Nerts Card Game

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Nerts[edit]

Nertz is a fast, real-time, multiplayer card game best described as a combination of the card games Speed and Solitaire.

Nertz is also known as Stits, Nerts, Nerks, Dooker, Canfield, Crunch, Nirts, Nerf, Gluck, 'Blitz', Maxcards, Peanuts, Popeye, Pounce, Snerds, Solitaire Frenzy, Scrub, Stop, Squeal, Squeak, Squid, Squinch, Lapu-Lapu Dirty Dance, Swish, Racing Demons, Race Horse Rummy, Lucky Thirty, Grouch, Hell, Hallelujah, Hoorah, Mertz, Moofles, Flip Flip, Knertz, Nuts, Nutz, Nutsy, Kitz Nitz, Double Dutch Bus, and Snatch[citation needed].

Nertz Card Game Free

A standard playing card deck per team or player is all that is necessary to play this game. Specialized decks of cards are not required. There are, however, retail game sets that include specialized decks available to those interested. Nertz-inspired games like the Nertz, Llc decks at Nertz.com, Ligretto, Dutch Blitz, Wackee Six, and Perpetual Commotion are all in close relation to one another.

Brief Game Description[edit]

The official Nertz, llc card game decks.

Nertz can be played in teams of two, teams of three, individually, or using a combination of both individuals and teams. Each player or team uses their own deck of cards in a solitaire–style competition that requires speed and skill. The object of each hand is to try to be the first team/player to call out “Nertz” by getting rid of their (typically) thirteen-card Nertz pile.[1] A game of Nertz is usually played to a designated score like 100 or 150 points. (However, some players designate a number of rounds to play to instead of a set score. Others just tally the number of hand victories without ever keeping a hand score and in doing so, the hand victory count determines a winner. Scoring is up to the individual preferences of the players.)

For the players that do keep hand scores, the way to receive points during a hand is to play cards in to the common area. Each card a team plays into the common area is worth one point. At the same time a big factor in receiving a higher score is the amount of cards in a player’s Nertz pile. When a hand ends, each card that a team/player has remaining in their Nertz pile is worth -2 points. Therefore, it is possible for a team/player to receive a negative score. This does happen often. Thus, the more Nertz cards a player can get rid of, the better his score will be. (Depending on the variation of Nertz being played, certain cards can be given an added value when played into the common area or Lake.)

Zachtronics Artist Kyle apparently played Nerts after lunch at the company's office. As time went on, the team refined the game and made it into a digital product, eventually turning it into the game you see today. That's not all that's happened, though — Zachtronics added some flourishes of their own. Nerts is the action-packed card game that lets you compete against virtual opponents for the ace piles in a race to get rid of your cards and gain the most points. As you get faster, increase the skill level and number of opponents to intensify the challenge! Brybelly Nertz: The Fast Frenzied Fun Card Game - 12 Decks of Playing Cards in 12 Vibrant Colors, Bulk Set of Poker Wide-Size/Regular Index, Plastic-Coated Cards 4.9 out of 5 stars 1,043 $19.99$19.99 Get it as soon as Mon, Jan 4.

Teams that call “Nertz” (typically) receive a 10-point bonus for that hand. (Depending on the region, the amount of this bonus given may vary or be nonexistent.)

Set Up[edit]

Every team or player will need a deck of playing cards that is clearly distinguishable from the rest of the decks that will be used at the table. This is because the decks will be getting mixed together in the common area or Lake and will need to be easily separated after each hand.

After sufficiently shuffling[2] the decks of cards that each player/team will be using, each player/team deals a row of four cards[3] facing up to form the Personal Piles or River. A 13-card Nertz pile is dealt facing down alongside, with the thirteenth and final top card turned up to be available for play when the game starts.

The team’s remaining 35-card pile is now used as the Stock Pile or Stream Pile. After all teams have finished setting their hands, play is ready to begin.

