King Jack - playing cards game

King Jack - playing cards game

(A.K.A. English Blackjack, a variation of Knock Knock and Crazy Eights)

How to play

This is for 3 to 6 players ideally. Use 1 deck of cards, although it's possible to play with more decks. To win you must empty your hand of any cards. You can lay down a card by matching it to the number or suit of the previous discard, i.e. the same number with a different suit, or the same suit with an incrementing or decrementing number. There are many wild cards to alter the gameplay for your opponents.

Deal 7 cards each, for a 3 or 4 player game, or 5 cards if there are more players. Place the remainder of the unused pack of cards face down on the table. Then take the top one, turn it over, and place it separately to form a discard pile of face-up cards. The player to the dealer's left goes first. If any player cannot go, they must pick up a card from the unused pack. If you run out of cards from the unused pile, then take all cards from the discard pile, except the top one, and turn them over face-down to replenish the unused pack.

Players must follow suit or rank, but they can lay down cards with as long of a chained run as they can, providing the card ranks match as they jump from suit to suit. For example, if the card at the top of the discard pile is currently the Six of Clubs, then you can play a chained run such as: Six of Spades, Seven of Spades, Seven of Hearts, Seven of Diamonds, Eight of Diamonds, then the Nine of Diamonds.

If playing with more than 1 pack, note that it's not possible to "change direction" mid-run (i.e. from incrementing to decrementing) unless you change suits. So you can't do the Three of Hearts, Four of Hearts, Five of Hearts, then the Four of Hearts again. But you can do the Three of Hearts, Four of Hearts, Five of Hearts, Five of Spades, Five of Hearts, then the Four of Hearts.

When a wild card is played, that ends the player's go. Although several of the same type of wild card can be played at the same time. The wild cards are as follows. Eights make the next player miss a go, and 2 Eights will make the next 2 players miss their go, etc. Kings reverse the direction of play. Aces change the suit and can be played on anything. Any rank of the same suit can be played after an Ace. Queens must be covered with another card, but it can be any card. So you cannot end a run with a Queen. This means that you cannot win the game if the only card remaining in your hand is a Queen, because she cannot be left exposed! Twos make the next player have to pick up 2 cards, effectively ending their turn, unless they can also play a Two, in which case the next player after them must then pick up 4 cards, etc. Black Jacks make the next player pick up 5 cards, but then again if the next player also plays a Black Jack, then the player following them must pick up 10 cards! However, a Red Jack can be played which cancels picking up any cards if played after a Black Jack, and that player can also then continue their run if possible (i.e. playing a Ten of the same suit, and so on). There is "Jacks on Twos" rule, where Black Jacks can be played on Twos, effectively increasing the amount that the next player has to pick up. So it's possible to play 4 Twos and 2 Black Jacks, making a player have to pick up 18 cards! (Hopefully they have a Red Jack to cancel it!) Note that Red Jacks cannot cancel out Twos alone, they can only cancel picking up if they're played after a Black Jack (and then the accrued number of cards is all fully cancelled out). Apart from Aces, all other wild cards must be played on the correct suit and rank, just as with regular cards (i.e. the king of clubs must be played after the queen of clubs, or another king).

The final rule. When a player can win the game, they have to say "last cards" before they start laying down their final run of cards. They can even say it while someone else is still playing their go. It just needs to be said before they play their last run, but after their penultimate go. If they neglect to do so, then they must pick up a card after they have discarded their entire hand. If they do make that call, then they must win on their next go. If they miscalled, and fail to win, then they must also pick up a card. So think ahead when you're down to a few cards. Don't start playing your hand until you know what you're doing, and only if you're sure you can win then say "last cards" and complete the game.