| Type | Shedding-type |
|---|---|
| Players | 2 |
| Skill(s) required | Speed, Memorization, Counting |
| Age range | 10 and older |
| Deck | Anglo-American |
| Playing time | 1-2 min. |
| Random chance | Easy |
| Related games | |
| Spit, Spoons | |
Speed is a game for two or more players of the shedding family of card games, in which each player tries to get rid of all of his/her cards. Speed is a game associated with the game Nertz.
Contents |
Each player is dealt five cards to form a hand, and each player is dealt 15 cards face down to form a draw pile. If you are playing with jokers, you use them as wild cards and give each draw pile 16 cards. Two stacks of five cards, placed face down on each side between the players, serves as a replacement pile. Finally, two cards are placed face down in the center between the replacement piles.
The round begins when the players each flip one of the face-down cards simultaneously from their own pile. By using cards from their hand, the players must place cards one above or one below or of the same number the top card of either pile (suit of the cards does not matter). For example, a pile with a six on top may have a five or a seven placed on it. King and Ace are considered adjacent so that there is a continuous loop of options. A common variant, good for younger children, is to allow cards to be played on top of cards of the same rank. Whenever the number of cards in the players' hands drops below five, they are allowed to draw back up to five cards until their draw pile is depleted. When a player runs out of options for play they can flip a card from the side piles onto the top of the central piles. If these piles become depleted, the central stacks are shuffled individually and are placed face-down as new side piles from which cards can be flipped. A player wins by running out of cards in his draw pile and in his hand before the other player. Also, you may not put more than one card at a time using one hand only.
Because Speed is usually learned from friends who learned from other friends, the rules will vary for just about every family or group of friends. However, the following variations are much more common and widely known.
Each player gets only five cards in his/ her hand. Having one fewer card makes it easier for a player to hold their cards, but it also makes the game more difficult because the player has a smaller selection of cards to play with.
Single You may not put down the same card someone else has. For example if someone puts down a 4 you can only put down a 3 or 5.
Speed can be played with jokers as wild/free cards. For example, if there is a 2 in the center, a joker can be used as a 3, an ace, or, in Doubles rules, a 2. When a joker is played, then anything can be played on that joker. In any other case, a joker can also be whatever a player wants it to be. It is often prudent to save a joker in one's hand for when one is otherwise out of options or for when it would act as a missing link for a long string of moves. This is cheating if you both flip the outside cards onto the center. Both of you are only supposed to flip once you can not play anythings else. Because the joker is a wild card, it can be played. Also a joker can not be the last card you put down, because jokers can't "top" the deck
The player that runs out of cards has to hit both middle stacks and say "Speed!" to officially win. If a player fails to do whatever has been agreed on beforehand, he must take one of the central stacks as his draw pile and resume playing.
Speed is almost always played in a best two-out-of-three set. Only occasionally is it played with only one game.
Speed can be played with more than just two people. With three players, it is often unnecessary to have extra cards; cards are dealt by giving each player his or her five 'side pile' cards, placing three cards face down in the centre, and dealing the extra cards evenly as draw piles. Using both jokers with a complete deck will make the number of cards evenly divisible by three. With four players, it is often more interesting to use two decks of cards shuffled together. This is the case for quicker or more experienced players; with new, slow or young players, it is often appropriate to use only one deck, as this slows the game considerably. It is, of course, possible to have more than four players in a single game, but the playing field quickly becomes confusing and muddled simply because of the distance and amount of action.
Also known as Super-spit in Wisconsin, Spit 2 in Texas, Rush in Missouri, and Spit 3 in Kentucky, California Spit is a fast paced shedding card game that has the added bonus of shuffling the deck.
The two players sit at opposite sides of a vertical playing surface. The dealer deals half of the cards to each player. The cards are held face down. Every round, each player plays four cards face up vertically in between both players and slightly closer to themselves. Once both players have done this, they look for two or more cards having the same number. When a player finds one, he places another card on top of the cards with that number until all of the cards with the common number are covered. If a player runs out of cards then that player wins. When there are no more groups of cards remaining, each player scoops up the four piles directly in front of him or her and places them face down on the bottom of his or her deck. That round ends and the next begins.
In some versions of the game, there is a move called "spitting" in which the player is allowed to spit on the other player to distract him/her. It is common that they call "doubles" to inform the other player what they did.
Though it resembles Speed in its basic concept, Spit is a considerably longer and more challenging game.
Strategy in Speed is limited by the fact that you must attempt to play everything you have in your hand, but there are many tricks that can help slow an opponent or speed the process of getting rid of cards. For example, it is usually prudent to have cards of adjacent rank together, but it is better to have cards in the order in which they can be played. This is often a consideration to be taken at the beginning of the game, since it is often too time-consuming during play. For example, if dealt cards of ranks 4, 5, 5, 6 and 6, it is best to order them 4, 5, 6, 5, 6 rather than in standard ascending numerical order. This way, when a 3 or 5 is played, the entire set can be laid down in rapid succession; a 5 or 7 would allow for the set to be laid down backwards. If by any means it is revealed which cards are in an opponent's hand, it is often possible to 'block' the opponent from playing by not leading up to a point at which his card could be played. For example, if you know that the opponent has a King, and the card showing is a Jack, it is better to play a ten than a Queen, since the Queen would allow the opponent to play. If both options are available, it is best to 'explore' the former, by playing a card, then drawing back up to five to see if more moves can be made. On the other hand, it is sometimes advisable to feed an opponent opportunities if they will result in greater opportunity for yourself. This is often the case when a hand contains multiple cards of the same number. It is also common to attempt to distract an opponent by making conversation or announcing one's moves aloud as they are made.
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