Egyptian Ratscrew is War with slapping added, and it is far better for it. Cards go into a central pile, face cards trigger a challenge that can win the whole thing, and certain patterns let anybody grab the pile by slapping it first. A game takes about 20 minutes and is best played fast and loud.
What You Need
- Players: 2-6. Four is ideal.
- Deck: One standard 52-card deck. Suits do not matter.
- Extras: A table everyone can reach, and short fingernails.
Key Terms
- The pile: The face-up stack in the middle that everyone is competing for.
- Face card: A jack, queen, king, or ace. These start challenges.
- Challenge: After a face card, the next player must produce another face card within a set number of tries.
- Double: Two cards of the same rank played in a row - slappable.
- Sandwich: Two cards of the same rank with exactly one card between them - slappable.
- Burn: The penalty for a wrong slap: one card from your stack goes to the bottom of the pile.
Setup
- Deal the entire deck out face down, as evenly as possible.
- Keep your cards in a face-down stack. Nobody looks at their cards at any point.
- The player to the dealer's left goes first.
How to Play
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Going clockwise, each player flips their top card face up onto the central pile, turning it away from themselves so they do not see it first.
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If the card is not a face card, play simply passes to the next player.
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If it is a face card, the next player must flip a face card of their own within a limited number of cards:
Card played Chances the next player gets Jack 1 Queen 2 King 3 Ace 4 -
If they turn up a face card in time, the challenge passes to the next player with the new card's number of chances.
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If they use up all their chances without one, the player who laid the original face card takes the whole pile and starts the next one.
Slapping
At any moment - even mid-challenge, even when it is not your turn - you may slap the pile. The first hand down takes every card in it, adds them to the bottom of their stack, and starts the next pile.
Slap when the top of the pile shows:
- A double - two of the same rank in a row.
- A sandwich - two of the same rank with one card between them.
- A top-bottom - a card matching the very first card of the pile.
- Common additions: marriage (a king on a queen or a queen on a king), add to ten for two number cards, or a four-card run in sequence.
Slap wrongly and you burn one card face down into the bottom of the pile. Your hand must be fully back from the table between slaps - hovering over the pile is not allowed.
Scoring & Winning
- There is no score. You are playing for cards.
- Run out and you are not immediately eliminated: you stay in and may slap your way back into the game. Miss the next slappable pile and you are out.
- The last player holding cards wins.
Example
A queen is played, so you get 2 chances. Your first card is a 4 and your second is a king - you survive, and now the next player has 3 chances to answer your king.
Variations
- Fewer slap rules: with young or new players, start with doubles only and add sandwiches later.
- No burn: skip the penalty card entirely for a gentler game.
- Two decks: for large groups, and it makes doubles far more frequent.
Tips for New Players
- Agree on the exact slap list before you start. Every group plays a different set and arguments are guaranteed otherwise.
- Watch the pile, not your own cards. Your flip is automatic; the slaps are where the game is won.
- Slap flat and slap fast. Being right matters less than being first, and one burned card is a cheap price.