6, 
6, and 
6, the ranking is: Spades highest, diamonds second, hearts third,
and clubs lowest. Therefore, spades would win.This page is part of the Invented Games section of the Card Games web site. It is a collection of variations of the traditional card game War.
Contributed by Jesse Weinstein and Nancy Fuller , Los Angeles, 2000 AD
Two cards are played at once, and added together. The highest sum wins the trick. Wars are played in the usual way, three cards face down, two cards up: the sum wins all 14 cards. Last player to have cards wins. I, Nancy, invented this to get my kid, Jesse, to practice the addition facts. This game can be played with one or two decks, depending on how long you want the game to go on.
Contributed by Jesse Weinstein and Nancy Fuller , Los Angeles, 2000 AD
Two cards are played at once, the lower subtracted from the higher. The highest sum wins the trick. Wars go the same way. This one was invented by both Nancy and Jesse on the floor of LAX airport at 1 a.m. while we were waiting for baggage and trying to save our sanity. This game can be played with one or two decks, depending on how long you want the game to go on. If any strange coincidences happen while you are playing this game, please let us know at . ;-)
Contributed by Jesse Weinstein and Nancy Fuller , Los Angeles, 2000 AD
The full name of this game is Triple Addition Casualty War
Use 2 decks, including Jokers
Casualty war is strangely similar to real war - although you may win a particular battle, you may end up losing more than your opponent.
[Contributed anonymously]
This game can be played with or without jokers. You shuffle the deck and you just "throw" the cards on the floor [all cards should be face down] now you randomly pick a card from the pile, your opponent also randomly picks a card from the pile, and whoever has the higher card wins. The rank of cards, from low to high, is 2 < 3 < 4 < 5 < 6 < 7 < 8 < 9 < 10 < J < Q < K < A [< JOKER, if used].
This game is played like the traditional war game. So if both players draw the same card, you both say "I ... DE ... CLARE ... WAR!", and as the say this they draw 3 cards face down, draw a fourth card and flip it. The higher fourth card wins all these cards.
Both you and your opponent pick cards out of the same face-down heap. When the heap is gone, the person with the most points wins. [It's simplest to assume that every card is worth just one point in the final scoring, so that in fact the person with most cards wins. JM].
(Or, "Josiah Vs. Jezebel") - "Where winning might work against you!"
Invented by Ed Vasicek (Vasicek@hisnet.org)This game is a variation of the traditional game, "War." It is played with a standard 52-card deck, and best for 2 to 3 players. The normal rules of War apply except with these variations:
Capturing a card means taking that card in a regular War trick (e.g., an Ace takes a Queen) or winning a card in a war (the open or turned down cards from your opponent, or your turned down cards-which count as won cards; also included are the cards won from the treasury as explained below).
Example: you win a War. Between the treasury, the cards you won, and the turned down cards you played in the war, you find 2 Queens and 1 King. Since the king cancels one queen, you owe each player five cards. If you find a King and Queen of the same suit in this whole group of cards, you have won the game.
Mark Perkins (mmp@cisco.com) writes:
On a recent plane flight, my son and I invented a game we call "Poker War". It is played like war except that cards are played in groups of 7 and the best 5-card poker hand takes the group of fourteen cards. When a player has less than 7 cards remaining, they lose. If there is a tie, the fourteen cards go to the winner of the next hand. We started with 5 cards each but found it boring because, usually, the best poker hand didn't even have a pair. As with regular war, it can be played with any number of people, although in this version, it is good to add another deck for each third player.
You use a normal deck French suit deck of 52 cards (no jokers).
Number of players: 2 to 6
Step 1: Shuffle and cut the deck.
Step 2: Deal each player a total of 3 (three) cards. (All cards should be face down.)
Step 3: The object is to have the highest ranking card. (Ace is highest) Winner takes all other players card that were played.
