Nerts Card Game

1. Nerts Card Game Rules
2. Nerts Card Game Strategy
3. How To Play Nerts

2 Player Card Games – learn how to play Nerts with these rules, printables and a score sheet included.

There have been several requests for 2 player card games. Up to this point, we have shared: Knock, Ripple , Chase the Ace ,Bluff and Play or Pay. We’ve also shared Mexican Train and Tenzi. This week’s card game is meant to play with 2-4 players – is super fun and fast moving. I learned it years ago but was recently reacquainted with it – Nerts! Have you played it before?

Want more ideas for what to do indoors with preschoolers? Kids? Teens?

2 player card games

• Only the top card from the Nerts pile can be used to build up the Foundation or Tableau piles. Once a player has used all of the cards in their Nerts pile, they can yell “Nerts!” and end the round. Once somebody yells “Nerts!”, play ends and points are tallied. Players add 1 point for each card they have in a Foundation.
• Nerts is the action-packed card game that lets you compete against virtual opponents for the ace piles in a race to get rid of your cards and gain the most points. As you get faster, increase the skill level and number of opponents to intensify the challenge!

To start, you will need:

Nerts is a multi-player card game similar to Spit/Speed & Klondike Solitaire. Play against two challenging AI opponents. Gameplay is turn-based giving you a chance to find the best move, and your.

• 2-4 players
• Regular decks of cards per player – with different backs

This is a super fast paced game that is like playing Solitaire with other people, while playing off of each other.

OBJECT OF THE GAME
It’s a race to see who can get rid of their cards from the “Nerts” pile first. Play continues in rounds until reaching a pre-determined number.

SETTING UP THE GAME

Each player uses one deck of cards (all have to have different backs). S/he will deal a pile of 12 cards face down, last card will be face up on top (so 13 cards total). 0003Next to the “Nerts” pile, each player deals four cards face-up, side by side – these are called “work” piles. 0003The rest of the cards in the players deck are held face down. These cards, called stock cards, will be turned over three at a time onto a face up stack. This will be the discard pile. Players need to be set up across from each other so that they can have access to a common area. The common area will be explained below.

HOW TO PLAY

• Once everyone has their cards set up, someone will say – “ready, set, go.”
• All players will start playing on their own cards at the same time – similar to playing Solitaire with their work piles.
• Players must alternate red, black, red, black in their work piles.
• The main objective is to get rid of the “Nerts” pile by playing cards from that pile into his/her work pile.
• At the same time, players will move cards into the common area – starting only with an Ace and adding to any stack with the same suit. These are called “foundations.”
• Each player an only use *one* hand at a time to move cards but can hold his/her stock cards in the other hand.
• Each player is only allowed to move his/her cards – in his work piles and in the common area.
• 0003If two+ people are trying to play at the same time, the first card played stays there while the others are returned to the player.
• When a player gets rid of all of his/her cards in the Nerts pile, he or she will yell out “Nerts” and the round is over.

WORK PILES

• There are four work piles – each player deals their 4 out at the beginning of the game.
• Each work pile goes in descending order, alternating color. 0003
  For example: if you start with a red 9, the next cards would be black 8, red 7, black 6, etc.
• Like Solitaire, you can move any card in one of your work piles onto another work pile if it coordinates.
• When moving cards and you have a blank space in your work piles (there should be 4 showing at all times), you will take the next card from your “Nerts” pile and flip it over into that blank space.
• To add more cards to the common area, move cards to make room for others and earn more points, each player can take cards from their work piles and add them to the common area in a foundation when it fits.
  For example: if there is a 7 of diamonds in one of the “foundations” and the player has a 6 of diamonds showing in one of their work piles, s/he can add it to that foundation.

NERTS PILES

• With the goal of getting rid of your Nerts cards first, cards from the top of that pile are to be played quickly onto an empty space in your work piles OR if they fit, they can also be played onto one of your existing work piles. Or they can be played directly onto a foundation too. 0003
• When you have played the top card of your Nerts pile you can turn the next card of the pile face up. 0003
• When your Nerts pile is gone, you can call “Nerts!” but you aren’t required to.

