Nertz

Full rules

1. Overview
2. Setup
3. Playing
4. End of a deal
5. Scoring
6. Winning the game
7. Tips for beginners
8. Variants

Overview

Nertz is a race in which everyone plays their own game of patience (solitaire) at the same time, as fast as they can. There are no turns. The foundations – piles built up by suit from Ace to King – lie in the middle and belong to everyone, so any player may play onto any of them. You score for every card of yours that reaches the middle, and you lose points for cards left in your Nertz pile. Whoever empties their Nertz pile can shout "Nertz!" and end the deal at once.

• Players: 2–6, best with 2–4.
• You need: one standard 52-card deck per player, no jokers. The decks must have different backs (different designs or colours), because at the end you sort the cards by owner. Also paper and pencil for the scores.

Setup

Each player shuffles their own deck and lays out, in front of themselves:

1. The Nertz pile: 13 cards in one pile – 12 face down and the 13th face up on top.
2. Four work piles: next to it, 4 cards face up side by side, not overlapping.
3. The stock: the remaining 35 cards, face down, held in one hand.

Sit in a circle and leave a large empty space in the middle for the foundations. When everyone is ready, someone says "Go!" and all players start at once.

Playing

All players play at the same time, as fast as they like. Use only one hand to move cards; the other hand holds your stock. Move one card (or one pile) at a time.

The foundations (middle)

• Any Ace that is available to you may be placed in the middle to start a new foundation.
• A foundation is built up in suit: on the A♥ goes the 2♥, then the 3♥, and so on up to the K♥.
• Anyone may play onto any foundation, no matter whose Ace started it.
• Cards you can play to the foundations: the top card of your Nertz pile, the top card of your waste pile, and the uppermost (last-played) card of a work pile.
• If two players try to play onto the same foundation at the same moment, the card that got there first (usually the lower one in the heap) stays. The others take theirs back.

Your work piles

• Work piles are built down in alternating colours: a red 6 on a black 7, a black 10 on a red J. The cards overlap so you can see them all.
• You may add the top card of your Nertz pile or of your waste pile to a work pile.
• You may move a card from one work pile to another if it fits; all cards lying on top of it move with it.
• If a work pile becomes empty, fill the space with the top card of your Nertz pile, the top card of your waste pile, or a card (with everything on top of it) from another work pile.
• You only ever play onto your own work piles.

Stock and waste pile

• Turn over the top three cards of your stock at once and put them face up on your waste pile. Only the top card of the waste pile can be played.
• If only one or two cards are left in the stock, put them on the waste pile. When the stock is empty, turn the waste pile over (don't shuffle) to make a new stock.

Example: Your Nertz pile shows 5♣, a work pile ends in a 6♥, and the 4♣ lies on a foundation. You play the 5♣ to the foundation – the next card of your Nertz pile is turned face up. It is the 5♠, which fits on the 6♥ of your work pile.

When everyone is stuck

If all players are stuck (nobody can or wants to play), everyone turns their waste pile over under the rest of their stock (if there is any) to form a new stock and moves its top card to the bottom. This changes the order of the cards, and play goes on.

End of a deal

When your Nertz pile is empty, you may shout "Nertz!". The deal ends immediately; only cards already in the air may finish their move. You don't have to call at once – you can keep playing to get more cards into the middle, but someone else may call first.

Scoring

Sort the foundation cards by their backs and give each player their own cards back. Each player scores:

• +1 point for each of their cards on the foundations;
• −2 points for each card still in their Nertz pile.

Cards on work piles, stock and waste pile count nothing. Scores can be negative.

Example: Anna calls "Nertz!" with 20 cards in the middle: she scores 20. Ben has 15 cards in the middle and 4 left in his Nertz pile: 15 − 8 = 7 points.

Winning the game

Keep playing deals. The first player to reach 100 points wins. If several players pass 100 in the same deal, the highest total wins.

Tips for beginners

• Your Nertz pile is the priority: every card left there costs you 2 points.
• Use your work piles to free Nertz cards; an empty work pile is worth filling from the Nertz pile.
• Get Aces and 2s into the middle quickly, otherwise others build on the foundations first.
• Keep an eye on all foundations, not just your own.

Variants

Optional – agree before you start.

• Partnerships: with many players, play in pairs. Partners sit side by side, share one layout and one deck and help each other.
• Shorter Nertz pile: use 12 or 11 cards to make going out easier.
• One card at a time: turn the stock one card at a time instead of three.
• Nertz bonus: the player who calls "Nertz!" gets a bonus, e.g. 25 points.