[As far as I can tell this is meant to work as follows. Each player looks at their three cards and selects one to play. Probably the selected cards are to be placed face down and revealed simultaneously. The highest card wins all the played cards, and these cards are stored in a pile in front of the winner. The process is repeated with each player selecting a second card, and then again with the third and last card. JM]
If you have a tie in number of cards; Ex. 6, 6, and 6, the ranking is: Spades highest, diamonds second, hearts third,
and clubs lowest. Therefore, spades would win.
Step 4: repeat from step 2 until 1 player has all cards.
The above rule gives the impression that the won cards are reused, as in normal War, until one player collects all 52 cards. However, in a later message, trance574 wrote:
"You play one card at a time and winner takes the cards. After all cards have been played, you deal out another 3 cards to everyone. After the whole deck has been used, players count the cards you won. The one with the most cards, wins the game."
by Osman Hussaini (dkbarron@hotmail.com)
Twenty-first century war is a variation on the classic card game of war. This variation adds a bit of strategy to a game that has always been merely a game of chance.
Object: To capture all the cards from your opponents.
To Play:Rules for combinations of cards that can be played:
Examples of valid and invalid combinations:
| A-Q: | valid (an ace with a face card) |
| A-K-J: | valid (an ace with two face cards) |
| A-9: | not valid (an ace with a number card) |
| A-2-7-9: | valid (an ace with a valid combination: 2+7=9) |
| A-5-6: | valid (an ace used as part of a combination: 1+5=6) |
| A-10-J: | valid (1+10=11) |
| A-4-4-J: | valid (an ace with a face card and a valid combination) |
This variation of War, contributed by Ian Ricksecker (Ian@ea.com) involves some strategy and is suitable for adults (or older children).
This game is for two players. Use a 52-card deck. Divide the deck into two equal piles. (One player begins with all the red cards, while the other begins with all the black cards.)
Both players take their "hand", and may sort it into any order they please. When they are finished sorting their hand, they place it face down, in a stack called their "deck", on the table. Once the deck is set down, the player may no longer change the order! Both players then turn up a single card. As in regular war, whoever revealed the higher card captures both cards. The two cards as placed face up in the players "capture" pile.
If the turned up cards are equal, there is a "war". The tied cards stay on the table. Both players play their next three cards face down, revealing their fourth card face up. Whoever has the higher of the new cards claims all ten cards; repeat the process as long as the revealed cards are equal, with the eventual winner claiming all the cards in the war.
When one player's "deck" is empty, he picks up his "capture" pile. This becomes his "hand", which he must again sort, and place it face down to become a new "deck". (If both players' decks are empty, as is the case when the initial 26 cards expire, both players sort their hands at the same time. However, it is quite possible for one player to be sorting his "hand" while the other player still has 8 or 10 cards left - so card counting becomes important.)
While one player is sorting his "hand", he may ask his opponent how many cards remain in the opponent's "deck" and how many are in his "capture" pile, but may not inquire about or look at cards that are in the "capture" pile (save, of course, that the top card remains revealed).
The game continues until one player has all the cards and wins. However, if the losing player can maneuver the deck in such a way that he runs out of cards during a war, the game is declared a draw.
Contributed by Ryan Hill
This game is played just like standard war except the jokers are used. When a joker is played, no matter what the opposing card(s), you must go to war.
Created by Chris Alexander and Jeremy L Minney
This version is for 2 players only. (It is possible to play with more than 2 players, but it's kinda hard.)
Object of the game: get all the cards.
Card order (highest to lowest): Joker / K, Q, J, 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, A
How you play is simple. First, the dealer deals out the deck (52 cards plus 2 jokers) to the two players (27 cards each). Neither player can look at his/her cards.
Next both players, at the same time, deal 3 cards from the top of their decks face-down. These are the cards they will play in a single round.
When it's your turn, you must flip a card to play it. At the start of the game, the dealer goes first, then the opponent. Whoever flips the higher card wins both cards - his/her own card back, plus the card flipped by his/her opponent, and puts these two cards at the bottom of his/her deck. Now each player flips the second of their three cards, the higher card winning as before, and then the last card. Three rounds are known as a match. Whoever won the previous flip always flips the first card of the next round.
