How to play the card game kings

Two to fours players; 52 card deck; pen and paper for scorekeeping

Inhaltsverzeichnis Show

Deal

Each player is dealt seven cards, one card at a time. The remaining deck is placed in the middle. A card is flipped face up on the north, east, south, and west side of the deck.

If a king is flipped up during the setup, it is moved to a corner of the deck, and another card is flipped up in its place.

Objective

The object of the game is to be the first player to play all his/her cards into the middle each round.

Game Play

The player left of the dealer is first to play. Every turn begins with the player drawing a card from the center deck. Cards can be played onto the faced up cards in the middle.

Cards are played in decreasing sequence with the opposite color suit. For example, a red ace can be played on a black 2. Players play as many cards as they want to each turn. Players announce they are done to end their turn.

The kings start a new pile off the corners of the middle deck. An entire pile can be moved when the bottom card of one pile is eligible to be played on the top card of another pile. The open space left by the move can be filled with any card. When a player gets rid of all the cards in his/her hand, the round is over.

Scoring

At the end of the round, players score ten points for each king left in their hand and one point for each other card still in their hand. The game is played to an agreed upon amount such as 25. Once a player hits 25 or more points, the player with the lowest score wins.

Rule

If the middle deck runs out, play continues with players not drawing to start their turn.

1
Deal out seven cards to each player. If your deck of cards came with jokers, extra cards, or instruction cards, remove them from the deck so there are only the 52 standard cards. Shuffle the deck to mix up the cards before dealing.[1]
- When dealing, deal one card to each player in succession until every player has the right number of cards.
- Always deal in a clockwise direction, starting with the player to the left of the dealer.[2]
2
Turn up four cards. Turn over the top four cards in the deck and lay them out in a cross-pattern on the table with one card each facing north, south, east, and west.[3] If any kings come up, move them to one of the corners (the open spaces left between the four cards of the cross). Fill the space left by the king with a new card from the deck, face-up like the others.
- The piles created by these four (non-king) cards are called the foundation piles.
- Place the remainder of the deck in the middle of the four foundation piles.
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3
Have the players pick up their cards. In Kings Corners, players hold their cards in their hands, concealed from the other players.[4]

1
Decide who will go first. There are many methods you can use to determine who will go first in a game of cards, including:
- The oldest or youngest person
- The person whose birthday is soonest
- The person to the left of the dealer
- Drawing straws
- Rock, paper, scissors
2
Tell player one to pick up a card. Each turn begins with the player drawing a single card from the top of the deck.[5]
- Player one can then begin to discard cards. The object of the game is for each player to try to get rid of all their cards before the other players do.
3
Let player one discard any allowable cards. There are two ways a player can discard. For one, if a player has a king, they can place the king in an empty corner to start a king foundation pile. Otherwise, a player can discard cards onto any of the foundation piles on the table:
- To discard onto any pile, the discarded card must be the opposite color of the top card, and it must be one number smaller.[6]
- The sequence of cards in the game is king, queen, jack, 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, ace.[7] So, for instance, on a black king, you could only place a red queen. On a red five, you can only place a black four. On a red two, you can place a black ace.
- When a player discards on top of a foundation pile, make sure the cards overlap so all the cards underneath can still be seen.[8]
- If the last (or only) card in a foundation pile is an ace, nothing can be played on this card: the pile can only be merged with another pile.[9]
4
Let player one merge piles. Any player (when it’s that player’s turn) can merge piles on the table if the cards complete the sequence. Once a foundation pile has been moved, the player who moved it can fill the empty space with any card or card sequence from their hand.
- To merge piles, they must match the red-black alternation, and the pile on top must complete the numeric sequence. For instance, if you have a foundation pile containing a six, five, and four, you can place those cards (in that sequence) on top of another foundation pile with a seven as the top card, as long as the seven and six from the separate piles are opposite colors.
- When a pile is completed and contains all the cards from king to ace, that pile can be shuffled back into the deck in the center.[10]
5
Let player two go. When player one has discarded all the cards possible, merged any possible piles, and filled the space with any empty cards, it is time for player two to have a turn, followed by any subsequent players, before play returns to the original player.
- Always remember to pick up one card at the beginning of each turn.
- Player two is to the left of player one, so that the game is played in a clockwise direction.
- When it’s any player’s turn, if they cannot discard after drawing from the deck, play passes on to the next player.
- When the center deck runs out, continue playing without drawing cards.[11]
6
Play until one player goes out. Since the object of the game is to discard all your cards, the game is over as soon as a player is able to discard every card from their hand, including the last card picked up at the beginning of the final turn.

