The Pen and the Sword: How to Play the Card Game Chinese 10

I, Laura, am completely a games person, and it is a rare game that I don't like. Martha, on the other hand, is a hard sell in the world of board and card games. So, when we find a card game that both of us like, we jump at the opportunity to play it as much as possible. Chinese 10 is one of those games. We took the original and modified it slightly to fit our purposes, and we would like to share it with you:

Purpose of the Game: to accumulate as many points as possible. Point values are as follows: K,Q,J,10 - 10 points each; 2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9 - 5 points each; A - 20 points each.

Setup: We like to play this game with two combined decks, but you can also play it with a single deck. If playing with two decks, shuffle the cards and deal each person 20 cards (for the two-player game; if you have three players, everyone gets 15 cards, etc.). If playing with one deck, shuffle and deal each person 13 cards (less if you have more than two players). Take the rest of the deck, place it in the center of the table and deal four cards face up around it, as shown in the picture below.

Game Play: Left of the dealer goes first, and play proceeds in a clockwise manner. Each person's turn consists of two steps: capture and flip. In the first part of your turn, your goal is to capture one of the four cards surrounding the deck. There are two rules for capturing cards. If you are trying to capture an A,2,3,4,5,6,7,8 or 9, you must play the card that causes it to add up to ten. For example, 6 takes 4, 5 takes 5, 7 takes 3 and vice versa. A is worth 1, so 9 would take A. For cards 10,J,Q and K, you must match the card to capture it. 10 takes 10, J takes J, Q takes Q and K takes K. To capture a card, take your card and the card you're capturing, turn them face down and put them in your own scoring pile. There will probably be an empty space on the table. (You can have less than 4 cards on the table). If you can't capture any cards, you must lay down one of your own cards in an empty space. If there are no empty spaces, cover a card already on the table.

Whether or not you've captured a card, you must flip a card from the middle deck. If this card could capture any of the cards on the table, you collect both cards and flip again. For example, in our scenario above, if I flipped a six, 6 takes 4, so I would collect both the six and the four and add them to my scoring pile. If your flipped card does not capture any cards on the table, place it in an empty spot. If there are no empty spots, cover an already existing table card.

End of Game: The game ends when 1) all players run out of cards in their hand or 2) the deck is finished and all four spots on the table are empty. At the end of the game, players count up all their cards in their scoring pile using the points mentioned above. The player with the most points wins.

Example: If my explanation above has totally confused you, and you are still unsure how to play, here is an example game beginning. Follow through these pictures, and I'll try to explain what's happening along the way.

Game between Laura and Martha using two decks (both have 20 cards in their hand):

Martha's turn: Because the A is the highest card on the table, she wants to capture that if possible. Luckily she has a 9 in her hand, so she lays down the 9, then collects both the A and the 9 for her scoring pile. She flips over the top card. It's a 7.

The 7 doesn't capture anything so the 7 moves to the empty spot.

Laura's turn: Laura looks at her hand, and she can't capture anything. She doesn't have a 6,10,7 or J. As a result, she's forced to lay down a card. She decides to lay down her 8. Since there are no empty spaces, she needs to cover one of the four cards already there.