How to Play Spite and Malice

Example Initial Layout for Spite and Malice

Spite and Malice is a two player card game popular in the Western Hemisphere. It has some similarities to double solitaire and other similar foundation building games. Although the playing rules are relatively simple, the game is considered by many players to require great skill to play well.

The game is played using two decks of cards. Both decks should have differing back designs to facilitate the ease of rejoining the packs after each game. The first deck consists of one standard 52 card deck. The second deck should consist of one standard 52 card deck with the addition of four Jokers. The ranking of the standard cards in both packs are as follows (from high to low); King, Queen, Jack, 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, Ace. The decks should each be independently shuffled and kept in two distinct pile before the game begins.

Any method can be used to determine the dealer for the first game, with cutting for high card a common method. Thereafter, for each subsequent game the deal alternates between the two players.

Once the dealer is determined, he should thoroughly shuffle both decks and offer them to his opponent for the cut. After the cut, the dealer begins dealing the cards from the first (52 card) deck alternately between the two players, such that each player ends with a pile of 26 cards (called the pay-off pile). The player may not pick up or look at this pile. Meanwhile, the dealer's opponent takes the other deck (56 card deck) and deals each player a five card face down hand, placing the remainder of the deck in a face-down pile in the center of the table, as the stock pile. After the dealing procedures have been completed, each player then turns exposes the top card of his pay pile, placing it face-up on top of his pile. The player who shows a higher ranked card on the top of his pay pile has the first turn, with the turn then alternating between the two players. If both players expose a card of the same rank, both piles are reshuffled together and the piles redealt, and each player again exposes the top card of his pile. If again the cards are of the same denomination the procedure is repeated until non tying cards are shown.

The object of the game is to be the first player to play the last card from his payoff pile to a center foundation pile thus winning the game. As in many solitaire games, the game consists of a central layout to which the players play their cards. This layout consists of foundation piles that are built from Ace to King. The suit of the cards is irrelevant so a card of any eight for instance could be played on any nine. A player may play cards from his five card hand, pay pile and side stacks (described below) to the center foundations. Any Aces and twos in the player's hand must be played to the center foundation piles on that player's turn. on a player's turn when the opportunity arises. The player may continue playing cards to the center foundations as able until he has no further plays. If he manages to play all five cards from his current hand to the foundation piles, he draws a new hand consisting of five more cards from the stock and may continue his turn with the addition of these new cards. Once he no longer has any valid player (or elects to end his turn) he may play one card from his hand to one of his side stacks (see below) which immediately ends his turn. If unable to make a legal play to his side stacks or choosing not to, he simply says Go, ending his turn as well. At the beginning of his next turn, the player draws cards from the stock to replenish his hand to five cards. If a player end his turn by playing the last card from his five card hand to a side-stack, he draws a new five card hand at the beginning of his next turn. The turn then moves to his opponent who has the same play options.

There may only be a maximum of four foundation piles in the center at any time. However, once a King is played to any of these piles (completing the pile) the pile is set-aside out of play, freeing the space for an Ace to start a new such pile. A Joker may be used to replace any other card in the deck save an Ace.

Spite and Malice game in progress

Side Stacks: In addition to his pay pile and hand, a player also has four personal side-stacks. These are four special piles of cards owned by that player. At the end of each turn, if able, a player plays a card to one of his side stacks. To begin the game, the side stacks are empty, but as the game progress, the side stacks are built. Side stacks are only added to by a player at the end of his turn. However, during his turn, a player may always play the top card of any side stack to the central layout when able. A card can only be played, at the end of a player's turn, to the top of a side stack if it fulfills several criteria.

