Oct 14, 2020 As with many games, house rules can vary. Here we play a version where aces are high and kings are a blocker. In all fairness, I think most people play where aces are low. When I made this video, I forgot I analyzed the two-player case of the ace-low version ten years prior: Screw Your Neighbor. 'Screw Your Neighbor', a card game, is a combination of luck, logic, and chance, which makes it even more interesting and fun. The objective of this game is 'not' to have the lowest card at the end of each round. Plentifun takes you through the rules and directions of playing this exciting card game.

OBJECTIVE OF SCREW YOUR NEIGHBOR: The objective of Screw Your Neighbor is to not have the lowest ranking card at the end of each round.

NUMBER OF PLAYERS: 3+ Players

MATERIALS: One (or more) standard deck of cards, a flat surface, and a pen and paper to keep track of scores.

TYPE OF GAME: strategy card game

AUDIENCE: All Ages

OVERVIEW OF SCREW YOUR NEIGHBOR

The goal of Screw Your Neighbor is to not have the lowest ranking card each round. You ensure this by trading cards with your neighbors and potentially getting better ranking cards.

SETUP

The setup for Screw Your neighbor is pretty simple. A deck of cards is shuffled by the dealer for that round. Then each player including the dealer is dealt one card facedown. Players may then look at their card.

CARD RANKING

The ranking for Screw Your Neighbor is close to standard. The only exception is that Ace is low and King is high. The ranking of cards goes as follows: King (high), Queen, Jack, 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, Ace (low).

GAMEPLAY

To play Screw Your Neighbor each player will look at their dealt card. If it is a king, then players will flip it over to be revealed. This locks in your card so it cannot be traded for. All other cards are kept facedown.

TRADING

The player left of the dealer will start the round by deciding if they wish to trade with the player on their left or keep their card. If they wish to trade, they will switch with the player to their left and then it will be the next players turn to switch. This continues around until it’s the dealers turn.

The only reason a person could not trade is if the player to their left has a face-up king. In this case that players turn is skipped and it resumes with the player left of the king holding player.

When it is the dealer’s turn to keep or trade, they will be trading with the remaining deck. If they decide to trade, they take the top card of the remaining deck and place their previous card to the side of the deck. The only exception to this rule is if they reveal a king, then they must keep their other card and cannot trade.

Screw Your Neighbor Card Game Directions

REVEAL

Screw Your Neighbor Card Game With Money

Once all players have traded or kept their cards, all cards are revealed. The lowest ranking card is the loser. Scores are marked and after each round, the dealer moves to the left.

TIES

If there is a tie between multiple players, the player closest the left of the dealer is the loser.

ENDING THE GAME

Hate Your Neighbor Card Game

The game ends when players decide the game is over. Scores are compared and the lowest score (aka the person who lost the least) wins.

VARIATIONS

There are several variations to this game. Some have rules but most are house rules made up by players. Feel free to make the game your own.

DRINKING GAME

The rules for a drinking game are relatively the same except the loser drinks instead of keeping score.

BETTING GAME

To make this a betting game player will all put in a certain number of bets at the beginning that is the same for everyone. For example, every player may put in 5 one-dollar bills. Every time a player loses, they will put in one of their bets. For this example, when a player loses, they will put in one dollar. The game is played until there is only one player left with bets remaining, that player wins all the money in the pot.

Screw Your Neighbor Card Game Online

Screw Your Neighbour is a card game. It is an extreme variation of Crazy Eights for three or more players, which becomes everyone as a team playing against everyone as individuals. This happens due to switching hands during play and (sometimes) knowing what your opponent is holding. Table talk about the cards is discouraged. The object is to get rid of all your cards to a discard pile.

Play

Use two 52 card decks plus 4 Jokers. Each player is dealt 8 cards and the rest of the cards are placed face down in the centre of the table. This becomes the draw pile. The top card is turned over to start a discard pile and determine opening suit. The dealer has the option of taking this card and adding it to their hand, then discard any card they chose.

Whether the card is left or a new card is played by the dealer, all special cards apply to this card. If an 8 is turned and left by the dealer, that card's suit will determine suit. If the next card played is a “Switch”, that player will take the next 8 cards and their hand goes to the bottom of the draw pile. If a Joker is turned, the dealer must pick it up, adding to their own hand and may discard any of their own cards to determine rank and suit.

Players discard their cards by matching rank or suit with the top card of the discard pile. If a player is unable to match the rank or suit of the top card of the discard pile and they don't have an 8, they draw a card from the stock pile. If that card is playable, they can discard it. If it is not, play goes to the next person.

If the stock pile runs out of cards, all active cards in the discard pile are removed and the remaining cards in the discard pile are reshuffled and serve as the new stock pile. The first player to get rid of all their cards is the winner.