FOUNDATIONS

• “Foundations piles” are built in the common area.
• They always start with an Ace and go by suits only.0003
  For example: if you have a 3 of spades, the next card to be played would be 4 of spades. A 4 of diamonds could not be played. 0003
• These piles are played until King and then they can be moved aside.
• Players can start a new foundation pile if they have an Ace. S/he just adds it to the common area in the middle of all of the players.
• Players add to foundation piles from the top of their Nerts pile, lowest card from a work pile and/or the top of the card of the waste pile. 0003
• All players can play on any foundation.

WASTE PILES

• Players can turn over cards from your stock three at a time and put them face-up onto your waste pile.
• At the start of the game, there is no waste pile.
• The top card of the waste pile can be played into one of the work piles or a foundation pile if it fits.
• If ALL players are stuck and nobody can play any of their cards on a work pile or foundation piles, all players can stop.
• At this point, every player would take the top card from his/her “stock” pile in their hand and keeping it face down, move it to the bottom of their stack.
• This will change up the order of cards and players should be able to once again play.
• If only one player is stuck, s/he has to wait for everyone else to get stuck to do this.
• But if other players keep playing, often a play will become available.

ADDITIONAL RULES

• The person who “goes out” doesn’t have to call “Nerts” when they are done.
• They can keep playing to improve their score (more on that below).
• You are never forced to play a card if it isn’t in your best interest – you can always wait.

HOW TO SCORE

• When someone calls “Nerts!” the round is over and everyone takes down their score.
• Each player scores one point for each of their own cards that they played in the foundations of the common area. 0003
• This is where the back of the cards comes into play – the foundation piles have to be sorted out according to the owners of the cards. 0003
• All players except the one who called Nerts also subtract two points for every card left in their Nerts pile when the round ended.
• Calling Nerts does not guarantee the highest score – it depends on how many cards are played in the common area. 0003
• Rounds continue until a player scores a pre-determined number (ie – 100 points, 200 points, etc).
• Whoever reaches that number, wins!

I created a printable version of these rules so that you can download and refer to:

Download this set of game rules and score sheet. For personal use only.

OBJECTIVE OF NERTS/POUNCE: Get rid of cards in Nerts pile.

NUMBER OF PLAYERS: 2+ players (6+ play in partnerships)

NUMBER OF CARDS: standard 52-card + Jokers (optional) per player

RANK OF CARDS: K (high), Q, J, 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, A

TYPE OF GAME: Patience

AUDIENCE: Family

INTRODUCTION TO NERTS

Nerts or Nertz is a faced paced card game that is described as a combination of Solitaire and Speed. It is also referred to as Pounce, Racing Demon, Peanuts, and Squeal. The objective is to get rid of all the cards in your ‘Nerts’ pile (or Pounce pile, etc) by building upon them from an ace. Each player requires their own deck, so a 4 player game needs 4 decks to be played. However, all the cards must have different backs in order to differentiate them.

THE SETUP

Each player deals themselves a Nerts pile, this is a 13 card pile, 12 cards face-down and the 13th card is dealt face-up. Beside the Nerts pile players deal themselves four cards, face-up, side by side (but not overlapping. These are work piles. The remaining cards in the deck become the stockpile. Beside the stockpile is the waste pile, it is formed by taking three cards at a time from the stock and turning them face-up next to the stock.

Players arrange themselves around the playing surface and shape their layout (it may be square, circle, etc). In the center of the playing field is the common area. This should be easily accessible to all players and it holds the foundations which players will be building upon. Below is a photo of a general Nerts set-up.