When all six cards have been flipped, both players take their winnings and deal 3 more face-down cards off the tops of their decks. The game continues like this until a player's deck is reduced 5 cards or fewer. A player with 5 cards or fewer in his/her deck loses the game.
This may seem simple. However, there are obstacles.
If a player flips a King, then all the cards (even if it's just one) on the table that are face-down are flipped face-up and the one who flipped the King takes them all. This is called a duel king. Jokers work in a similar way, except that when you win a match with a Joker, you take everything on the table plus the top 5 cards of your opponent's deck!
There is always a chance that you might flip a card of exactly the same rank as your opponent. If that's the case, then both players flip another card on table to see who wins those two and the rest of the face-up cards that have been played. This is called a duel. The player who flipped the first card of the round that caused the duel also flips first in the duel. If the two duel cards are also equal, there is another duel.
If you both flip cards of the same rank on the last round of a match - either an ordinary round or a duel - when there are no more cards on the table left to play, then there is a forced duel. In a forced duel the two players simultaneously flip the top card of their decks and the higher card wins.
If a King or Joker is flipped in an ordinary duel, then as usual it takes all the cards on the table, plus five extra cards for a Joker. It is important that players flip their cards in order in an ordinary duel - if the first player flips a King or Joker it will win all the cards on the table, even if the second player's card is also a King or Joker.
In a forced duel, Kings and Jokers beat all other cards but are equal to each other. If both players flip Kings, or both flip Jokers, or one of each is flipped, it is a tie and another forced duel must be fought. Nevertheless, if either player flips a Joker in a forced duel, they immediately win 5 cards from the opponent's deck, even if the Joker tied with a King or a Joker flipped by the other player.
If there are many, many forced duels, both players playing the same ranked cards, you might want to consider shuffling your deck.
If your opponent flips a King or a Joker, you have an opportunity to save any of your cards from the table by announcing a save duel. Each player then flips the top card of their deck. If your card is better you save the card, but no matter whether you win or lose this duel, your opponent takes both the cards used in fighting the duel, as well as the remaining cards on the table. If a King or Joker appears when fighting a save duel, the rules are the same as for a forced duel. If the two cards flipped in a save duel are the same rank, a forced duel follows to decide the result. In one match, you may have up to three attempts to save cards from a King or Joker by means of a save duel - you can try to save cards from the table or cards that you played in a previous save duel.
After any kind of duel - ordinary, forced or save, the winner of the duel flips first in the next ordinary round of play.
Contributed by Eric W. Longley who writes "I'm sure we're not the first to think of this, but we enjoy it so I pass it on."
This is simply the game "WAR" with one variation. The smallest cards are continually removed from the game. To begin with, every time a two appears, it is set aside. The winner of that trick simply forfeits the two and claims the remaining card or cards. Once all the twos are removed, you remove the threes as they appear, then the fours, etc.
The advantage of this version is two-fold. First, the game will end relatively soon. Second, "wars" become more frequent as the remaining cards dwindle, making the game more unpredictable and exciting.
Contributed by Eldad Yechiam
This is played like the regular game of War with two exceptions that add some strategy but leave much to luck (furthermore, the game retains most of its original features).
A Boxing Card Game by Mackenzie Yeung
In the game, there are two players. You use a standard pack of 54 playing cards, including two jokers. Cards ranks are from high to low: A K Q J 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 Joker.
Shuffle the deck of cards. Deal out all the cards, so that each player has 27. Players do not look at their cards, but keep them in a packet face down.
Both players place 10 cards from their packet, face down, in two rows (5 cards on top, 5 cards on bottom). This is your Health Bar. Both players now turn their top card from their packet face up and put them on the table. Whoever turned the higher card takes both cards and adds them (face down) to the bottom of their packet. The losing player (with the lowest card) takes 1 card from his/her Health Bar, and adds it to the bottom of their packet.
If the turned up cards are equal, then it is considered a draw. No cards are won, no cards are lost. The cards are placed face down, to the bottom of their original packets.
