President – Play Online for Free

President is a card game with a pecking order built right in. Whoever sheds all their cards first in a round becomes President, and whoever is left holding cards last gets branded Scum. The titles have consequences, too: at the start of the next round, the loser has to hand their best cards to the winner. That creates a little hierarchy at the table which reshuffles itself round after round. Here you sit across from three computer opponents.

Besides President, English speakers know the game as Scum or Capitalism, and at many a table by a far ruder name, and depending on the group the top rank may also be called King, Boss or Chief. Its roots lie in East Asia: it is regarded as a Western version of the so-called climbing games, in which every play has to top the one before, such as the Chinese Zheng Shangyou, the Vietnamese Tiến Lên or the Japanese Daifugō. Because it has been handed down as a folk game, countless house rules are in circulation, right up to a "revolution" that turns the whole ranking upside down. With The Great Dalmuti there is even a commercial version with a deck of its own.

Beat It or Pass: Rules and Tricks for President

Four people play with all 52 cards, thirteen each. Suits do not matter at all; only the rank counts. The lowest card is the Three, and from there the ranking climbs through Jack, Queen, King and Ace, with the Two standing at the very top.

• Leading: The player who starts puts one or more equal-ranked cards in the middle, for example a pair of Sevens. That number of cards then applies to the whole trick.
• Beating: The following players must play exactly as many cards, and of a higher rank, so two Eights or better on two Sevens. The same rank is not enough.
• Passing: You may pass at any time, even when you could play, and you may jump back in later during the same trick. If you have nothing that beats the cards in the middle, the game passes for you automatically.
• Winning a trick: When everyone else passes after a play, the middle is cleared, and whoever played last leads the next trick.
• Twos and bombs: A Two, or several Twos in the matching number, takes the trick at once. Four cards of the same rank, the bomb, may be played at any time, whatever lies in the middle, and they end the trick immediately as well.
• End of the round and ranks: As soon as three players are out of cards, the round is over. The first to finish becomes President, the second Vice President, the third Peasant and the last one Scum.
• Card exchange: From the second round on, Scum hands their two highest cards to the President and gets any two cards back, while the Peasant gives their highest card to the Vice President and receives one in return. Scum then leads the new round. In the very first round, whoever holds the Three of Diamonds starts.

A match has no fixed end, and the name tags show your current rank and your tally of presidencies so far. You pick cards by tapping them, then confirm with Play or Pass. On Easy the opponents often decide at random, while on Hard they play thoughtfully from start to finish.

How to climb to the top:

• Low cards first: When you lead a trick, play your weakest cards. You will need the high ones later to win back the lead.
• Keep groups together: A pair or three of a kind is worth more than single cards, because it can open or beat a trick of several cards. Break groups up only when it truly pays off.
• Save Twos and bombs for the finish: They win you the trick and with it the right to lead. Ideally, only one group is left after that, which you can then put down without any risk.
• Do not pass out of caution: Pass too often when you could have played, and you end up sitting on a full hand. Play while you still have sensible cards.
• Give back wisely as President: In the exchange, it is best to return low single cards and hold on to your pairs.

Play, Beat, Shed: Five Card Games for Your Next Round

These games share a table full of computer opponents, the race to an empty hand or the battle for tricks:

• Mau-Mau: Here, too, whoever runs out of cards first wins. But you only ever play one card at a time, matching in suit or rank, and Sevens, Eights and Jacks stir things up considerably.
• Hearts: Four players, 52 cards and a card exchange before most rounds. Instead of getting rid of your cards as fast as you can, you try to avoid catching any hearts or the Queen of Spades there.
• Spades: A trick-taking game in which spades are always trump and two teams go head to head. Before each round, everybody bids the number of tricks they intend to take.
• Uno: Another shedding game, bright and colorful, in which an empty hand is also what counts. Action cards like Reverse and Wild Draw Four keep the surprises coming.
• Black Peter: Once again the point is not to finish last: the player stuck with the single unmatched card loses.