Objective
Capture every card in the deck. There are no choices to make, which makes Quadruple War a good first card game for young players and an easy way to pass the time.
The only difference from regular War is the size of each war. Four cards go face down instead of one, so a single tie puts twelve cards on the line and can swing a game in one turn.
Setup
Shuffle and deal the whole deck one card at a time, face down, so each player has 26 cards. Do not look at them. Square your cards into a pile in front of you, face down.
Cards rank ace high, then king, queen, jack and down to two. Suits do not matter.
How to play
Both players turn up the top card of their pile at the same moment and set it in the middle. The higher card wins: its owner takes both cards and puts them face down on the bottom of their own pile.
If the two cards are the same rank, it is war. Each player deals four cards face down on top of their tied card, then turns up one more card. The higher of those two face-up cards takes everything in the middle: the two tied cards, all eight face-down cards and the two deciding cards.
If the deciding cards tie again, go to war again: four more cards face down and one more face up from each player, until someone wins the lot.
- 1Both players turn up a card at once
- 2Higher card takes both, to the bottom of the pile
- 3On a tie, each player lays four cards face down
- 4Each turns up one more card; the higher takes everything
Winning
The player who collects all 52 cards wins. Games can run long, so many families set a timer or a number of turns instead. When time is up, count the piles, and the player holding more cards wins.
| What happens | Cards each player puts in | Cards the winner takes |
|---|---|---|
| Plain turn | 1 | 2 |
| One war | 6 | 12 |
| War on top of a war | 11 | 22 |
A double war is rare, but when it happens it often decides the game.
Variations
Regular War: each player puts just one card face down before the deciding card. Many families use three, often counting them out loud.
Three or more players: deal the deck out as evenly as you can and play the same way. The highest card takes the trick, and only the players who tied for highest go to war.
Winnings pile: put the cards you win in a separate face-down pile instead of under your stack. When your stack runs out, shuffle your winnings and keep going. This keeps the cards from settling into a pattern.
Tips from the table
Flip at exactly the same time. Counting ‘one, two, three, flip’ keeps anyone from waiting to see the other card first.
Lay war cards in a short row rather than a stack, so young players can see they have put down four.
Let new players call out the ranks as the cards land. It is a painless way to learn which cards beat which, and that jacks, queens and kings rank above the ten.
For a shorter game, set a timer for fifteen minutes and count cards at the end.
Video Guides Are on the Way
We’re filming Game Guides that walk through full hands at the table, from the deal to the score.
Frequently asked
How is Quadruple War different from War?
Only in the war itself. In standard War each player puts one card face down before the deciding card, and many families use three. In Quadruple War it is four, so wars are bigger and the lead changes faster.
What happens if the deciding cards tie again?
Have another war: four more cards face down and one more face up from each player. The winner takes everything in the middle.
Is the ace high?
Yes. The ace is the highest card and the two is the lowest.
How long does a game take?
It varies a lot. Ten to twenty minutes is typical, but a game can run much longer, so a timer is a fair way to finish.
New rules every month
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