Spit card game

Setup

1. Split one deck in half: 26 cards each.
2. Each player lays out five stock piles in a row: one card, then two, three, four and five cards, with only the top card of each pile face up.
3. The remaining 11 cards are your spit pile, face down.

Playing

1. Both players say "Spit!" and flip the top card of their spit pile into the middle, side by side.
2. At the same time, play the face-up cards from your stock piles onto either center pile, one rank higher or lower: a 9 on an 8 or a 10. Suits don't matter, and ace and king connect.
3. When you play a stock card, turn up the next card in that pile. Move a card into an empty stock space if you like (up to five piles).
4. When neither player can move, both say "Spit!" again and flip a new card from their spit piles.

End of a round

The first player to clear all their stock piles slaps the smaller center pile and takes it; the other player takes the bigger one. Both shuffle what they have and deal new layouts. A player who runs out of spit cards keeps playing without spitting; the other player spits onto one pile for both.

Winning

The aim is to get rid of every card. Keep playing rounds: when you clear your stock piles with no spit pile left, you're out of cards and win the game.

Prefer a hand of cards to piles? Try Speed, Spit's close cousin.