Aces may only be played to a side stack from a player's hand if there are already four incomplete center foundation stacks.
Two's may only be played to a player's side stack if the two cannot be legally played to any center foundation pile.
Once a player has started one of his side stacks, further players on that same side stack must be a card of the same or a lower rank (irrespective of suit).
A player may play a Joker on a side stack as an equivalent to the current top card of the stack.
A player should place each card on the stack such that it covers the pile but allows a portion of the last card to be visible to both players.
A player may only play to his own side stack and only to the top of the side stack. All cards played to a side stack must be played from the player's hand. Only the top card of each side stack of a player is available to be played at any one time.

As mentioned previously, a player may have a maximum of four side stacks. If he clears one of his side stacks (with plays to the foundation piles during his turn), he may start a new side stack with any card from his hand.

Since only the top card of each players pay pile is visible at a time, at any time either player, on his turn may request a count of the number of cards are in both players' pay piles. When this is requested each player must count the number of cards in the pile (without looking at them) and provide an accurate total to his opponent.

The first player to play the last card from his center stack to the foundation piles is declared the winner of the game. If the center stock runs out before either player has won the game, all the completed foundation piles which have been set aside are then reshuffled to create a new stock. If there has not yet been any completed foundations, the players can shuffle all but the top cards of the existing foundation piles to create a new stock pile. If there are not enough cards to create a viable stock, the game ends with the player having the fewest cards in his pay pile declared the winner. If the players each have the same number of cards in his pay pile, in this event, the game ends in a tie.

Variations and Optional Rules

Three Deck Spite and Malice: Another popular version of the same game is played with a number of key differences. These differences are as follows:

Three standard 52 card decks are used for this version, all shuffled together.
Since this game is played using one large deck all shuffled together, the decks need not be of the same back design. The dealer first deals each player his 26 card stock pile and then deals each player his five card hand.
No Jokers are added to any of the Decks. Instead, all Kings are considered wild cards.
Because the Kings are considered wild cards, they are not considered to have any rank of their own but may be used to represent any other card in the deck except an Ace. Thus, the normal ranking of cards in the decks used for this game is (from high to low); Queen, Jack, 10,, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2.
To end his turn, a player may play any card to any of his four side-stacks. The card does not have to be equal to or lower than the current top card of the stack. As such, the player must always play a card to a side stack to end his turn.
The dealer has the first turn.

In all other aspects the game is played identically to the version of Spite and Malice described above.

Sometimes, this alternate version is played with only two decks. The rules are the same, however only 20 cards are dealt to each players pay pile and a maximum of three center piles are allowed at any time during the game.

Spite and Malice for 3 or 4 Players: Although widely known as a two-player game, Spite and Malice can be also be played by 3 or 4 players. The rules are the same with the following differences:

Three decks are used for this version with six total Jokers added.
The number of cards dealt to each players pay-off pile differs, depending on the number of players. For three players each pay-off pile receives 17 cards and for four players each player is dealt thirteen cards.
The deal and direction of play rotates in a clockwise direction. The player with the highest card showing on his pay-off pile after the deal plays first.

In all other aspects the rules for three and four players are identical to the standard version.

Unlimited Center Layout Piles: In some variants of Spite and Malice, there is no limit to the number of center stacks that are allowed. Completed stacks should still be set-aside however to unclutter the play area.

Cat and Mouse: Cat and Mouse is a card game very similar to Spite and Malice, and many times the games are synonyms for each other. However, in most cases, there are a number of differences between the two games. When played under the name Cat and Mouse this game is played identically to Spite and Malice with the following notable differences:

Cat and Mouse uses two standard 52 card decks with no Jokers added.
Both decks are shuffled together to create one large deck consisting of 104 total cards.
Kings are considered wild cards and can be used to replace any other card in the deck except an Ace.
Since Kings are considered wild cards, the normal ranking of cards is as follows (from low to high); Ace, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, Jack, Queen.
One player, the dealer, is designated the Cat and his opponent the Mouse. These are simply titles for the players and do not alter the gameplay in any way.
Each player's pay-off pile consists of 20 total cards.
There may only be a total of three center play piles in play at any one time.

In all other respects this game is played identically to the standard variant of Spite and Malice.