Game play[edit]

Play begins with one player calling 'Go.' Once a player has begun there are three areas he/she uses to aid in getting rid of all thirteen Nertz cards. The Lake or common area, the River or personal area, and the Stream or Stock pile are all vital to the Nertz pile.

The Lake (common area) is used by all players to score points by playing on piles in a suited order and increasing numeric sequence. Players with aces available to play put these aces out in the Lake. Anyone can play on card piles in the Lake or common area. Aces always begin the center piles. From there, a 2 of the same suit may be played by any player on top the ace. In Standard Nertz, if an ace of hearts is played, a 2 of hearts can be played thereon, and then a 3 of hearts, and so on. In the center area, all cards must follow what has been previously played both in suit and in numeric sequence.

The River (personal area) is used like the tableau piles in Solitaire in which you may only build down with available Nertz or Stream cards by alternating colors. You may also play the top most cards in your River into the Lake to free a space or just to score points. Again, River cards must be played in decreasing numeric sequence and according to alternating color. For example, if a player has a starting Nertz card and the following four River cards to begin with: A red King atop the Nertz Pile, black Queen, a red Jack, a black 5, and a Red 6. The player can immediately play the red jack on the queen and the black five on the red six. The player can then move the red King from Nertz Pile and move the next card off the Nertz Pile to fill the spaces vacated by the five and jack. Now the player can move the Queen and Jack onto the King, creating one additional space to be filled from the Nertz Pile. The top card on the Nertz Pile should also be turned face up.

Like traditional Solitaire, when players do not have any available plays within the Nertz pile or River they then resort to their 35 card Stream pile or turn deck to find available cards that might aid them. Each player flips over (typically) a three-card group from their Stream in search of playable cards. That player may only play the topmost of three cards either to the River or the Lake. If the third topmost card cannot be played, the next three cards are flipped, with the topmost again being the only playable card, and so on until the pile is gone through. At the very end of the deck, the bottommost card can be played regardless of whether it is the third card or not. Then the deck is turned over and the flipping begins again while properly maintaining its order.

To gain points, everyone must play on the Lake piles. This usually results in a very fast-paced game, as players naturally try to play on the center piles as much as possible. Whatever player lays his/her card down first on a sequence is awarded the play. Once a player/team has rid their Nertz pile of all thirteen cards they may then call or shout 'NERTZ'. Once Nertz is called play must immediately stop indicating the hand is over.

Scoring[edit]

Once Nertz is called and verified, the cards in the center area are returned to their respective teams. This is why it is important to play with highly distinguishable decks, so the points are awarded accurately and each deck’s playing integrity is maintained. Each player is awarded a predetermined number of points for each card they have played in the central area (often one point per card). Each player is then penalized a (possibly different) number of points for each card left in their Nertz pile (often two points per card). So, using the one/two point system, if a player has fifteen cards played in the Lake or central area, and ten cards left in their Nertz Pile, they are awarded fifteen points, but penalized twenty points, for a total of negative five points. Typically, a 10 point Nertz bonus is awarded to the player/team that calls 'Nertz'.

Players on average play to 50 points, but depending on the desired length of Nertz games, it is not uncommon find players that play 100, 200, or 500 point games.

Penalties and deductions can occur due to cheating or accidental calls, so it is up the players to determine what actions should be taken if this should occur. Again, use the links below to learn more about how others enforce penalties.

Terminology[edit]

  • Stream or Stock Pile: the cards the players turn over looking to play in their personal play area or the common play area. The cards already turned are sometimes referred to as the Waste Pile but remain part of the stream as they will be used repeatedly.[4]
  • River or Work Piles: the four cards set in row in which each individual team has their own to play on.
  • Lake or Common Area: the area where aces are the starter cards and anyone can play. It is only in the common play area that points can be scored.
  • Nertz Pile or Bone Pile: the pile of 13 cards that players are trying to get rid of to win the hand.
  • Starter Card: any card that starts a pile, particularly in the Lake. Aces typically are considered started cards when played in the Lake.
Note: More in-depth terminology can be found using the linksbelow.