Special Actions

• Match - A “Match” is 2 cards with the same rank and suit or Joker(s) (functions explained under “Special Cards”) and any other card in your hand at the same time. They can then be played at the same time as one play. The functions of the special cards are then doubled. If a player has only a “Match” left in their hand, they are not required to announce “Last Card” and they may go out on their next turn if it is playable.
• Switch - This is a card being played with the same rank and suit as the one on the top of the discard pile. That player must then switch their entire hand with the person who played the first card or trading any card in their hand for the Safe Card of that player. This cannot be done with a Joker.
• Safe Card - After the deal and before the top card is flipped, each player selects 1 card from their hand and lays it face down in front of them. You can look at and discard this card at any time but you cannot switch it with another card in your hand. After it is played or lost, you do not select another Safe Card. This card is safe from Black Aces, remaining in front of you after hands have been rotated. This card is NOT safe from a Natural Switch. After playing one of these, that player has the option of trading hands excluding the Safe Cards or trading the opponents Safe Card with any card they choose in their own hand before seeing the Safe Card. Discarding a Joker does not allow you to trade for the Safe Card. If this player does look at the Safe Card before selecting a card to give, the opponent then gets to blindly select one card from their hand including the newly acquired card. If this card becomes the 'Last Card' it is then held in your hand and is no longer protected from Black Aces.

Special Cards

• 2 - Next player picks up 2 and misses a turn. Playing more than one 2 in a row will require a draw equal to the sum of the cards (i.e. three 2s = six cards). Discarding a “Match” (one 2 and a Joker) will cause the next player to pick up 4 additional cards and miss 1 turn. A natural pair (2 - 2's of the same suit, no Jokers) gives the player the option of telling the next player to pick up all of the required cards and miss a turn OR the next 2 players to draw half of the cards each and both miss a turn. In the event of an odd number of cards to be picked up, the first player must take the extra card. Both players that are required to draw cards can play a Joker as a shield.

Note: Queen of spades can be combined with the 2 of Spades in a variation.

• 4 - Next player misses a turn. Discarding a “Match” causes the next 2 players to miss one turn. When 4's are discarded on other 4's, the number of active 4's represents the number of players that miss a turn, i.e. if a 4 is discarded on two 4's then the next 3 players miss a turn.
• Pair of 7's 'The Bomb' - If a player lays a natural pair of 7's (2-7's of the same suit and no joker), all other players must pick up 3 cards each in order of play and following the current direction of gameplay. Jokers cannot block this and no turns are missed. If a player has a natural pair of 7's in their hand they can choose to discard them and force the player that discarded the first pair of 7's to draw 3 cards.
• 8 - Can be played irrespective of the top card on the pile, and the player has the option of changing suit. Discarding a “Match” has no special function.
• Jack - Reverse direction of play. Playing a “Match” will result in play continuing in its current direction.
• Queen of Spades - Next player picks up 5 and misses a turn. Discarding a “Match” (one Queen of Spades and a Joker) will result in the next player picking up 10 cards and missing 1 turn. A natural pair (2 - Queens of the same suit, no Jokers) gives the player the option of telling the next player to pick up all of the required cards and miss a turn OR the next 2 players to draw half of the cards each and both miss a turn. In the event of an odd number of cards to be picked up, the first player must take the extra card. Both players that are required to draw cards can play a Joker as a shield.

Note: Queen of Spades can be combined with the 2 of Spades in a variation.

• Kings - At any point during game play, if 3 natural Kings are played (discarding a pair counts as 2 kings) the next person to lay a card other than a natural King must draw one card for every consecutive King laid. If a player does not have a King, they may attempt to draw a card from the stock pile. If it is a King, they may discard it and play continues. If it is not a King, they must then discard a playable card before drawing the cards for the Kings.
• Black Aces - All players will pass their entire hand (excluding Safe Cards) in the direction of play to the next person. If a “Match” is played, hands will be passed 2 people away. The skipped players do not have an option of looking at the hands. Discarding a “Switch” will result in all hands being passed as well as trading hands with the person who played the first card. The person who played the second Ace decides in which order this is done.
• Red Aces - When dealing, the dealer selects a portion of the deck and deals from that. If after deal is complete and that dealer has +/- 2 or less cards left over, then the Red Aces are active for that hand and for the dealer only. When the dealer uses a Red Ace (when it is playable) they have the option of switching their hand with any other player in the game. Discarding a “Match” gives the dealer the option of doing this twice in one turn.
• Joker Wild card - Can be discarded alone at any time, becoming a “Switch” for the card that it was played on as well as taking on the special function of that card if any. It can also be discarded as a “Match” with any other playable card in your hand.

The Joker may also be used as a Shield. After an opponent plays a 2 or the Queen of Spades, instead of drawing the required cards, a player has the option of discarding a Joker, causing the previous player to draw the required cards. That Joker is then considered a shield only and is not used in increasing the draw amounts. Play continues to the next player as if the Joker were not there.

Additional Rules

• Re-Shuffle Stock Pile - If the stock pile runs out of cards, it is the dealer's responsibility to shuffle the discard pile excluding any active cards. Once one of these new stock pile cards are required, the dealer then distributes one more card to each player except themself. No turns are missed and play continues.
• Passing - A player may choose not to use a playable card at any time and can draw from the stock. They can then discard the card they drew, a playable card that they already have in their hand or announce that they cannot play.
• Last Card - When a player has only 1 card remaining in their hand after a discard or if they acquire a single card from an opponent after switching hands, they must say “Last card”. If any other player points out that they did not announce “Last card”, the player with 1 card then draws 2 more cards.

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