Spite & Malice: A Two-Player Card Game of Strategic Patience

Spite & Malice is a fast-paced, two-player card game demanding both skill and a bit of luck. Each player begins with a five-card hand, a twenty-card payoff pile, and four empty side stacks. The game also features three empty center stacks and a stock pile containing the remaining cards.

The goal? Be the first to empty your payoff pile!

Center stacks are built upwards from Ace to King, regardless of suit. Kings are wild; they can be played on any card and transform into the next card in sequence (e.g., a King played on a Ten becomes a Queen). Once a center stack is completed (King or Queen on a Jack), it's shuffled back into the stock.

Side stacks are less restrictive; any card can be placed on them, but only the top card is playable.

At the start of each turn, replenish your hand to five cards from the stock. Your turn consists of several possible moves:

• Play the top card of your payoff pile onto a center stack.
• Play the top card of a side stack onto a center stack.
• Play a card from your hand onto a center stack.
• Play a card from your hand onto a side stack (this ends your turn).

The game concludes when a player successfully plays their last payoff pile card onto a center stack, winning the game and earning points equal to the number of cards remaining in their opponent's payoff pile. If the stock pile is depleted before either player wins, the game is a tie. The first player to reach 50 points wins the match!