31

How to play 31

Also called Scat or Blitz. The goal: don't have the lowest hand, and be the last player with lives.

1. Deal. Everyone gets 3 cards and starts with 3 lives. One card is turned up to start the discard pile.
2. Card values. Ace = 11, King / Queen / Jack = 10, every other card is worth its number.
3. Your score is the total of your cards in one suit. A♠ K♠ 4♥ is 21 (the spades); the 4♥ doesn't count. The best possible hand is 31: an ace and two ten-cards of the same suit. Three of a kind (like 7 7 7) counts 30.
4. Your turn. Take the top card of the discard pile or draw from the stock, then throw one card face up on the discard pile. You always end your turn with 3 cards. (You can't throw back the card you just picked up.)
5. Knocking. When you think your hand beats at least one other player's, knock instead of drawing. Everyone else gets one last turn, then all hands are shown.
6. Losing lives. The lowest hand loses a life. If the knocker is lowest on their own, they lose two. If the knocker ties for lowest, the knocker is safe and the others who tied lose one.
7. 31! If you hold 31 (on the deal, or right after you throw a card), show it at once: the hand ends and everyone else loses a life, even the knocker.
8. Out. Lose your last life and you're out. With On the bus turned on, losing your last life puts you "on the bus" instead: you keep playing, and the next life you lose puts you out.
9. Winning. The last player still in wins. The deal moves one seat to the left each hand.

Tips

• Pick a suit early and collect it. Two cards in one suit with an ace or ten-card is a good start.
• Knocking is a bet that someone is lower than you. 27 or more is a solid knock early in the hand; others are improving every turn, so don't wait too long. With more players, someone is more likely to be lower than you.
• Watch what the next player picks up, and don't throw them a high card in that suit.

Controls

Tap the stock or the top discard to draw. Tap a card in your hand to pick it, then Discard (or tap it again). Knock works at the start of your turn. Hint suggests a move.