Games: Ultimate Game of All Skill
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This two player card game is a combination of War and Stratego. The Rules follow. After you read the rules be sure to read the example. It will clear up any points of confusion.

Rules

Preparation:

• Take a deck of 52 cards and divide them into 4 suits.
• Put all the diamonds in a pile face down between the two players.
• Player 1: Take the 13 clubs. Hold all the cards in your hand facing you so that you can see all of them. Do not put them in number order.
• Player 2: Take the 13 spades. Hold all the cards in your hand facing you so that you can see all of them. Do not put them in number order.
• Put the 13 hearts to the side. They are not used.

Play:
All that matters are the cards' number "value." A King has the highest card value and the ace the lowest.
The object of the game is for each player to win as many "diamond points" as possible. First one of the players flips over one of the cards from the diamond pile. The card exposed will be one of the 13 diamonds in the deck. The king of diamonds is worth 13 points, whereas a 2 of diamonds is worth only 2 points. The diamond card values are listed below:

King - 13 Points
Queen - 12 Points
Jack- 11 Points
Ten- 10 Points
Nine- 9 Points
Eight- 8 Points
Seven- 7 Points
Six- 6 Points
Five- 5 Points
Four- 4 Points
Three - 3 Points
Two - 2 Points
Ace- 1 Points

After the 1st diamond card is flipped over, both players take one of the 13 cards in their hands and play one of their cards by placing it face down on the table. After each player has put down a card, the cards are flipped over. The player that played the higher card wins. The winning player takes the three exposed cards (the diamond flipped over, the club player #1 played, and the spade player #2 played) and puts them into his or her winnings pile.

Then a 2nd diamond is flipped over. Both players take one of the 12 cards left in their hands and play another card face down. Both of their cards are then turned over. The player with the higher card wins the three cards and puts them in his winning pile.

Then a 3rd diamond is flipped over... The game continues until all thirteen diamonds have been flipped over and won by one of the two players. Note: If there is a tie. You play it just like you would in regular war. Another diamond is flipped over, and then the players play another card from their hands. The winner of this second hand wins all of the cards (which includes 2 diamonds, 6 cards in total.)

Scoring:
After all thirteen diamonds have been played, the players then add up the number of "diamond points" they have in their winnings pile. The player with the most diamond points wins. Remember, not all diamonds are worth the same number of points. A Queen of diamonds is worth twice as many points as a 6 of diamonds. Note: All non-diamond cards are worth 0 points.

King - 13 Points
Queen - 12 Points
Jack- 11 Points
Ten- 10 Points
Nine- 9 Points
Eight- 8 Points
Seven- 7 Points
Six- 6 Points
Five- 5 Points
Four- 4 Points
Three - 3 Points
Two - 2 Points
Ace- 1 Points

Example Play

Player #1 has the following Starting Club Cards: A,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,J,Q,K
Player #2 has the following Starting Spades Cards: A,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,J,Q,K

The first diamond is flipped over... It is a Queen of diamonds.
The Queen of diamonds is worth 12 points, so it is pretty valuable card. Now each player must decide which card to use to attempt to win the card.

Player #1 decides he really wants to win the card and so he plays his King face down.
Player #2 decides that although it's a high card she'd rather save her high cards until later and decides to play her lowest card, the ace, face down.

After each player has put a card face down, both cards are flipped over. In this case, player #1 would win the three cards including the Queen worth 12 points. Note: player #1 would probably be pretty upset that he "wasted" such a high card to win the Queen when he could have won with a much lower card... Player #1 still would have won, even with just a 2.

Now the players have the following cards left:
Player #1: 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,J,Q,-
Player #2: -,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,J,Q,K

Point Totals:
Player #1: has won 12 points so far
Player #2: has won 0 points so far

The second diamond is flipped over... It is a three of diamonds.
Player #1 realizes that this is not a very valuable card and puts down a 3 face down.
Player #2 also realizes that this is not a very valuable card and puts down a 2 face down.
Since a 3 is higher than a 2, player #1 wins the three of diamonds.

Now the players have the following cards left:
Player #1: 1,2,-,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,J,Q,-
Player #2: -,-,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,J,Q,K

Point Totals:
Player #1: has won 12 + 3 points so far
Player #2: has won 0 points so far

The third diamond is flipped over... It is an ace of diamonds.
Player #1 realizes that this is the least valuable card: Plays an ace
Player #2 also realizes this is a low card and plays a 3.
3 is higher than an ace, so player #2 wins the ace of diamonds.

Now the players have the following cards left:
Player #1: -,2,-,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,J,Q,-
Player #2: -,-,-,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,J,Q,K

Point Totals:
Player #1: has won 12 + 3 points so far
Player #2: has won 1 points so far

The fourth diamond is flipped over... It is a ten of diamonds.
Player #1 plays his 10
Player #2 plays her 10
There is a tie, so another diamond (the fifth) is flipped to break the tie (as one would do in war.)

Now the players have the following cards left:
Player #1: -,2,-,4,5,6,7,8,9,-,J,Q,-
Player #2: -,-,-,4,5,6,7,8,9,-,J,Q,K

Point Totals:
Player #1: has won 12 + 3 points so far --> The Same
Player #2: has won 1 points so far --> The Same

The fifth diamond is flipped over... It is a King of diamonds.
Player #1 plays his 2
Player #2 plays her Q

Q is higher than a 2 so player #2 wins both the King of diamonds from this hand and also the 10 of diamonds from the previous hand.

Now the players have the following cards left:
Player #1: -,-,-,4,5,6,7,8,9,-,J,Q,-
Player #2: -,-,-,4,5,6,7,8,9,-,J,-,K

Point Totals:
Player #1: has won 12 + 3 points so far
Player #2: has won 1 + 10 + 13 points so far

Play continues until all the diamonds have been flipped over and won. In the end, the player with the most points wins.