SpiteNet

The card game Spite & Malice. Be the first to get rid of your side pile.

Your nickname

Cards in each side pile

10 15 20

Computer level

Average Clever Ruthless

How to play

Be the first to play all cards of your side pile (only its top card can be played).
Build the three center piles from Ace up to Queen, one card higher each time. Suits don't matter. A Joker is wild. A finished pile (Queen) is cleared.
On your turn you may play cards from your hand, the top of your side pile or the top of any hold pile to a center. Play all five hand cards and you draw five more.
Your turn ends when you drop one hand card on one of your four hold piles.
Drag a card to a center, or tap it and tap the center. Double-tap plays a card automatically (drag a Joker to choose its center). Tap a hold pile's number to see the cards in it.

Waiting for your opponent

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Settings

Your player ID

This ID links your games to your rating in the ranking. To play under the same rating on another device, copy the ID here and paste it into the Settings of that device. Keep it private: anyone who has it can play as you.

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Ranking

Everybody starts on 1000 points. You gain points by winning, more so against stronger opponents (the computer counts too: Average 900, Clever 1100, Ruthless 1300) and lose points by losing. You appear in the list after your first game; a ? behind a rating means it is still provisional (fewer than 5 games). Leaving a game while you are 5 or more side cards behind counts as a loss; leaving while you are ahead or close never counts.

#	Player	Rating	Week

Opponent has left the building

Rules of Spite & Malice

Goal

Be the first to get rid of all the cards in your side pile (10, 15 or 20 cards, you choose when you start a game; only the top card is face up and playable).

The table

Center piles (3, in the middle) are built up from Ace to Queen, one card at a time: the card you play must be exactly one higher than the top of the pile. Suits and colours do not matter.
A Joker is wild (there are 4 in each deck, instead of the Kings): it counts as whatever the pile needs. A small label (★=5) on the pile shows what the Joker stands for. A pile that reaches the Queen is cleared and its cards go back into the draw pile.
Each player has a side pile, a hand of 5 cards and 4 hold piles. Hold piles and side tops are open for everyone to see; hands are secret.

Your turn

You start with 5 cards in hand. Play as many cards as you like to a center pile from your hand, from the top of your side pile or from the top of any of your hold piles.
If you play all 5 hand cards you draw 5 new ones and go on.
Your turn ends when you drop one hand card on one of your hold piles. A card can only leave a hold pile by being played to a center (only the top card).
The player with the highest side card starts (coin flip on a tie).

Tips

Always play your side card as soon as you can.
Build hold piles with the high cards at the bottom and the low ones on top, and put equal cards together.
Keep your Jokers for when you need them. Do not leave a center that your opponent's side card fits on.
If nobody can move any more, the game ends: the player with the fewest side cards left wins.

Controls

Drag a card to a center or hold pile, or tap a card and then tap where it should go. Double-tap plays a card automatically (drag a Joker to choose its center).
Tap the number on a hold pile (or right-click it) to see all the cards in it.