War is the archetypal simple card game: shuffle a standard deck, deal it evenly, and flip cards to see whose is higher. It needs no scorekeeping and almost no rules, which makes it a staple first card game for young children. It is entirely luck-driven once the deck is shuffled.

How to Play War

Overview

War is a comparing card game for 2 players (with common 3-4 player variants). It uses a standard 52-card deck and requires no skill or strategy — outcomes are decided entirely by the shuffle and the order cards happen to come up.

Setup

1. Use a standard 52-card deck (remove jokers, or optionally include them as the highest card by mutual agreement).

2. Shuffle thoroughly and deal the entire deck out evenly and face-down to the players:

   • 2 players: 26 cards each.
   • 3 players: 17 cards each (one card set aside, or dealt as agreed).
   • 4 players: 13 cards each.

3. Each player keeps their cards in a single face-down stack (their 'packet') without looking at them.

Card Ranking

Cards rank from high to low: A K Q J 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2. Suits are ignored.

Playing a Round (a 'battle')

1. Every player simultaneously flips the top card of their packet face-up onto the table.

2. The player with the highest-ranked card wins the battle and takes all the played cards, placing them face-down at the bottom of their packet.

3. Play the next round the same way.

Resolving a Tie (a 'war')

When the two highest face-up cards are equal, a war is declared between the tied players:

1. Each tied player places cards face-down on top of their tied card (commonly one card in many traditions, or three cards in others — agree before the game; this is the war_face_down match parameter).

2. Each tied player then flips one more card face-up.

3. The higher face-up card wins all the cards staked in the war.

4. If the new face-up cards tie again, repeat the war until someone wins.

Running low during a war: if a player does not have enough cards to complete a war, the usual house rule is that they play their last card face-up to contest the war; a player who cannot play any card loses.

3-4 Player Wars

In multiplayer games, all players flip simultaneously and the single highest card wins everything. If two or more players tie for the highest card, only the tied players go to war (each places a card face-down then one face-up); other players sit out that war.

Winning

The game ends when one player has collected all the cards in the deck (everyone else has run out). That player is the winner. There is no draw — play continues until one player holds every card.

A Note on Length

Because cards cycle back and forth, a strictly-played game of War can run very long. Groups often agree in advance to a time limit or a fixed number of rounds, after which the player holding the most cards is declared the winner (the end_mode match parameter).

No points. The result is win/loss: the winner is the player who captures all the cards (or, with a cap, the player holding the most cards when play stops). Draws are not possible in play-to-completion War.

Record only the Winner (a win/loss outcome). Optionally record the match parameters war_face_down (1 or 3), end_mode (complete or capped), and include_jokers; these are configuration only and are not scored per player.