Variations[edit]

Nertz has many variations. For further details on variations, see the external links.

Nertz

Variations can differ by:

  1. Name
  2. Terminology used
  3. Number of River columns
  4. Number of cards in the Nertz pile
  5. Whether the Nertz pile is dealt facing up or down
  6. The number of Stream cards flipped at a time
  7. Giving certain cards the power to change the numerical direction in which the Lake piles are played
  8. The value of a 'Nertz' call, Nertz cards, and Lake cards
  9. Whether a hand score is tallied or if the 'games won' count determines an overall winner
  10. Whether players are allowed to move cards to the Stream with both hands or only one hand
  11. Whether players are partnered (Singles, Doubles (or both), Mandatory Mixed Gender Doubles, or Rotating Partner Games)
  12. How partners are chosen and how the winners are determined in rotating partner games
  13. Whether players are allowed to play from both ends of Stream or River piles
  14. Whether handicaps are implemented for balance between experienced and inexperienced players
  15. Whether and what penalties are enforced for rule-breaking
  16. How Shuffling, Dealing, and Set-Up procedure are conducted
  17. How to indicate when a Lake pile is full and whether and how play is paused and resumed
Card

See also[edit]

Related Card Games[edit]

  • Card Games/Ligretto, a similar game produced in Germany
  • Card Games/Dutch Blitz, a similar game produced by the Pennsylvania Dutch
  • Solitaire Frenzy, a similar game played on a board sold with standard playings cards
  • [Card Games/Solitaire Showdown Solitaire Showdown]], a similar game played online in Windows Live Messenger
  • Solitaire Race, a similar game played online at AOL Games

References[edit]

  1. ↑National Nertz Association: The Official Nertz Rulebook PDF, page 1. 2008.
  2. ↑Shuffling and dealing procedure in Nertz can impact the fairness of play and many house rules have been made to ensure balance and order during these processes. These house rules vary. (Details on “Round Robin Shuffling”, “Dealing”, and the “Order of Cards” can be found at the Nertz Terminology link.
  3. ↑In some variants five cards are dealt in the River.
  4. ↑Nerts / Pounce / Racing Demon. Pagat. 24 December 2008. Retrieved 15 February 2010.
Retrieved from 'https://en.wikibooks.org/w/index.php?title=Card_Games/Nertz&oldid=3791831'

OBJECTIVE OF NERTS/POUNCE: Get rid of cards in Nerts pile.

NUMBER OF PLAYERS: 2+ players (6+ play in partnerships)

NUMBER OF CARDS: standard 52-card + Jokers (optional) per player

RANK OF CARDS: K (high), Q, J, 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, A

Nerts Card Game

TYPE OF GAME: Patience

AUDIENCE: Family

INTRODUCTION TO NERTS

Nerts or Nertz is a faced paced card game that is described as a combination of Solitaire and Speed. It is also referred to as Pounce, Racing Demon, Peanuts, and Squeal. The objective is to get rid of all the cards in your ‘Nerts’ pile (or Pounce pile, etc) by building upon them from an ace. Each player requires their own deck, so a 4 player game needs 4 decks to be played. However, all the cards must have different backs in order to differentiate them.

THE SETUP

Each player deals themselves a Nerts pile, this is a 13 card pile, 12 cards face-down and the 13th card is dealt face-up. Beside the Nerts pile players deal themselves four cards, face-up, side by side (but not overlapping. These are work piles. The remaining cards in the deck become the stockpile. Beside the stockpile is the waste pile, it is formed by taking three cards at a time from the stock and turning them face-up next to the stock.

Players arrange themselves around the playing surface and shape their layout (it may be square, circle, etc). In the center of the playing field is the common area. This should be easily accessible to all players and it holds the foundations which players will be building upon. Below is a photo of a general Nerts set-up.

