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Shithead

Read the in-game notebook for more information.

(also known as Karma, Palace, Shed and by many other names)

Setup:

From a standard, shuffled deck of 52 cards, each player is dealt three face-down cards in a row. Players are not allowed to see or change these cards. On top of the face-down cards, they are dealt the same number of face-up cards. Three cards are again dealt to each player (face down), and this becomes the player's hand.

Players are then allowed to switch the cards in their 'hand' with their 'face up cards' in an attempt to produce a strong set of 'face up cards' for later in the game.

Gameplay:

The starting player is the first person (counting clockwise from the dealer) to have a face-up 3. If no 3s are face-up, the first player to have a 3 in their hand begins. (If no player has a 3 in hand, the procedure is repeated for the first 4, and so on.) The starting player makes the first play to the pick up pile, and may choose any rank.

Each player must lay a card equal to or higher in value than the one at the top of the pick up pile, then draw cards from the deck so they have at least three cards in their hand (unless the deck has run out of cards or they already have three or more cards in their hand). If a player has no single card that is higher in value than the previous card they may play a pair of cards, in which case the next player must play a higher pair or a triple. If they cannot play a card (or cards), they must pick up the pick-up pile (put it in their hand) and end their turn. In some variants when two cards of the same value are played the next player is skipped.

Play continues sequentially in a clockwise direction unless certain wildcards are played, depending on rule set.

When a player has no more cards in their hand, and the deck is empty, they may proceed to play from their three face up cards onto the pick up pile. They may not play from this set of cards until they have finished with their hand. If the deck is empty and there are no cards in the player's hand, they may lay one or more (if they share the same rank) of the face up cards on the pile. The rank of the face up card must be higher than the rank of the card on the top of the pile, otherwise the player cannot play the face up card and must pick up the pile.

Once all of the face up cards have been played, a player must then play their face down cards, which are known as "blind cards". These must be turned over so that all the group may see what has been played. If the card is less than the previous card played, they must pick up the pile and put it in their hand, forcing them to play their hand again before progressing to the rest of their face down cards.

If a player is able to complete a set in turn (e.g. complete four-of-a-kind 8♥ 8♦ 8♠ 8♣) they can do so clearing (burning) and removing the entire pile from play. For example if a player first plays 7♥ 7♦ 7♠ and the next player in turn has the 7♣ they can drop that card to complete the set thus clearing the pile. The player who clears may play another card after. Some alternate rule sets allow players to clear at any time in or out of turn. Other rules make the a four-of-a-wild a normal wild.

If a player has no cards left to play, they are out. The loser, known as "The Sh!thead" is the last player left in the game. Under most rules the sh!thead's only role is to deal the next set of cards. Players may adapt this so that the sh!thead is also required to fulfill a forfeit.