THE PLAY

Gameplay does not consist of taking turns. Players play at the same time and at whatever pace they please. Move your cards around your layout, following the stipulations below, and add on to foundations in the common area. Th goal is to get rid of all your cards in your Nerts pile by playing them on either your work piles or on the foundations in the common area. Once your Nerts pile is dry you can call, “NERTS!” (Or Pounce!, etc). Once this happens the game ends immediately, cards in mid-air are allowed to complete their move and be counted accordingly in scoring.

You are not required to call Nerts when your pile is exhausted, you may continue to play and improve your score.

Players can only move cards using one hand, however, the stock can be held in the other hand. Generally, cards may only be moved one at a time, unless you are moving a stack from one work pile to another. Cards may only be moved within your layout or from your layout to the common area.

In the event two players attempt to play on the same foundation at the same time, the player who hit the pile first gets to keep their card there. If there is an obvious tie, both players may keep their cards there.

Players are never forced to play cards, they may also be held and played when it’s in your best interest.

THE WORK PILES

Each of the four work piles begin with one card, face-up. Player build work piles in descending numerical order, alternating red and black, and overlapping the cards. So if the pile has a black 10, place a red 9 on top, and then a black 8, and so on. A card from a work pile may be moved to another work pile. When you consolidate work piles, cards on top of the pertinent card a moved with it. An empty space can be filled with cards from the Nerts pile, another work pile, or the discard. The top card, or lowest ranking card, of a work pile may be played on the foundations in the common area.

If a work pile is empty and you have a card in hand that is one rank higher and the opposite color of the base card, that card may be slid underneath the work pile to save time. For example, a work pile is built upon a black Queen. There is an empty space and a red King in hand. Instead of using the red King to fill the space and moving the black Queen to it, the red King may simply be slid underneath the other work pile.

THE NERTS PILE

You may play cards from the top of your Nerts pile onto work piles and empty work piles. Cards from the Nerts pile can also be played on the foundations. Once you play the top card from the Nerts pile you may flip the next card face-up and prepare it for potential gameplay.

THE FOUNDATIONS

In the common area is the foundation piles. They are all built upon an ace. Foundation piles can be added to by playing a card that is one rank higher than the card before it and the same suit. They are built upon until the King is reached. Once this occurs, the foundation pile is removed from the common area and set aside. Foundations are started by players placing free Aces in the common area. Cards that may be played on foundation piles are: Nerts cards, exposed cards on top of work piles, and the top card of the discard. Any player may add to any foundation pile.

THE STOCK & THE DISCARD

You may turn over three cards at a time from the stock to the discard. The discard begins as an empty pile. However, it is important to keep the discard in order, since the top card can be used on work piles.

When your stock is running dry (less than three cards in hand), place your remaining cards on top of the discard, flip over the deck, and continue playing with your new stock. If everyone gets stuck and there are no more legal moves, all players must form a new stock in this manner. But, if you are stuck, and waiting for other players to get stuck, you may move the top card from your stock to the bottom and try to play again.

Nerts Card Game Rules

SCORING

If a player calls, “Nerts!”, the play ends and scoring begins. Players receive 1 point for each of their cards played on foundation piles and lose 2 points for each Nerts card left in hand. This is why it is necessary that each player has a deck with different backs. Separate the foundational piles by the backs to easily determine points. Calling nerts doesn’t ensure you will have the highest amount of points, however, it does greatly increase your chances. Although, that is why when your Nerts pile is dry it is not necessary to declare such, and you may continue playing.

If all players are stuck, despite the new stockpile, the game ends and is scored as usual. The game continues until one player hits the target score, which is typically 100 points.

JOKERS

Jokers may be added to the deck any may stand for any card in the deck. Before the Joker can be moved and played onto a foundation, the suit and rank the Joker is intended to replace must be declared. Jokers played on work piles do not have to be officially declared as to what they represent. Once a card is played on a Joker in a work pile, though, it now has a fixed existence (rank, suit, color).

Nerts Card Game Strategy

REFERENCES:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nertz

http://nertz.com/how.php

How To Play Nerts

https://www.pagat.com/patience/nerts.html