Welcome to Alley Cat!

Hey there, have you ever played Alley Cat? It’s a cool game created by this guy named Andrew Walker. I’ll tell you all about it!

Get Ready to Play with the Cards and the Deal

So here’s the thing about Alley Cat. It’s a card game that’s played with a deck of cards that’s been changed up a bit. You start by separating all the Clubs, Spades, and the 5 of Diamonds from the deck. The rest of the cards can just be set aside – they won’t be needed in the game. Oh, and by the way, in this game, Aces are low and Kings are high. And if you have two cards of the same rank and you play them to the trick, Clubs will always beat Spades. Got it? Oh, and one more thing – the 5 of Diamonds beats both the 5 of Clubs and Spades. Keep that in mind.

Now that we’ve got the deck ready, let’s move on to the game itself. After giving the cards a good shuffle, each player picks a card. Whoever ends up with the lowest card gets to deal and keeps score for the whole game. Each player gets dealt six cards, and the rest of the deck becomes the draw pile. Oh, and the dealing alternates every round, just to keep things fair.

Now it’s time to play!

When we play a card trick, it all starts with the non-dealer. I get to choose any card I want and play it face up in the center. Then, the other player can follow with any card they wish, without having to match the suit. The player who plays the higher ranked card gets to take the trick. But if both players play cards with the same rank, the Club takes the trick. For example, if I lead with the Queen of Spades, and the other player plays the Queen of Clubs, then the Queen of Clubs wins the trick. It’s important to keep the tricks organized because they determine our score.

The loser of the trick is the one who draws the top card from the pile. The winner, on the other hand, doesn’t need to draw any cards. After that, it’s the winner’s turn to lead the next trick. We keep playing like this until one of us runs out of cards. Once that happens, it’s time to add up our scores for the round.

Now, let’s talk about Alley Cat.

When I play the 5 of Diamonds, also known as the Alley Cat, something special happens in the game. Instead of the loser drawing a card and leading the next trick, the winner of the trick is the one who draws a card, and the loser gets to lead the next one. However, there’s a catch – the trick that contains the Alley Cat is worth negative points. We determine the point total for the trick like we normally would, but then we subtract that total from the score.

SCORING

Scoring in the game is based on the difference in points between the two cards in each trick. Let’s say we have a trick with a 3 and an 8. The point value of that trick would be 5. Each card has a specific value – Aces are worth 1 point, numbered cards are worth their face value, Jacks are 11 points, Queens are 12 points, and Kings are 13 points. However, if a trick consists of two cards of the same rank, it has a value of zero points.

Hey there! Let’s talk about the Alley Cat game. It’s a pretty fun game to play, and I want to tell you all about it. So, here’s the deal:

When you play Alley Cat, you want to score as many points as you can. Each Alley Cat is worth 5 points, but here’s the kicker: the value of the trick it’s captured in is subtracted from your score. Let me give you an example to make it clearer:

Let’s say you lead with a King, and then someone plays the Alley Cat. The King takes the trick, but you have to subtract the trick’s value from your score. If the trick is worth 8 points, your score will go down by 8. So, you’ll get 5 points for the Alley Cat, but you’ll lose 8 because of the trick. It’s kinda tricky, right?

Now, here’s another thing you need to know: if the Alley Cat ends up in a trick with another 5, that trick is worth zero points. It’s like they cancel each other out. So, in that case, you don’t gain or lose any points.

WINNING

The goal of the game is to be the first player to reach 44 points or more. Once you hit that number, you win! But, uh-oh, what happens if there’s a tie? Well, no worries! You just continue playing rounds until someone breaks the tie. Simple, right?

So there you have it, my friend. That’s Alley Cat for you. It’s all about scoring points and aiming to reach 44 or more to snatch that victory. And now that you know the rules, I bet you’re keen to give it a try. Have fun playing!