. Your discard area - as these cards accumulate over your turns, you will have resources available to continue your turns. You must use a top card of your discard pile before using the cards underneath, so be sure to discard with care.
c. Your play deck - playing cards from here should be a priority. Play cards off of this stack, and flip over the next card immediately after the top card is played.
d. Your opponent's play deck - this is a double-edged sword, so be careful. You can use their cards to your advantage, but at the price of helping them empty their deck.
e. Your opponent's discard pile - You may play the cards from your opponent's discard pile ONLY if you have already OR can ensure 100% that you will (in this turn) use their cards from their play deck, at a 1:1 exchange rate. At the end of the turn, all sales are final, and there's no 'owing on the next turn'.
All of these options can lead to great combos, and allow you to continue your turn for quite a while.
If, during your turn, you play all your cards in your hand, you can draw five more from the draw pile, and continue your turn. Please note that discarding your fifth card does NOT let you go again; you must play your cards in the common play area in order to go again. Discarding simply ends your turn. If you discard your 5th card, you can be happy to draw a full five cards on your NEXT turn, though.
Wild cards:
Kings and Jokers are wild.
They can be played in place of any other card, with some exceptions:
- If a wild card is played as an Ace, it MUST be covered with a real 2 before the turn is over, else the card cannot be wild card cannot be played as an Ace. If you cannot ensure 100% that you can cover the wild-Ace with a real 2 when you play the wild-ace, this move is not allowed.
- Single wild cards are able to be left exposed. However, if a wild card is played on top of another wild card, it MUST be covered with a real numbered card. For example, if a stack has 1 2 3 4, and you wish to play Wild cards as 5 and 6, the wild-6 MUST be ensured to be covered with a real 7 before the turn is completed, or else the wild cards (specifically the wild-6) cannot be played.
- Wild cards cannot be used for both a Jack and a Queen (11 and 12), as they cannot be covered.
Wild card substitution:
At any time during your play turn, if there is an exposed wild card (a single wild card without being covered) in the common play area, you may substitute a real card for it, and switch the real value with the wild card. The wild card goes back to wherever the real card came from, and then can be used however the player sees fit. For example, if there is a stack of 1 2 3 4 5 6 and a wild-7 on top, and you have a real 7 in your hand, you may take the real 7 from your hand, and switch it with the wild-7. The wild-7 ends up in your hand, since that is where the real 7 came from, and the wild can be used for any purpose from there.
The wild card substitution can be substituted with cards found in any legally playable area.
Interesting note: if a wild card is used to finish off a stack (played as a wild-12), the stack stays until:
- a 1 (Ace) can be played nowhere else in another vacant spot, and room needs to be made so it may be played
- cards are needed to shuffle into the draw pile
In this way, the final wild-12 can still be substituted, and does not necessarily clear the stack.
*Note: if switching a wild card with an opponent's discarded real-value card, this does NOT count as using a card that turn, until the wild card (or other discarded card) is used. As a note of strategy, you might NOT want to give your opponent wild cards if you do not plan to use them yourself during that turn.
Playing cards off your play deck:
Usually, you can play cards off both your and your opponent's play decks, but here are some extended rules:
- If you and your opponent have the same card rank, when one is played, the other must be played as well. They may be played in the same location, or on different locations. (This does not apply to if players both having wild cards.)
- If you play an opponent's top card off their play deck, and their following card is the next rank, then that card must be immediately played. For example, my opponent has a 3 on their play deck. I use their 3 to reach my 4 in my hand, as I want to get to my 5 on my play deck. I use their 3, but they have a 4 underneath. Their 4 is automatically played, but - conveniently enough - I can still use my 4 in hand, as that was my previous intention. Both 4s are played (if I choose to use my 4), and play continues normally.
- If a player's next card in their play deck is the same rank as the card they just removed, it is played immediately - either in the same location or different location if available, as decided at that moment by the current player.
If you're unable to play any further, or simply don't want to (possibly to prevent your opponent from having an easier turn), you may move onto the discard stage of your turn.
3. Discarding
During your discard phase, you may do one of three actions:
a. Discard a card - this is the most common action. Take one card from your hand and discard it - solitaire style - on one of your discard piles. Ideally, you do not want to bury useful cards from play, so it's common to make sets (10 10 10) or runs that can be used easily on a following turn (9 8 7 6). The discard piles can be as long as you'd like.
Again, if your last card in hand is discarded in this fashion, this ends your turn, rather than allowing you to draw 5 more cards and continue your turn.
b. Move a card - instead of discarding, move one of the top cards in your discard pile to any other discard pile. This action is useful in the event of a messy discard area, especially if you have very few cards in hand. This can also be used to prevent your opponent from getting easy access to certain cards.
c. Do nothing - opt not to discard / move a card. This is a very uncommon tactic, but it's still a legal move. Maybe you only have a wild card in hand, and you don't want to let your opponent have access to it, were it in your discard area. Be sure to tell your opponent you're opting not to discard, so they may take their turn. Please note: if you have 5 cards in hand, and you choose to not discard, then you will draw no new cards next turn.
End Game:
A few notes on the end game:
1. When you get to your last card in your play deck, turn it side-ways so it won't be confused with a discarded card.
2. When a player empties their play deck, that's not the end of the game. The player finishes their turn as normal. The opponent has one more turn. If the opponent is able to empty their play deck AND play all their discarded cards, the opponent steals the win! This is called a 'backstab'. During this final turn, the opponent - probably in desperation - may use all discarded cards (the player's and the opponent's) for free.
3. At the end of the opponent's turn, the game is over, and the outcome is decided.
The victor receives one point. The victor then counts the number of cards left in their opponent's pile, and makes a note of the number of cards won for that round. It's possible to win a game, even though you make not get any cards from your opponent.
Finally, play 3 games. A total of 4 points are to be had: 3 points for victories, and 1 point for winning the card-count total of all won games.
For example:
First game: I win the game, and get 5 cards from my opponent.
Second game: My opponent wins, but my opponent gets 0 cards from me.
Third game: My opponent wins again, and gets 6 cards from me.
The total scores are:
1 point for me for my victory in the first game.
3 points for my opponent for 2 victories, and a total of 6 cards over my 5.
My opponent wins the set.
Winning 4 - 0 is called a "sweep" or "being swept".
Tying at 2 - 2 is simply called a "tie" or a "draw".
And, in the event that you tie in the number of cards, it's possible to have a maximum of 3 points per set.
* * *
My folks would play 3 games during lunch on the weekends, and I could hear them throughout the house talking aggressively (all in good fun). This game and the rules here mean a lot to me, and are a unique part of my home life.
Thank you for reading, and I hope you give my parents' variation of Spite and Malice a try.