THE PLAY

Gameplay does not consist of taking turns. Players play at the same time and at whatever pace they please. Move your cards around your layout, following the stipulations below, and add on to foundations in the common area. Th goal is to get rid of all your cards in your Nerts pile by playing them on either your work piles or on the foundations in the common area. Once your Nerts pile is dry you can call, “NERTS!” (Or Pounce!, etc). Once this happens the game ends immediately, cards in mid-air are allowed to complete their move and be counted accordingly in scoring.

You are not required to call Nerts when your pile is exhausted, you may continue to play and improve your score.

Players can only move cards using one hand, however, the stock can be held in the other hand. Generally, cards may only be moved one at a time, unless you are moving a stack from one work pile to another. Cards may only be moved within your layout or from your layout to the common area.

In the event two players attempt to play on the same foundation at the same time, the player who hit the pile first gets to keep their card there. If there is an obvious tie, both players may keep their cards there.

Players are never forced to play cards, they may also be held and played when it’s in your best interest.

THE WORK PILES

Each of the four work piles begin with one card, face-up. Player build work piles in descending numerical order, alternating red and black, and overlapping the cards. So if the pile has a black 10, place a red 9 on top, and then a black 8, and so on. A card from a work pile may be moved to another work pile. When you consolidate work piles, cards on top of the pertinent card a moved with it. An empty space can be filled with cards from the Nerts pile, another work pile, or the discard. The top card, or lowest ranking card, of a work pile may be played on the foundations in the common area.

If a work pile is empty and you have a card in hand that is one rank higher and the opposite color of the base card, that card may be slid underneath the work pile to save time. For example, a work pile is built upon a black Queen. There is an empty space and a red King in hand. Instead of using the red King to fill the space and moving the black Queen to it, the red King may simply be slid underneath the other work pile.

THE NERTS PILE

You may play cards from the top of your Nerts pile onto work piles and empty work piles. Cards from the Nerts pile can also be played on the foundations. Once you play the top card from the Nerts pile you may flip the next card face-up and prepare it for potential gameplay.

THE FOUNDATIONS

Nerts Card Game Steam

In the common area is the foundation piles. They are all built upon an ace. Foundation piles can be added to by playing a card that is one rank higher than the card before it and the same suit. They are built upon until the King is reached. Once this occurs, the foundation pile is removed from the common area and set aside. Foundations are started by players placing free Aces in the common area. Cards that may be played on foundation piles are: Nerts cards, exposed cards on top of work piles, and the top card of the discard. Any player may add to any foundation pile.

THE STOCK & THE DISCARD

You may turn over three cards at a time from the stock to the discard. The discard begins as an empty pile. However, it is important to keep the discard in order, since the top card can be used on work piles.

When your stock is running dry (less than three cards in hand), place your remaining cards on top of the discard, flip over the deck, and continue playing with your new stock. If everyone gets stuck and there are no more legal moves, all players must form a new stock in this manner. But, if you are stuck, and waiting for other players to get stuck, you may move the top card from your stock to the bottom and try to play again.

SCORING

If a player calls, “Nerts!”, the play ends and scoring begins. Players receive 1 point for each of their cards played on foundation piles and lose 2 points for each Nerts card left in hand. This is why it is necessary that each player has a deck with different backs. Separate the foundational piles by the backs to easily determine points. Calling nerts doesn’t ensure you will have the highest amount of points, however, it does greatly increase your chances. Although, that is why when your Nerts pile is dry it is not necessary to declare such, and you may continue playing.

If all players are stuck, despite the new stockpile, the game ends and is scored as usual. The game continues until one player hits the target score, which is typically 100 points.

Nerts Play Online

JOKERS

Nerts Card Game Set

Jokers may be added to the deck any may stand for any card in the deck. Before the Joker can be moved and played onto a foundation, the suit and rank the Joker is intended to replace must be declared. Jokers played on work piles do not have to be officially declared as to what they represent. Once a card is played on a Joker in a work pile, though, it now has a fixed existence (rank, suit, color).

Nerts Card Games

REFERENCES:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nertz

http://nertz.com/how.php

https://www.pagat.com/patience/nerts.html