How to play War
The simplest card game there is: flip, compare, and win every card in the deck.
By admin
Updated
- Players
- 2
- You need
- A deck of cards
- Game length
- 15–30 min
- Difficulty
- Easy to learn
- Ages
- 5+
01 — Goal
Win all 52 cards
The player who ends up holding the whole deck wins. There are no choices to make, which makes War perfect for young children.
02 — Setup
Split the deck
Shuffle and deal the whole deck face down, so each player has 26 cards. Nobody looks at their cards.
03 — A battle
Flip and compare
Both players turn over their top card at the same time. The higher card wins both, which go face down to the bottom of the winner’s pile. Aces are high, 2s are low; suits don’t matter.
04 — War
Ties start a war
If both cards have the same rank, it’s war. Each player puts three cards face down, then turns a fourth face up. The higher fourth card takes all ten cards. Another tie means another war.
- 9 of spades
- 9 of hearts
05 — Winning
Last one holding cards
If a player runs out of cards during a war, they lose. For a shorter game, play for 15 minutes and whoever holds more cards wins.
06 — Tips
Play smarter
- Set a timer for a quicker game: most cards after 15 minutes wins.
- Shuffle won cards before adding them to your pile to stop long streaks.