Card Golf Part 4: So what ARE the Rules?

We figured it would be good to look at all those apps for Card Golf games to see what the "core rules" really are.  A developer isn't going to spend so much of their time just to code some weird, unpopular, unknown variation.  There is definitely a pattern.


There are 4, 6, 8, 9 and 10 cards layouts.  We could just as easily deal out 12 like in Skyjo.

Every app asks each player to flip two cards face up to start the game.  A few start with a peek at the bottom row of cards.  The ones with the peek are more likely to be memory games where you don't expose cards until you finally go out at the end.  That is not a play style we enjoy, so we moved along.

The default scoring is: Ace = 1, 2-10 = face value, J & Q = 10, K = 0.  Jokers are -2 if included.  If not, score the twos as -2 instead.  Vertical pairs or triples (in the 9-card version) cancel out and score 0.

The game flows better when you can discard without revealing one of your face-down cards.  Otherwise, you flip all 6 cards in a 6 card game in just 6 draws and it's over.  When you can discard and not flip a card, the game moves towards a more decisive outcome.  More chances for each player to pull a surprise card.

This feels like a good default rule set.  

For the 9-Card Golf, it felt like two decks would be better, otherwise the 3-of-a-kinds are few and far between and the game feels flat.

You could even play this like a poker night where the dealer can change the rules with each hand, and we saw no problem calling out "6 card with jokers, peek at first row", playing a few hands like that, and then switching to "9 cards, no jokers, Kings are -2, no peeking."  That might keep some players on their toes, but seriously annoy others.

This was an interesting investigation, which took a variety of twists and turns.  While the apps are fun, you will never get anything other than what the developer chose to write code for.  If you grab a real-world deck of cards, you can do it your way and maybe find the perfect mix for your own group of gamers.

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