War

Full rules

1. Overview
2. Card ranking
3. Setup
4. Playing a battle
5. War
6. Winning the game
7. Tips for beginners
8. Variants

Overview

War is a simple game of luck for two players, ideal for young children learning which card is higher. Both players turn over their top card at the same time, and the higher card wins both. When the two cards are equal, there is a war. The player who ends up with all the cards wins.

• Players: 2 (3 or 4 in a variant).
• You need: a standard 52-card deck, no jokers.

Card ranking

Cards rank from high to low:

A (highest) – K – Q – J – 10 – 9 – 8 – 7 – 6 – 5 – 4 – 3 – 2 (lowest)

Suits don't matter: a 9♠ and a 9♥ are equal.

Setup

1. Shuffle the cards and deal them all out, one at a time, face down. Each player gets 26 cards.
2. Nobody looks at their cards. Each player keeps their cards in a neat face-down pile in front of them.

Playing a battle

1. Both players turn over the top card of their pile at the same time and put it face up in the middle.
2. Whoever turned the higher card takes both cards and puts them face down at the bottom of their own pile (in any order).

Example: Anna turns over a J♦, Ben a 7♣. The Jack is higher, so Anna takes both cards and slides them under her pile.

War

If the two face-up cards are the same rank (for example, two 8s), it's war:

1. Leave the two equal cards in the middle.
2. Each player puts the next card of their pile face down on top of their equal card.
3. Then each player turns the following card face up.
4. The higher of these new face-up cards wins all the cards in the middle – the equal cards, the face-down cards and the face-up cards.

If the new face-up cards are equal again, repeat steps 2 and 3 – another war – until one player wins. The winner takes the whole lot.

Example: Both turn over a 10. Each puts one card face down, then turns up another: Anna a 4, Ben a Q. Ben wins all six cards.

Running out during a war: if a player doesn't have enough cards to finish a war, they turn their last card face up and it counts as their card for the rest of that war. A player with no card left at all loses.

Winning the game

Keep playing battles. When a player has no cards left, they lose – the player who has collected all 52 cards wins.

Tips for beginners

• There are no choices in War – it's pure luck. That makes it perfect for small children practising which card is higher.
• Say the card names out loud: it helps children learn Jack, Queen, King and Ace.
• A game can take a long time. Agree beforehand how long you want to play.

Variants

These are optional – agree before you start.

• Three cards down: in a war, each player puts three cards face down instead of one, then turns one face up – saying "I – de – clare – war!", one syllable per card.
• Out in a war: a player who can't finish a war because they have too few cards loses the game at once.
• Jokers: add two jokers as the highest cards.
• Peace: the lower card wins every battle.
• Automatic war: turning over a 2 starts a war straight away.
• Three or four players: deal 17 cards each to three players (one card left over goes aside) or 13 each to four. All turn over together and the highest card wins. If two or more tie for highest, everyone plays a war. A player who runs out of cards drops out; the last player with cards wins.