When a player loses all of his/her Health cards, it is a knock down (KD). The Knock Down round comes in play. Here's how it's played; both players will take 3 cards from their packet and place it in a second packet, face down. This is your Knock Down (KD) packet, and represents the three chances the knocked down player has to get up and continueb the fight. Both players turn the top card from their Knock Down packet face-up on the table.
If the card placed by the Knocked Down player is lower then the other player's, both players turn up the next card from their KD packets. If the cards are equal, shuffle them back into their original packets. Both players draw 1 new card and place it at the bottom of their KD packet. Set the cards that have already been used, aside in your own separate pile face-up. No cards are collected in the Knock Down round. Continue doing this until one of the following things happen:
Every time a player gets up from a knock down, the players health will go down by 1 card (but in some cases it doesn't). So if a player gets knocked down 3 times, and he/she gets up, the player’s health heals by 7 cards if they get up, not 10. To make it a little easier, use the chart below.
| Knock Downs | ----- | Health healed getting up |
|---|---|---|
| 1 knock down | = | 9 health cards |
| 2 knock downs | = | 8 health cards |
| 3 knock downs | = | 7 health cards |
| 4 knock downs | = | 6 health cards |
| 5 knock downs | = | 5 health cards |
| 6 knock downs | = | 4 health cards |
| 7 knock downs | = | 3 health cards |
| 8 knock downs | = | 3 health cards |
| 9 knock downs | = | 3 health cards |
| 10+ knock downs | = | 2 health cards |
If a player does not have enough cards to construct a full knock down packet, then the game is over and the opposing player wins.
The game continues until a player loses a knock down round or has no more cards left in his/her packet.
Optional Rule - Fresh Packet: This rule gives you the option of shuffling your packet before placing a card or shuffling it before making a KD packet. This can be done anytime in the game. You are only allowed to shuffle your packet 5 times per game. This can help you win, but be sure not to go overboard with it.
A war variation by Joseph Smith in which battles outcomes are normally determined by suit.
In this game,you don't go by the number of the cards unless there is an event of a tie. This is like a guessing game, but it has a lot more interactivity.
In this game,you draw fifteen (15) cards, then you pick five of them to lay down (your opponent cannot see the cards whatsoever) in any order that you think that they will beat your opponent. If your card beats the one in front of it,then that card on your side wins.
If two cards in front of each other are the same suit, then the one with the higher number wins.
Two cards that are not vertical (in front of each other) to each other cannot battle /face each other.
If you want to play another game after this one,then you must shuffle all cards that were drawn back into the deck, because the fifteen (15) cards were just there for having a variety of choices.
If you wish to gamble in this game,then before you turn a card over, you must bet on however much money that you think your card will win, then you do the same for the rest of the cards, unless someone decides to give up (folding).
A war variation by Lee Walker in which suits play a part in battles.
# of Players: 2 or more
You Need: Two standard 52-card decks (no jokers)
How to Play:
Shuffle the two decks together, then deal them evenly between all players. Players keep their cards face-down in a pack. Once all the cards are dealt, the game is played much like regular War. Players all take the top card of their pack and place it face-up in front of them. The player with the highest card (with the order being A,K,Q,J,10,9,8,7,6,5,4,3,2 from highest to lowest) wins all the face-up cards, and places them face-down at the bottom of their pack. Play continues until one person is left with all the cards, who is declared the winner.
Battles:
Battles are what happen when two or more players flip up a card of the same value. Unlike the original War game, the suit (even the color) is very much a part of this variation. When two or more players flip matching cards, the players whose cards match deal out a certain number of cards from their pack, face down (explained more below), then take the top card of their pack and place it face-up on top of their face-down cards(this final card is called the flip-up). The number of cards players deal face-down from their pack is determined like this:
and 5), then players only deal out three from their packs. and 7
), players deal out seven cards*, face-down. and J), then a daunting eleven cards* are dealt from players' packs.* NOTE: To make counting easier on myself, I prefer to deal out the seven in a 4-3 configuration, and the eleven in a 4-4-3 configuration. For example, four cards face-down in one column, then three cards in another column for the seven-card deal.
