Spite and Malice
Spite and Malice, also known as Cat and Mouse is a multiplayer game similar to Nuts in that a player is trying to rid cards from a pile (in this case, the pay off pile), can play cards to work piles and foundation piles; however, it is turn based and not a competition of speed.
It can be modified to be played with one person and the size of the pay off pile can be increased or decreased for a longer or shorter game.
Players 2+ (1 player version outlined in variations)
Decks: 1 per person, no jokers, shuffled together
Objective: To empty one’s pay off pile
Play: Each player is dealt a 20 card pay off pile (which will be placed to the left/right of the player’s personal play area), facing down, except for the top card which faces up. Each player is also dealt 5 cards which become their hand. The rest of the cards are placed, face down, and form the stock pile.
The player with the highest top card on the pay off pile begins. The player will scan his pay off pile and cards for an Ace which can be moved to the center of the table to create a foundation pile. Players will scan for cards which can be played to the foundation piles on every turn.
Foundation piles start with an Ace and work up to a Queen. Kings are wild and can be used to play any card, except for an Ace. Colour and suit are irrelevant in foundation piles. There can only be 3 piles at a time; if there are 3, another Ace cannot be laid until one pile is completed, cleared from the center and shuffled into the stock pile.
The top card of the pay off pile can only be played to a foundation pile. If it is played, the next card is flipped up and becomes playable.
If a player does not have an Ace or any card which can be laid on a foundation pile, the player must end his turn by discarding one card to a work pile. The other player (or player to the left of the first players) takes his turn.
The work piles are empty to begin with but accumulate cards as the game goes on. There can only be up to 4 work piles. A work pile can begin with any card but in order to lay a card on a work pile, the new card must be equal to or 1 less than the current card on top of the work pile. In some cases, a player may not have any cards he can play to a work pile and play will go to the next person.
A king can be discarded to a work pile without its value being determined.
At the beginning of each turn, players will draw cards from the stock pile until they have 5 cards in their hand. If, during the turn, a player uses all of his cards, he will draw 5 more and continue his turn, ending by discarding 1 card to a work pile.
Play continues until one player has played all the cards from his pay off pile to the foundation piles and he becomes the winner.
Variations:
- Pay Off Piles
- Can be any determined amount; fewer cards means a shorter game.
- Jokers
- Jokers are included as wild cards; Kings may also be wild or not
- Decks
- Game is played with Number of Players +1 decks (4decks for 3 players, 5 decks for 4 players, etc)
- Must play Aces
- A player must play an Ace in his hand or pay off pile immediately; there is no limit to foundation piles
- Draws
- The player with the least amount of cards in the pay off pile wins
- No Empty Work Piles
- Each work pile is dealt 1 card, face up, in the beginning of the game. At the end of each turn, a player must place 1 card, face up, to any empty work piles before discarding 1 card.
- Scoring
- Scoring is optional. The winner earns 5 points for playing the last card of his pay off pile and 1 point for each card remaining in the opponents’ pile(s).
1 Person Game:
All off the regular rules apply when playing this game solitaire. The player will play his first turn in the same fashion and end the “turn” by discarding 1 card. He will then draw as many cards as needed to hold 5 cards in his hand, take his turn then discard 1 card to the work piles. This process repeats until the player uses all pay off cards (wins) or does not (loses).
