Kings in the Corners Variations and House Rules

Kings in the Corners is a hand-me-down game. Hardly anyone learned it from a rule book, so nearly every family plays it a little differently, and nearly every family is sure its way is the proper one. Even the name changes from house to house: Kings Corner, Kings Corners, King's Corner. This page goes through the differences you are most likely to meet. Two of them can be switched on in the Settings of our online game; the others are here so you know what to expect at someone else's table.

Rules You Can Change in Our Game

Target score: 10, 25, 50 or 100

The game is played over several hands. After each hand, players who were caught with cards take penalty points: 10 for a King and 1 for any other card. When somebody's total reaches the target, the game ends and the lowest total wins.

A higher target rewards steady play, because one unlucky hand matters less. A lower target is more of a gamble and is good when you only have a few minutes. If the lowest score is tied when the target is reached, our game deals one more hand to settle it.

Kings must go to a corner right away

In the basic rules, every play is optional. You may hold a King in your hand if you want to, though it is rarely wise. Many families play it more strictly: a King must be played to a corner as soon as it can be. That covers a King you are dealt, a King you draw, and a King that was turned up as one of the four starting cards beside the stock.

With this rule switched on in Settings, the game works like this:

• If you hold a King on your turn, your first play has to be that King to a corner.
• If a side pile starts with a King, the first player to have a turn must move that pile to a corner before doing anything else.
• You cannot end your turn while a King is waiting.

The rule makes the game a touch more open, because all four corners come into play as early as possible. It also removes one of the few ways to play badly, so it is a kind rule for beginners. With the rule off, the 10-point penalty does the same job more gently: nobody holds a King for long.

One, two or three computer players

Kings in the Corners works for two, three or four players with one deck. With two players there are plenty of cards in the stock and hands tend to run longer. With four, more than half the deck is dealt out at the start, the piles change a great deal between your turns, and you have to take your chances when they come. You can choose the number of computer players in Settings.

Rules You May Meet Elsewhere

Playing with chips

The oldest way to keep score uses chips, pennies or matchsticks instead of paper. Each player starts with the same number of chips and puts one in the pot before every deal. When a player goes out, the others pay a chip into the pot for each card they still hold, and ten chips for a King. The player who went out collects the pot. Some groups add a further payment: a player who cannot play a single card on their turn puts a chip in the pot.

The chip game and the points game are the same game underneath. Chips simply make every hand its own small contest, with no running total to remember. Our online game uses points.

The winner scores, instead of the losers

Some families turn the scoring upside down. The player who goes out collects the points for all the cards left in the other hands, and the first to reach an agreed total, often 100, wins. The cards are worth the same; only the direction changes. This version rewards going out above everything else, while the penalty version, the one we use, also rewards getting your hand small.

Different card values

The usual count is 10 for a King and 1 for everything else. Now and then you will find tables that count every picture card as 10, or count cards at their face value. Heavier penalties make high cards more dangerous to hold and push everyone to play them early.

Who moves a King from the starting layout?

When a King is turned up as one of the four starting cards, some groups have the dealer move it to a corner immediately and turn up a replacement card from the stock. Others, as in our game, leave it for the players: the pile may be moved to a corner on anyone's turn, and the empty spot then takes any card from that player's hand.

Drawing rules

Nearly everyone draws one card at the start of each turn, as our game does. A few variations exist:

• No draw on the first turn. The first player starts with the seven cards dealt.
• Draw only if you cannot play. You draw a card only when you have no play at all, which makes for a faster game.
• Draw until you can play. A player with no play keeps drawing until a playable card turns up. Hands can grow very large this way.

When the stock runs out

Most groups simply carry on without drawing. If nobody can play, the hand is blocked and everyone counts what they hold, which is how our game handles it. Some tables end the hand the moment the stock is gone, and the player with the fewest cards is treated as the winner.

More than four players

Five or six can play with one deck by dealing six or five cards each instead of seven, although the stock runs out quickly. For a big family gathering, shuffle two decks together. With two decks there are eight Kings and still only four corners, so Kings become much harder to place and far more costly to hold.

Which Rules Should You Use?

For a first game, leave everything as it comes: one computer player, a target of 25, and Kings optional. Once that feels comfortable, try the must-play-Kings rule and a third player at the table. Whatever you choose, the heart of the game stays the same: build down, swap colors, and get those Kings into the corners. The full basic rules are on the rules page, and if you enjoy family card games of this kind, Crazy Eights and War are worth a visit too.