Welcome to the World of Dutch Blitz!

Are you ready to learn the exciting game of Dutch Blitz? If so, you’re in the right place! In this guide, I’ll walk you through the rules and strategies to help you become a Dutch Blitz master.

How to Play

The objective of Dutch Blitz is to get rid of all the cards in your Blitz Pile as quickly as possible. Each player has their own Blitz Pile and a Dutch Blitz deck consisting of 40 cards. The cards are divided into four colors: blue, green, red, and yellow.

At the start of the game, each player takes the top ten cards from their Blitz Pile and arranges them face-up in front of them. These cards will be the player’s “Post” stack. The remaining cards in the Blitz Pile form the player’s “Blitz” stack.

The game is played in real-time, meaning there are no turns. Players can play cards as fast as they want, using the following rules:

• Cards in the “Post” stack can be played in ascending order, starting with an Ace and going up to a King. Players can play on their own “Post” stack or on their opponents’ “Post” stacks.
• Cards can also be played on “Dutch Piles” in the center of the playing area. Dutch Piles are shared by all players and start with a one card on top. Players can play on Dutch Piles by playing cards that are one value higher or lower than the top card on the Dutch Pile.
• In addition to playing cards on their own “Post” stacks and Dutch Piles, players can also “Slap” cards. To slap a card, a player must have a card in hand that can be played on a “Post” stack or Dutch Pile. When a player slaps a card, they must say “Blitz!” and place their card on top of the pile they are slapping. This adds an extra challenge to the game and keeps it fast-paced.

The game continues until one player successfully gets rid of all the cards in their Blitz Pile. At that point, the round ends and players tally up their points. Points are awarded based on the number of cards remaining in each player’s Blitz Pile and “Post” stacks.

Strategy Tips

Now that you understand the rules, let’s talk strategy. Here are a few tips to help you improve your Dutch Blitz game:

• Focus on playing cards from your Blitz Pile to your “Post” stack as quickly as possible. The more cards you have in your “Post” stack, the more opportunities you have to play on Dutch Piles and slap cards.
• Keep an eye on your opponents’ stacks. If you see a card you need for a Dutch Pile, try to slap it before they do!
• Don’t be afraid to slap cards. Slapping cards can give you an advantage by allowing you to play cards faster and disrupt your opponents’ plans.
• Pay attention to the value of the cards on the Dutch Piles. If you have multiple cards that can be played on a Dutch Pile, consider which one will give you the biggest advantage.

With these tips in mind, you’re ready to dive into the exciting world of Dutch Blitz! Whether you’re playing with family or friends, this fast-paced card game is sure to bring lots of fun and excitement. So gather your cards, find some opponents, and let the blitz begin!

The game I’m about to introduce is all about strategy and fun. It’s called “Pennsylvania Dutch Card Game,” and it can be played by two, three, or four people. When you open the box, you’ll find four decks of cards, each with a unique design: pump, carriage, pail, and plow.

Now, here’s the exciting part – you get to choose one of these deck designs to keep throughout the game, no matter how many rounds you play. The faces of these beautiful cards are printed in vibrant red, blue, yellow, and green.

The red and blue cards feature an adorable Pennsylvania Dutch Boy illustration, while the yellow and green cards showcase a charming Pennsylvania Dutch girl illustration. Now, here’s how the game works:

Each player starts by building three essential groups of cards in front of them. These groups will form the foundation for their gameplay. From there, the adventure unfolds!

When playing this game, I focus on organizing the cards into different piles: the Post, Blitz, and Wood Piles (Fig.A). The main goal is to arrange the cards in sequence from 1 to 10, all of the same color, in the center Dutch Piles. This strategy helps me earn points throughout the game. To achieve this, I try to use as many cards as I can from the Blitz Pile.

Hey there! Let me tell you about this awesome game called Dutch Blitz. It’s all about being super fast and beating your opponents!

So here’s how it works: the goal is to be the first player to use up all the cards in your Blitz Pile. When that happens, you’ve “Blitzed” your opponents and the hand is over. But wait, there’s more! You can also use cards from your Post and Wood Piles to build up your Dutch Piles.

You’ll need to play several rounds to win the game. The magic number is 75 points. Yup, you’ve gotta accumulate that many points in total to become the big winner (You can check out the scoring details in the “Scoring” section).

Now, here’s the best part: everyone plays at the same time! It’s a high-speed, heart-pumping frenzy where speed is everything. Dutch Blitz is a game that will get your adrenaline kicking and keep you on your toes!

So we’ve got a little glossary for you:

Wood Pile: It’s like a stack of cards on the right side of you. You take the cards from your hand and put them in this pile.

Dutch Piles: These are stacks of cards in the center of the table. There are four different colored piles – red, blue, green, and yellow. You have to play cards in ascending order on these piles, from 1 to 10. And you earn points for each card you play here.

Post Piles: These are groups of cards on the left side of the Blitz and Wood piles. The cards in the Post Piles are arranged in descending order. You can use these piles to trade or replace cards during the game.

Blitz Pile: This pile is made up of 10 cards and it’s really important. It’s called the Blitz Pile because it can help you win the game. After you’ve used all the other cards, the Blitz Pile is your last hope. If you’re left-handed, you can put the pile on your left side to make it easier for you to handle the cards.

