XERI

OBJECT OF XERI: The object of Xeri is to have the most points at the end of the game.

NUMBER OF PLAYERS: 2 players

MATERIALS: A standard deck of 52-cards, a way to keeps score, and a flat surface.

TYPE OF GAME: Fishing Card Game

AUDIENCE: Teens, Adults

OVERVIEW OF XERI

Xeri is a fishing card game for 2 players. The goal of the game is to score more points than your opponent by matching card ranks.

SETUP

The first dealer is chosen at random and passes alternatively between players. It is worse odds to be the dealer, so it should be chosen randomly who will start as the dealer.

The deck will be shuffled, and the opponent will cut the deck. The dealer will deal each player a 6-card hand. 4 additional cards are placed face up between the players in a pile and the remaining cards form a stockpile to the side.

The 4 cards dealt to the center of the table will form the play pile. If any two cards of the play pile rank the same, and/or the top card is a jack, the pile is reshuffled into the stock and a new play pile is dealt.

Card Ranking

There is not a card ranking used for the game.

GAMEPLAY

The game starts with the non-dealer and passes alternatively between players. On a player’s turn, they must play one card from hand to the play pile. This can result in any of the following occurrences. A player may capture the play pile, add to it, or create a new play pile. 

To capture the play pile a player must either play a card of the same rank as the top card of the play pile or play a jack to a non-empty play pile. These both result in the player capturing the entire pile and taking it into their scoring pile. Captured cards are kept face down in a scoring pile and cannot be viewed again till the end of the game.

If the cards played does not capture the pile, it simply remains and becomes the new top card of the play pile.

If there is not a current play pile a player may play any card to start a new one. This also creates the possibility of a Xeri.

A Xeri occurs when there is a single card in the play pile and the player whose turn is after the pile is created captures it with a card of the same rank. This card when captured is kept face up and perpendicular in the scoring pile of a player so they will not forget it is a Xeri. Xeris score extra points for the players who capture them.

The game continues until the player’s hands are empty, then the dealer deals each player another hand of six cards. This continues until all cards from the stock and players’ hands are empty.

The last player to capture a card from the layout scores any remaining cards in the layout at the end of the round.

SCORING

After the round is over players will score their score piles. A player receives 3 points for capturing the most cards. A player receives 1 point for each Ace, King, Queen, Jack, or 10 they captured. The player who captures the 2 of clubs receives 1 point, and the player who captures the 10 of diamonds receives 1 point.

Each Xeri captured is worth 10 points to that player. If you capture a jack as a Xeri it is instead worth 20 points.

If there is a tie for most cards captured the 3 points are not scored by any player.

The team to score the most points win this round.

END OF GAME

The game ends after the decided number of rounds is reached. The team with the most round wins, wins the game.

VARIATIONS

Check out 4-player Xeri for a full list of variations.

Amber Crook
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