SPITE AND MALICE CARD GAME RULES

OBJECTIVE OF SPITE AND MALICE: Play cards from your ‘payoff pile’ to the center stacks until they are empty.

NUMBER OF PLAYERS: 2 players

MATERIALS OF SPITE AND MALICE: Two 52 card decks

TYPE OF GAME: Card game

AUDIENCE: All Ages

OVERVIEW OF SPITE AND MALICE

Spite and Malice is a super fun and competitive game for 2 players. It’s a game similar to double solitaire that also requires lots of patience. That said, it’s easy enough for kids to learn, but it still requires enough strategy to keep the adults involved. Let’s go over the rules and strategies of Spite and Malice.

SET UP FOR SPITE AND MALICE

Spite and Malice is a 2 player card game. Some versions have been created for more players, but in this article, we will go over the most common version. To get started, you need 2 decks of 52 cards and a friend to get the game started.

THE DEAL

The first thing you’ll need to do when setting up a game of Spite and Malice is shuffle the two decks of cards together. We recommend using two different color decks to avoid a long sorting session after the game! After this, deal 20 cards facedown to each player. These 20 cards are the pay-off piles. Next, deal five more cards to each player to serve as their hand, these are cards you can look at. Place all the leftover cards between the two players to serve as the stockpile.

Both players flip only the top card of their pay-off pile face-up. The player with the highest value card starts the game. If the cards are of equal rank, shuffle the pay-off piles and try again.

At this point, the player’s side stacks and the center stacks are empty. Don’t worry, it might seem like a lot of information, but we’ll hold your hand and walk you through it all!

STACKS

The first card, the card that starts the center stacks, must be an Ace. After that, add all other cards to the center stacks in ascending order (A to Q) without skipping any ranks in between (think Solitaire). There can only be 3 center stacks during the game. Remember, in Spite and Malice, only the rank of the cards matters, the card’s suit is not important.

You and your opponent are allowed to have up to four side stacks each. These stacks do not have to be in any particular order. You can only play the top card of any side stack. Any cards underneath it are unavailable. We’ll get into some cool strategies to use in your stacks later on!

HOW TO PLAY SPITE AND MALICE

Ready to play? Let’s get into it! The goal of Spite and Malice is to play all the cards from your pay-off pile onto the center stacks. You can only play the top card of the pay-off pile, and you can not rummage through the stack. That means once you play the top card from the pay-off pile, you must then flip over the next card so that it is now face-up on your pile.

TAKING TURNS

In Spite and Malice, gameplay is not quick and random like in Spit, players have to be nice and alternate turns. If you don’t have 5 cards in hand, you must start your turn by drawing from the stock. The player who had the higher pay-off card goes first. A turn consists of these possibilities:

Play an ace to start a center stack or adding the next rank to a center stack. Cards you play can come from your hand, the top card of your pay-off pile, or a top card from a side stack. Play the cards face up and in ascending order.
Play a card to your side stacks. Don’t forget, this move ends your turn, and the play passes to the opponent. In addition, players cannot exceed four side stacks. If there are no empty stacks, you must place a card on top of an existing stack, however, this makes the card below unavailable for play.

There is no limit to the number of cards you can play on center stacks during a single turn. If you’re lucky and you manage to play all 5 of your cards in hand to the center pile in a single turn without playing to a side stack, then good for you! You can immediately draw back up to five cards and continue your turn.

ENDING YOUR TURN

Once you are out of legal moves on your turn, you end your turn by discarding a card to your side stack. Then, gameplay continues like this till the end of the game.

RULES TO REMEMBER

You can not play pay-off cards on side stacks.
You can not move cards from stacks to other stacks, such as from the center stack to a side stack.
You can put the cards in any order in your side stacks.
You can only ever play the top card of a side stack. This means any card underneath the top card is unavailable.
Suits are not important, only rank.
Kings are wild cards and can be used to represent a card of any value.
If you complete a center stack, Ace to Queen, your opponent shuffles the stack and adds it to the bottom of the stock. This frees up space for a new center stack.

END OF GAME

Once you play the last card from your pay-off pile to the center stack, the game is over, and you win! The game can also end if the stockpile is exhausted. In this case, it is a draw, and there is no winner.

SPITE AND MALICE STRATEGY

As we mentioned, there is quite a bit of strategy involved in Spite and Malice. So, let’s go over some of the ways you can improve your game.

PLAY YOUR PAY-OFF PILE

It can be easy to forget that the goal of the game is only to play all your pay-off pile cards in order to win. You should play those cards as soon as you can. So, if you have cards of the same rank in the pay-off pile and your side stack, it’s better to play the one from the pay-off pile. You’ll get rid of your cards quicker and be the winner!

SAVE YOUR KINGS

Kings are wild in Spite and Malice, making them valuable to your hand. In most games with wild cards, they are some of the best cards you can draw! While you may want to try to play your kings immediately, it is better to keep some in your hand. You can use them to fill gaps in the sequences you want to play. Remember to keep a few in hand or on your side stacks. This will allow you to play a larger sequence later on.

For example, Let’s say you have a two, three, four, queen, and king in your hand. One of the center stacks has a Jack on top. You can now play your queen to finish the stack. After that, you can start a new stack and play the King as an Ace, and lay down your two, three, and four to finish the cards in your hand. Now, you can draw and continue your turn.

STALL YOUR OPPONENT

Remember that in Spite and Malice, you can see your opponent’s pay-off pile. So, if you have a card that they could play their top pay-off card on, hold on to it because that will make it tougher for them to get rid of their cards. It’s also a good strategy to keep an eye on your opponent’s side stacks to get an idea of what they might play. We know they are your friend in real life, but in Spite and Malice… well just look at the name of the game!

SIDE STACK ORGANIZATION

It is a good strategy to organize your side stacks. You can organize them by rank or by descending order. Basically, this means placing the higher cards down and trying to place lower-ranking cards on top. This way, if you play a card from your side stack, you have a better chance of being able to use the card that is underneath it.

FAQ

How Many Decks Do You Need for Spite and Malice?

In order to play Spite and Malice, you need 2 packs of 52-deck cards.

Is Skip-Bo the Same as Spite and Malice?

Skip-bo is a commercial version of Spite and Malice. They are extremely similar, however they do have a few differences in rules.

Can Four People Play Spite and Malice?

Four people can play Spite and Malice. However, you either need to team up or add a deck for each player.

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Alan Lemus

I am a freelance writer who's been trotting the globe since 2016. I believe card and board games are the most amazing way to create connections. Don't believe me? Bring a deck of cards to a bar!