Setup

So here’s what you do: shuffle your deck of 40 cards really well, making sure they’re all face down. After that, take the top three cards from your deck and flip them over. You’ll place these cards in front of you, and we call them the Post Piles. They look like this (check out Fig B).

Okay, here’s what you do. First, you count the next 10 cards and put them on the right side. This is called the Blitz Pile and should be lined up with the Post Piles. Easy, right?

So, here’s what you do. First, each player holds their remaining cards face down in their hand. Got it? Great. Now we’re ready to start!

Quick note before we dive in: If there are only two players, the rules stay the same, but you’ll need to use five Post Piles instead of three. Got it? Okay, let’s get back to it.

Let the Fun Begin

One player, usually the scorekeeper, gives the signal to start. And remember, everyone starts and plays at the same time until the hand is over.

Now, pay attention. If any of the cards that are facing up in front of you happen to be a Number 1 card, no matter the color, you have to place it face up in the center of the table. And that’s the start of what we call a Dutch Pile. Simple enough, right? Take a peek at Fig D if you need a visual.

When I play the Number 1 card, it starts a new Dutch Pile. If I use a card from the Post Piles, I fill the empty space with the top card of my Blitz Pile. I always need to make sure I have the same number of Post Piles as I started with.

When I use the top card of my Blitz Pile, I don’t replace it. If I have a Number 2 card of the same color as the Number 1 card in any of my Dutch Piles, I should put it on top of the Number 1 card. Then I can add a Number 3, a Number 4 card, and so on, in increasing order.

If I can’t use any of my exposed cards on the Dutch Piles, I have to count off three cards from my hand.

So here’s what happens: I’m going to turn over three cards, and the third one will end up on top. This creates what we call the Wood Pile. Plus, there’ll be another card exposed, making it five cards in total (or seven if there are two players). Now, this extra card can be played on the Dutch Piles, as long as it fits. Easy, right?

The best part is that you can use the top card from the Wood Pile for any play you want, whenever you want (check out Fig E).

When I start a game of Dutch Pile, I always play a Number 1 card to begin a new pile. If I can’t make any more moves, I have to take three more cards from my hand and place them face up on top of the remaining cards in my Wood Pile (if there are any left).

From there, I can play any of my exposed cards onto any of the Dutch Piles in the middle of the table. But there’s a catch – I can only play cards that are the same color and in an ascending sequence. Once I’ve turned over all the cards in my hand, I have to collect all the cards in my Wood Pile.

Without shuffling the cards, I turn them face down in my hand and count off three more, turning them over to build up my Wood Pile once again. If I want to, I can also move cards from my Blitz Pile, Wood Pile, or any of my Post Piles onto another one of my Post Piles, using the method shown in Figure F.

1. I start by building cards from the Blitz Pile.
2. Then, I move on to building cards from the Wood Pile.
3. Next, I connect one Post Pile to another.
4. This allows me to take another card from the Blitz Pile as a replacement.

When building the Post Piles, I must make sure that the numbers follow a DESCENDING sequence. For example, I can place a seven on top of an eight, and a six on top of a seven, and so on. Additionally, the cards in the Post Piles must alternate in gender, such as boy – girl or girl – boy.

It is crucial that both the number and the color of the cards are visible to all players at all times. This is especially important when adding cards to a Post Pile, as they need to form a DESCENDING sequence on top of the base card.

Warning: If you want to use up your Blitz Pile, don’t be afraid to add cards to your Post Pile. However, be careful not to build too much from your Wood Pile, as it can tie up valuable cards.

You can only use the lowest-numbered card in each DESCENDING sequence from your Post Piles to build onto a Dutch Pile.

The main goal of the game is to use up your Blitz Pile, so it’s better to prioritize playing cards from there instead of making plays from your Post Piles or Wood Piles.

Dutch Blitz Playing Positions

Putting an End to the Hand: When you play the final card in your Blitz Pile, you shout “BLITZ!” and the game stops right away.

How to Keep Score

So, here’s how we can figure out who’s winning this game! All you have to do is count how many cards you have left in your Blitz Pile. Remember, don’t touch any other cards yet – just focus on your own pile.

Once everyone has their number, the scorekeeper will collect all the Dutch Piles and neatly stack them in the middle of the table. Now, it’s time to gather your Post, Blitz, Wood Pile cards, and any remaining cards in your hand, and set them aside.

Next, all the players will work together to organize the Dutch Pile cards that the scorekeeper collected. We need to make sure each player gets their cards back, and we’ll do it by sorting them according to their designs – pump, plow, pail, and carriage. Once that’s done, each player counts the number of cards they had played onto the Dutch Piles and tells the scorekeeper their count.

Once you’ve finished playing a hand of Blitz, the scorekeeper will tally up the points. Each card that you successfully placed in the Dutch Piles will earn you one point. However, for every card that remains in your Blitz Pile, two points will be deducted from your score. After calculating the score for that hand, the game will be reset, and a new hand will begin.

How to Win

The objective of Blitz is to be the first player to reach a score of 75 points. If multiple players reach 75 points in the same hand, the player with the highest score among them will be declared the winner. So make sure you stay on top of your game and aim for that winning score!