The player with the highest-valued flip-up card of the battle wins all the cards on the table. When two players have a match, and a third player flips a card that beats the value of the matching cards, there is no battle; the third player claims all cards on the table, and the game continues. For instance, let's say that Players 1 and 2 both flip a 6 and Player 3 turns up a 10. Instead of the first two players setting up eleven cards each for a battle, Player 3 just takes the three face-up cards. With this rule comes two very similar variations.
If by chance, the flip-up cards match as well, then another battle is dealt out, following the bulleted rules above. If a player does not have enough cards to follow the rules, then they place as many cards as they can face down, leaving their last card as the flip-up. Should another battle occur, or if a player's last card was used to initiate the battle, then one of two scenarios happens, depending on how you want to play.
If the first variation is chosen, and the short-handed player wins the battle, they must return the winning card to the person they borrowed from (the lender). If they lose, however, the winner of the battle picks a random card from his earnings and returns it to the lender. Keep in mind that the lender has the option to choose whatever card they give you. However, if they pick and choose, the lender must shuffle their pack once they've lent out one of their cards.
Just for the sake of completeness, let's say the following happens while playing:
Player 1: 8 Player 2: 8 Player 3: 8 Player 4: 8
Players 1 and 2 will deal out eleven cards face-down from their pack, Player 3 will deal seven, and Player 4 spits out a measly 3. Play then continues as normal, with the person having the highest flip-up claiming all the cards on the table.
Contributed by Ken Scherer
"Prisoner of War" is played like the classic card game of "War", with the following variations:
Any face down card that you win from your opponent during a war is, at your choice, either
Prisoner exchanges are done immediately after you capture your opponent's face down card(s) in a war. You cannot use captured cards to initiate a prisoner exchange with any of your opponent's cards after you have put then into your concentration camp.
When you make a prisoner exchange, you give back to your opponent one card for each card that you want to liberate from your opponent's concentration camp. The winner of the war gets to select which card(s) will be used for the prisoner exchange. The winner of the war does not have to make a prisoner exchange. Put any card that you do not want to do a prisoner exchange with face up into your concentration camp. If you win more than one face down card from your opponent, you can do a prisoner exchange with one or all of them. After each prisoner exchange is completed, both players immediately put the exchanged cards on the bottom of their packs (not into concentration camps), in any order they choose.
If you run out of cards in your pack, you lose, even if you have cards in your concentration camp. Prisoners cannot be used to fight battles.
The strategy involved in this variation of war is to exchange lower value cards for higher value cards when you initiate a prisoner exchange.
Contributed by Ken Scherer
"Clone War" is a variation of the classic card game called "War", with one major difference. You only play with face cards; Jacks, Queens, and Kings.
Prepare to play "Clone War" by sorting out all the Jacks, Queens, and Kings from at least four packs of regular player cards. You need at least 48 cards (i.e., 16 Jacks, 16 Queens, and 16 Kings).
Once you have prepared your deck, follow the exact rules for "War".
Clearly wars will be much more frequent than in the standard game because there are so many equal cards. A player who runs out of cards in the middle of a war loses the game if any other player still has cards. However, if both/all players run out at the same time in the middle of the war, the player with the highest final card played (face up or face down) is the winner. In the event of a tie with the players' playing equal last cards in the middle of a war, the game ends in a draw.
Ken Scherer writes:
Personally, I think using only face cards makes "War" more visually interesting. Using only face cards certainly causes more wars. The last two games I played had the following stats:
Game 1
Playing time: 22 minutes
Number of Wars: 40 (including 11 doubles, and 2 triples)Game 2
Playing time: 47 minutes
Number of Wars: 76 (including 12 doubles, 8 triples, and 3 quadruples)
Contributed by Emma Dean who writes:
My little brother and I used to play WAR all the time ... when that got boring, we decided to play RAW (war backwards). The object is to lose all your cards... (still a really long and drawn out game... but a new twist)
The rank of the cards is reversed. From most to least powerful it is 2-3-4-5-6-7-8-9-10-J-Q-K-A, so for example the 2 takes all other cards.