1
Don’t draw a card at the beginning of each hand. In some versions of the game, players only draw a card if they cannot go, and do not pick up a new card at the beginning of each turn.[12]
2
Keep score with penalty points. Kings Corners can be played with multiple rounds, so that when one player goes out, penalty points are allotted based on the cards left in the other players’ hands, and then another round is played.[13]
- Allot 10 points for every king left in a player’s hand and one point for every other card.
- The game ends once a player reaches or exceeds a certain score, such as 25 or 50 points.
- When a player does reach or exceed the given score, the player with the fewest points wins.
3
Play with poker chips. As another form of keeping score, you can also use poker chips that get paid into a communal pot, and the player who wins each hand wins the pot. In this case, each player would start with the same number of chips, such as 50 each, for instance.[14]
- To begin every round, each player puts one chip into the pot.
- If any player has a turn but cannot discard any cards, that player pays another chip into the pot.
- You can also play so that players have to pay a chip for each card left in their hand at the end of each round, similar to the point system (10 chips for a king and one chip for every other card).

Add New Question

Question

If a king is drawn during the set, does it go in the corner automatically?

Yes, you can do that.
Question

Can we play with three players?

Yes, the game of Kings in the Corner can be played with between 2 and 4 players. All directions I have seen say that is what works best. It would not be possible to play with more than that due to the fact you are playing with a 52 card deck, and would run out too soon.
Question

What sorts of playing cards do I need in order to play Kings Corners?

You need a ordinary deck of 52 playing cards, but do not use the Jokers. These decks can be found at many supermarkets. You can also find them at some stationary stores too.
Question

What do we do when the center draw cards are all out?

I believe this should be impossible unless a player is not playing cards that can be played. You could reshuffle any completed stacks (king through ace) or give everyone one more round to be sure they can't play. Other than that, call it a draw or perhaps the person with the fewest remaining cards wins.
Question

What should I do with the pile after the ace is played?

Put it under the main pile.
Question

When I can replace a card from my hand in the north, south, east, or west spot on the table, can it be an ace?

Yes. It has to be played on an opposite color when available.
Question

Is there any version of the game in which, if an empty space occurs, I can place cards beneath a pile for what fits?

That’s how I play the game. You have to fill an empty space anyway, so it’s better to slide a card underneath.
Question

Would a player be able to play multiple cards in a turn?

Yes. The goal is to get rid of the cards, so play as many as you can during your turn.
Question

Do I need to put down all of my playable cards, or can I hold some in my hand?

You may always choose not to use cards. If you think you can come up with a strategy by saving certain cards, you may do so.
Question

What happens after a player draws the last card?

Keep playing. It is always possible to move all cards to the corner, so the player who runs out of cards first before that happens would win at that point.

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Co-authors: 9

Updated: February 7, 2022

Categories: Shedding Card Games

Article SummaryX

Kings Corners is a fun 2-4 player variation of Solitaire. To play, first deal 7 cards face down to each player one at a time. Place the remaining pile of cards in the middle of the table, and flip 4 cards face up around the pile in a cross shape. The player to the left of the dealer goes first. On a player’s turn, they start by drawing a card from the face-down pile in the center. Then, they have the opportunity to play cards from their hand on the face up cards on the table. To play a card on a face up card, it must be one rank lower and the opposite color. For example, a player could play a 3 of hearts on a 4 of spades. Kings must be played in one of the available corner spaces around the 4 initial face-up card piles. Once an ace is played on a pile, no more cards can be played on that pile. Players can also merge piles as long as the piles are in the right sequence. For example, a player could move a pile with a 6, 5, and 4 in it onto another pile with a 9, 8, and 7 in it as long as the 7 and 6 are opposite colors. Then they can play any card in the freed up space they created. Once the first player has discarded all of their playable cards, the player to their left goes next. Play continues clockwise around the table until one player runs out of cards first and wins the game! If you want to learn how to keep score or play with common variations, keep reading the article!