Palace

Full rules

1. Overview
2. Card order
3. Setup
4. Who starts
5. Playing a turn
6. Special cards
7. Endgame: table cards
8. End of the game
9. Winning the game
10. Tips for beginners
11. Variants

Overview

Palace is a shedding game: everybody tries to get rid of all their cards by playing them onto a shared pile in the middle of the table. Each play must be equal to or higher than the card on top of the pile – if you can't (or won't) play, you have to pick up the whole pile. Besides the cards in your hand, you have six cards lying on the table in front of you, three of them face down, which you play last. There is no real winner: whoever is last to still hold cards loses the game.

• Players: 2–6 (best with 3 or more; six players add two jokers, see Variants).
• You need: one standard 52-card deck, no jokers.

Card order

Suits don't matter – only the rank (value) of a card counts. From highest to lowest:

A (highest) – K – Q – J – 10 – 9 – 8 – 7 – 6 – 5 – 4 – 3 (lowest)

The 2 and the 10 are special cards that can be played at almost any time (see below).

Setup

1. Dealer: pick a dealer at random for the first game.
2. Face-down cards: the dealer shuffles and deals each player a row of three cards face down, one at a time. Nobody may look at these cards until they are played.
3. Face-up cards: the dealer deals each player three cards face up, one on top of each face-down card.
4. Hand: the dealer deals each player three more cards face down. These are your hand: pick them up and keep them hidden from the others.
5. Draw pile: the rest of the cards are put face down in the middle as the draw pile (also called the stock). With 6 players and the two jokers all 54 cards are dealt, so there is no draw pile; the game is played without refilling.
6. Swap: before play starts, everyone may swap any of their hand cards with their own face-up cards. Most players put their best cards (Aces, 2s, 10s) face up for later and take low cards into the hand.

Example: Anna's hand is 4♣ 10♦ 6♥, her face-up cards are A♠ 3♥ 2♣. She takes the 3♥ into her hand and puts the 10♦ face up. Now her hand is 4♣ 3♥ 6♥ and her face-up cards are A♠ 10♦ 2♣ – three strong cards for the end.

Who starts

The player who was dealt the first face-up 3 (in dealing order, starting at the dealer's left) starts. If nobody has a 3 face up, the first player to call out "I have a 3!" from their hand starts. If no 3 shows up at all, do the same with 4s, and so on. This only decides who takes the first turn – like every turn, it is played from the hand.

Playing a turn

The cards played in the middle form the discard pile. Play goes clockwise.

1. Play or pick up: on your turn, you either - play one card, or several cards of the same rank (for example two 7s), face up onto the discard pile. The card must be equal to or higher than the top card of the pile; if the pile is empty, you may play anything; or - pick up the whole discard pile and add it to your hand. You may always do this, even if you could play. Then your turn is over, and the next player starts a new pile with any card or set of equal cards.
2. Refill: if you have fewer than three cards in your hand after playing, immediately draw from the draw pile until you have three again. When the draw pile runs out, keep playing without refilling.

Hand first: as long as you begin your turn with cards in your hand, you must play from your hand – not from the cards on the table.

Example: The top card is a 9♠. Ben plays two Jacks. Carla has only a 5, a 6 and an 8 – nothing equal to or higher than a Jack, and no special card. She picks up the whole pile. Then Dan, the next player, starts a new pile with any card.

Special cards

• 2 – reset: a 2 may be played on any card, and any card may be played on a 2. So after a 2, the next player can start low again.
• 10 – burn: a 10 may be played on any turn, whatever is on top of the pile (or on an empty table). The whole discard pile, including the 10, is burned: it is set aside face down and is out of the game. You then play again at once and start a new pile with any card or set.
• Four of a kind – burn: if the top four cards of the pile are the same rank, the pile is burned just like with a 10, and the player who completed the four plays again. It doesn't matter whether you played all four at once or added the last ones to cards the players before you laid down.

Example: Anna plays a 6♥, Ben plays a 6♣ 6♠. Carla holds the last 6 – she plays it, completing four 6s. The pile is burned, and Carla starts a new pile with any card from her hand.

Endgame: table cards

Once the draw pile is gone, the hands shrink.

1. Face-up cards: if you begin your turn with no cards in hand, you play from your face-up cards, following the same rules. If you can't (or don't want to) play one, add one of your face-up cards to the pile and then pick up the whole pile. Now you have a hand again and must play from it until it is empty.
2. Face-down cards: once your face-up cards are gone too and your hand is empty, you play your face-down cards blind: on your turn, turn one of them over onto the pile. If it is equal or higher (or a 2 or 10), it counts as played. If it is lower, you pick up the whole pile, including that card, and the next player starts a new pile. You must then empty your hand again before you may turn the next face-down card.

Example: The top card is a Q♦. Dan has no hand and only face-down cards left. He turns one over: a 5♣. Too low – he takes the whole pile, including the 5♣, into his hand.

End of the game

As soon as you have no cards left – none in your hand and none on the table – you are out and safe. The others keep playing. If your very last card is a face-down card, it has to be playable, otherwise you pick up the pile as usual.

The last player still holding cards loses the game. Traditionally, the loser deals the next game – and makes tea for everyone, or does whatever other job the group agrees on.

Winning the game

Palace is played for a loser, not a winner: everyone who gets out avoids losing. Play as many games as you like; if you want to keep track, count how often each player has lost.

Tips for beginners

• Put your strongest cards – Aces, 2s and 10s – face up at the start. You'll need them when you can no longer choose from a hand.
• Play low cards early while the pile is low; save 2s and 10s for emergencies.
• Picking up a small pile is often better than wasting a 10 on it.
• Watch the pile: if three 8s are on top and you hold an 8, you can burn the pile and play again.

Variants

Palace has more house rules than almost any other card game. Agree before you start – all of these are optional.

• Jokers (6 players): add two jokers. A joker can be played at any time – one or both jokers, but never together with other cards – and only reverses the direction of play. It is not a wild card.
• Choose your face-up cards: deal three face-down cards and then a hand of six. Everyone chooses three of their six cards to lay face up.
• Restricted 10s: a 10 may not be played on a J, Q, K or Ace.
• Easier table cards: a player who can't play a face-up card just picks up the pile, without adding a face-up card to it.
• 7 goes down: after a 7, the next play must be 7 or lower (or a 10).
• Invisible 8: an 8 may be played on anything and reverses the direction; the next player has to beat the card below the 8. Some groups use the 3 as the "invisible" card instead.
• Stacking (Karma): when laying out face-up cards, you may stack equal cards on the same face-down card and refill your hand from the draw pile.
• Back to the last player: after a pickup, the new pile is started by the player who played the last card before it, not by the next player.
• More cards: with larger groups, shuffle two decks together and deal four face-down, four face-up and four hand cards each.
• Play for a winner: the first player to get rid of all their cards wins.