Kings Corner, commonly referred to as Kings in the Corner, is a card game popular in North America. However, it is rarely featured in books about North American card games. So how do you play Kings Corner? How do you win? What are some strategies you can implement? What else is there to learn besides the rules of the game? Today, we answer all your questions about this popular card game.
What is Kings Corner?
Kings Corner is a game popular because it is so easily accessible. All it takes is one standard deck of cards and two to four players. A standard deck of cards does not include jokers. This is an excellent bonding activity for you and your children or grandchildren as it teaches them the mental skills required to play solitaire.
It’s fun to turn the lights off and play this game by candlelight or sunset, depending on your age of your playing partners. We all need to recharge by unplugging every once in a while. It can also be fun to play as a romantic date by the fireplace. Or you can play competitively with your friends and gamble real money or fake gambling chips.
You can keep score and play multiple rounds until the game is over or you can opt for a more leisurely gameplay, playing rounds until you feel you finish. If you don’t have any friends or family around, you can play this game online on your tablet, laptop, desktop or cell phone. There are also apps for a variety of card games including kings corner Rest assured, the bot’s moves are random, and it does not know your hand.
How To Play the Game
Each player deals seven cards in Kings Corner. The remaining cards are placed in the middle of the table as the stockpile. Then, the top four cards are placed face-up facing east, west, north and south, relative to the deck. These cards that form the shape of a cross are known as the foundation cards.
The player who sits to the left of the dealer draws the first card from the stockpile. He or she may take as many valid turns as possible to empty his or her hand. If you cannot make a move, pay a penny or fake chip into the pot. The winner takes the pot. Learn more on card shuffling for Kings Corner Card Game surely helps.
Valid Moves
- Play cards on a foundation pile. The card you play must be one value below that of the foundation card and opposite in color. If a foundation card is an eight of hearts, you can only play a six of spades or a six of clubs. You may not play an eight of clubs or spades.
- Place a king in the corner of the cross created by the foundation cards. This allows you to get rid of a card but also allows any of your opponents with a queen of opposite color to play on the king.
- Move an entire foundation pile onto another pile. This is often possible as soon as the cards are dealt. This prevents your opponents from being able to play a similar card. If you put a four of diamonds on a five of spades, your opponent will have to wait to play his four of hearts until well after a king of spades or clubs is played.
- Play any card or sequence of cards on the recently vacated foundation of cards.
Each turn starts by drawing a card off the top of the deck and ends when a player exhausts all valid moves.
How To Win
Kings Corner is won when a player has no more cards in his or her hand. If you are interested, there are many ways to keep score since this comes as a customized card gameplay. Some examples are:
- Count each card each player has remaining once he or she has lost.
- Count the value of each card in each remaining hand.
- Count each card you have left as one point, with kings being worth ten points. This is because there is no reason to not put a king in the corner.
Tips, Strategies & More
How can you get better at playing Kings Corner? Luckily, as with all card games such as the speed card game, there are several strategies you can use to gain that competitive edge. Let’s dive into this.
Kings Corner Strategies
- Don’t play all your moves at once. This may save you from having to put a penny in the pool later, or prevent an opponent from making a move he or she otherwise would have been able to make.
- Put down aces in the newly vacated foundation slot if you want to block your opponents while getting rid of a card. The ace is the lowest card in the game so that no card can be stacked on top of it.
- Not only can you move a foundation pile on top of another one, but you can also slide a higher card under a foundation pile as long as it is of the opposite color. While this is mostly just a rule, the tip is to remember it. Your opponents likely will not, putting you at an advantage the first time you use this tactic.
Variations
There are many variations to this popular multi-player spin on Solitaire. They run the gamut from gambling to points to rules of Kings Corner game.
Gambling – all players will ante up at the start of the game.
Beginning and finishing moves – there are many variations to the rules of how to start and end the game.
Scoring – there are a couple of popular variations on how to score in this card game.
- Determine a score to end the game, for example, 600. The player who gets rid of all of his or her cards first is the winner. One way to keep score is to count the loser’s cards at face value. For example, if you have one opponent with a seven of hearts and a five of spades remaining when you win, you get twelve points. The game ends when someone achieves the predetermined number of points.
- Another way to include scoring into the classic North American card game Kings Corner is to count the number of cards your opponents have rather than their value. For example, a king can still be worth ten points, but all other cards are worth only one point. If your opponents collectively have one king and twenty other cards in their hand, you would score thirty points for the round.
Conclusion
Kings Corner is a popular classic, timeless North American card game that has been loved for generations. It is perfect for a multitude of situations. This includes a family game night with your children or grandchildren, recharging by disconnecting and playing with your significant other or playing against bots on computers if you don’t have any friends around. After reading this, you may want to learn more about setting up these games as part of your fun and memorable events
Gameplay is simple. Kings Corner only requires one to three opponents and a standard deck of cards. It follows the same basic rules of Solitaire except you must alternate the card color and place cards underneath one of the four foundations of cards, which can be any of the 52 cards in a standard deck. Similarities to Solitaire include being able to put piles on top of other piles, the ace being the lowest card and the king is the highest card.
As with all other card games, there is strategy involved with gameplay. If you want to play Kings Corner competitively, be sure to understand the particular variation of rules before you decide on which strategy to use. One advantage to the simplicity of this game is you don’t have to know your opponents and their strategy or read their body language for tells. The rules are also easy to remember. There isn’t a lot of complicated terminologies to learn and remember.
Keep score and play multiple rounds for money or enjoy a leisurely night unplugged from your electronics. Play on the train while commuting home from work via an app or throw a card game party. Whether you play this game online or offline, prepare to make some amazing memories and have a night of fun.
