Caravan is a two-player game. Both players have three different decks, known as caravans, which are playing against each other.

The goal is to “sell” your caravans, and this is done by a caravan having a numerical value of no less than twenty-one, otherwise it would be considered “under burdened” and therefore unable to be sold. and no more than twenty-six. If your caravan has a numerical value higher than twenty-six, then it is considered to be “overburdened” and cannot be sold.

Only one caravan deck from each column of caravans that are opposing each other can be considered sold. Whichever caravan is sold is determined by which of the two caravans opposing each other has the higher numerical value, with the highest value they can be while still being considered “sold” being twenty-six.

The game ends when all three columns have a caravan deck which is considered sold. The winner is determined by whichever player has more caravan decks sold.

Much like poker, caravan has five different types of cards: numerical cards, face cards, aces and jokers. However, in caravan, these cards have vastly different abilities to those of poker. This section will give an overview of each type of card and what they can do.

Numerical cards are cards with a number value. These cards can only be placed on your caravans. Additionally, numerical cards must go in only one of two directions per caravan: ascending, or descending. The direction in which each caravan goes is determined by whether or not the second card you play on the caravan is of higher or lower value to your first card.

For example, if the first card on one of my caravans is two and my second card played on the same caravan is five, then the direction is ascending, and all following cards must be of a higher value than the previous card on the caravan.

The only time you can place a numerical card which is going in a different direction to your caravan is if the numerical card in question is of the same suit as the last card on your caravan. There is another way you can change the direction of the card, however, we will get to that shortly.

Unlike most casino games, aces in caravan only have a numerical value of one. However, there are other cards which interact with aces differently than they do with numerical cards, hence why aces get a separate category.

There are three different types of face cards: jacks, queens and kings. Face cards do not have a numerical value, like they do in Blackjack. Instead, they are placed onto numerical cards to use their abilities. Unlike numerical cards, face cards can be placed on both your caravans and your opponents caravans. All three face cards have a unique and important ability. Here are the abilities:

When placed on a numerical card, Jacks remove that card from the game. This is a very useful card to play when one of your caravans are overburdened, or if one of your opponents caravans is currently sold.

When placed on a numerical card, Queens reverse the direction of the caravan. This card is useful when you have no other cards in your hand that are in the direction that you have to go, or if you want to change the direction of one of your opponents caravans.

When placed on a numerical card, Kings double the value of said numerical card. For example, if a King is placed on a card with a numerical value of four, then that card now has a numerical value of eight. Kings can also be stacked, so if another King card is placed on the previously mentioned card, then its value would now be sixteen. This card is very useful when you want to increase the value of one of your caravans, or if you want to overburden one of your opponents' caravans.

Finally, we have the Joker card. The joker card has the exact same rule as all other face cards: they can be placed on any caravan, including your opponents, and they have no numerical value. The only difference is that the Joker has a much more powerful ability than all of the other face cards.

If a Joker card is placed on a numerical card, then all other cards in the game with the same numerical value are taken out. For example, if a Joker card is placed on a card with a numerical value of four, then all other cards in the game with a numerical value of four are taken out.

If a Joker card is placed on an ace, however, then all other cards in the same suit as the ace card are taken out of the game. For example, if a Joker card is placed on an ace of spades, then all other cards that have the spades suit are taken out of the game.

• If you don’t like the cards in your hand, you can use your turn to remove a card from your hand and you will receive a new card for the next round. You can do this as many times as you like.
  
  
• You may also choose to remove all cards from a caravan deck. This will reset your caravan, meaning that the direction and the numerical value of the caravan is not yet determined. This is very useful when one of your caravans is overburdened. You can do this as many times as you like