In case of a RAW battle (WAR), you place three cards face down and then turn the last one up and the player with the lower (more powerful) card will take the cards.
The player who gets rid of all their cards wins.
Contributed by Dan The Man , who writes: "This variation of war brings a new level of excitement to standard war, and is much more fun. If a player is short stacked and wins a double war he is right back in the game. I hope other people will see what a great game this can be and start playing it regularly."
From a standard 52 card pack excluding jokers, all the cards are distributed equally between the two players and held as a face down stack. A chip is used to indicate whose turn it is. The first card from each player's stack is used to determine who gets the chip to start and the chip alternates from player to player after each round.
Each round is begun by each player laying down the top 3 cards of their stacks face up in front of them in a row. The player with the chip acts first and must use a card from his or hew row to capture a lower card from the opponent's row (suits are irrelevant). After that player has captured a card it is the other player's turn to capture, and then after the first two captures are made on the board the player with the highest card left wins their opponent's last card. This completes a round, and the chip is passed to the other player. If a player is unable to capture any of his opponent's cards on the board then his opponent will take all the cards left on the board.
All captured and capturing cards are stored face down in a pile in front of the capturing player.
In the event that a player and his opponent have the equal cards on the board at the start of a rouns, those corresponding cards will lock and will not be able to capture or be captured. After everything else on the board is captured, the two players both lay 2 cards from their stacks face down on top of the war card (the locked card), and then flip the a 3rd card from their stack face up which will be used as the tiebreaker card (higher card wins and takes all cards used in the war). If players lay down the same tiebreaking card another 2 cards are put face down and an additional tiebreaking card is placed face up, this is repeated until a player has sucessfully captured a lower tiebreaking card.
In the event of a match between two pairs of cards on the board there will be a double war, and each player must lay two cards face down and the next card face up on both war cards. If one player wins both tiebreakers than he gets all the cards involved in the tiebreaker. If one player wins each, they each take the cards in the war they won. If each player has the same set of 3 cards on the board there is a triple war under the same rules.
Examples: 10-8-8 against J-8-4. One of the first player's 8's is locked with the second player's 8. The 10 captures the 4, the jack captures an 8 and then there is a war for the final 8's.
K-9-5 against K-7-5. The 9 captures the 7 and then there is a double war between the kings and 5's
J-J-10 against K-9-8. There is no lock because both jacks belong to the same player. Jack beats 9, king beats jack and 10 beats 8.
If a player runs out of cards before he is able to lay down 3 cards at the start of a round, the player must shuffle his captured pile and lay down the additional cards needed to place 3 cards on the board. The same rules apply in a war.
If a war occurs and a player has no captured pile left and does not have enough cards for a normal war this example will show what happens; player 1 only has 2 cards left in her stack so she can only lay 1 card face down and flip the 2nd card face up. Player 2 has to do the same thing: lay 1 card face down and the 2nd face up. As usual the higher card face up wins the war. In a double war, both wars are played simultaneously. If one player does not have enough cards for both, they play all the cards they have and the other must playe the same number of card.
If a war occurs when a player has run out of cards she must use the original war card as her tiebreaking card and her opponent would have to lay down 1 additional card to determine the winner of the war. In the same way, if you have only one card left for a double war, you place it face up on one of your cards while your opponent places face up cards on both cards to creak the tie.
Aces can be the highest card or the lowest card - players must decide before beginning. Jokers are not used.
Contributed by Emily Goodlife
Play is similar to War and the goal is to get all the cards. (I like to divide the decks perfectly evenly so that players start off on equal footing. One easy way to do this is to give one player all the red cards and the other all the black). In this variation on War, the two players can look at their cards and choose which card to play at each turn.
Of course, if there is a war, both players will want to play their highest card. To keep things interesting, there is an additional rule: Ace beats King but loses to everything else.