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QUICK, PLAY! Instructions

SPITE & MALICE Game Play Overview

SET UP example for 2 players:

2 decks of cards
20 cards each dealt to the players’ SIDE piles*
5 cards each dealt to the players’ HAND

OBJECT OF THE GAME:

Be the first player to use all the cards in their SIDE pile.

How is this done?

By playing them to the CENTER piles. Up to 3 CENTER piles can be used.

THE PLAY:

You begin each turn with 5 cards in your HAND.  You will always be dealt new cards from the STOCK to replace cards you played from your HAND during your last turn.

How do I play to the CENTER piles?

Build them upwards, from 1 to 12 (ace to queen).
Then they are cleared and eventually become part of the dealing STOCK again.

Wild Card: 13 (King). Use it in place of any card you need.

I have no cards to play to the CENTER!

Then your turn is over.  You must drop one card from your HAND to a HOLD pile at the end of your turn.

What are the HOLD piles for?

The top card of each HOLD pile is always available for you to play to the CENTER.
You can make up to 4 HOLD piles.

These HOLD cards can help you later to build up a CENTER pile so that you can play your SIDE card.

Placing a card on a HOLD pile, automatically ends your turn.

You can’t move the cards around from one HOLD pile to another – once you’ve placed a card on a HOLD pile, it stays there till you can play it to the CENTER.

So what am I trying to do?

Build up a CENTER pile with cards from your HAND and/or HOLD piles, so that you can play your SIDE card to it.  The first player who plays all 20 of the SIDE cards to the CENTER wins!

Ahh, is it really that easy?

Yes, if you want to lose!  Here are two game playing tips to keep in mind if you want to win:

1) An important part of the game is developing a strategy for how you organize the cards in your HOLD piles. You have to play the top card of a HOLD pile to get at the cards beneath it. (Right clicking on a Hold pile displays the cards beneath it.)

2) Hold onto cards that would help your opponent (Spite) to play his SIDE cards faster than you.  Don’t play a 3 if he’s waiting to play a 4!  But of course if you have a 4 and play it to the CENTER, you can block him from playing.  That’s why it’s called Spite and Malice!

The game comes with a tutorial to get you started playing quickly.

And how do I play against a human player?

Use the Internet play feature!  It's easy to connect games over the Internet. Get the details by clicking on "How to Play" from the SpiteNET Site Index and then selecting the Playing Online link.

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*The default, or "House Rules" are 20 cards in the Side (payoff) piles, decks shuffled together, no forced cards and a Wild card can be used in place of any card. The Rules can be changed to:

Side payoff pile: 10, 15, 20, or 26 cards
Number of centers: 3 or 4 for 2 player games.
Deck shuffle: Shuffle decks together or shuffle decks separately for the setup.
Forced cards: Force Aces or Twos. This can be enforced for either visible cards only (not the cards hidden in your hand) or all cards.
Wild card: Wild card cannot be used as an ace.

Additional information for 3-4 player games:

1 deck of cards is added for each player, so a 4 player game uses 4 decks of cards.
4 center piles

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Click here for Spite's Menu Options, game features and screen shots.

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