Kings In The Corner

In the 1910s, the Grey family using the SS Suevic board came up with this game.

There are various name variations of Kings in the Corner like King in a Corner, Kings Corners and King’s Corner. Even though it’s scarcely featured in American card game books, it is quite popular in North America.

It is a snappy card game reminiscent to solitaire, but at the end of the game only one winner comes out.

Let’s see how Kings in the Corner goes about.

A remake of the cards game Kings in the Corner. Features: - 80+ countries around the world - Real-time online matches - Matchmaking - Single-player mode against CPU - Pass N Play - Private matches - Profile levels. Kings can only be placed on the corner slots on the board. Queens can only be placed on the two middle slots in the top and bottom rows of the board. Jacks can only be placed on the two middle slots in the left-most and right-most columns of the board. Numbered cards can be placed in any slot on the board, regardless of how the slot is marked. The Kings in the Corner game is also referred to as King’s Corner, Kings Around, Kings Corners or Spider. It is basically a multiplayer version of Solitaire and was invented by the Grey Family in the 1910s.

Kings in the Corner Rules

  • A standard deck of 52 playing cards
  • 2-4 players
  • A flat surface

Deal

7 cards are dealt to each player at the table, one card in succession at a time. The dealing will occur in a clockwise manner where the player sitting on the left being the first to receive the cards. Those cards that remain will be put in the middle of the table. The dealer will then flip one card and place it in the east, west, north, and south of the remaining deck of cards. In case a king crops up, it will be moved to one of the corners of the deck and another new card will be turned to fill its place.

What is the objective of Kings in the Corner?

It is to become the first player to play all the cards in the middle.

Gameplay

The player sitting on the left side of the dealer is usually the first one to commence playing. A player usually draws a card from the deck of cards to begin a turn. The individual playing will play cards onto the faced up cards that are located in the middle position. Cards will be played in a decreasing sequence, starting from the king, queen, jack, 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, and ace.

While observing such a sequence, only the opposite color suit will be put on top of the other. For instance, a red queen will be played on a black king. A black ten will be played on a red jack. A red ace will be played on a black two. At each turn, players are free to play with plenty of cards as they wish. A player will then announce when through so that play can continue to the next player.

In any of the empty corners that face the middle deck, a player can place a king. An individual can take a pile of cards and move it to another new pile if it is acceptable to place the top card onto the bottom card. On the empty space that is formed, a player can play any card to begin another pile of cards.

It is advisable that when playing, ensure that the cards overlapping are visibly seen. In case the deck at the center runs out of cards, then play will still continue with the cards in hand.

A round will end when one of the players discards all the cards in his/ her possession.

Scoring

After a round ends, scores are usually calculated. For every king left in their hands, players will score 10 points and for each other card, 1 point. Players will continue to play several rounds until an agreed amount of points like 25. Once any player attains or exceeds the 25 points, a player who has the lowest score points will be declared the winner.

Game variations

  • In some game versions, players are not allowed to draw a new card when each turn commences. Players will only draw a new card in the case where they cannot play further.
  • There is a case where penalty points are allocated to the remaining cards. Play usually continues until a particular player runs out of cards. The players that remain with cards on their hands are allotted penalty points based on those cards. There following are the rules that are adhered to:
  • For each king, a player is allotted 10 points and for any other card, one point.
  • Play usually continues until a certain player reaches an agreed score point like 25 or 50.
  • After reaching or exceeding the agreed points, the player who possesses fewer points wins the game.
  • There are other people who choose to play with poker chips. At the start of each round, players receive the same amount of chips as 50. Each player will place a chip in a communal pot at the start of a particular round. Play will continue like any other kings corner game. But, in a situation where a player is unable to discard any card from the hand or move a pile of cards, that player will take one of the chips and place it in the pot.

At the end of each round, the players that are left with cards on their hands have to pay chips for them. Later, the individual who isn’t left with any cards is declared the winner. That player will go ahead to take all the chips on the pot. After that, the game will continue using the remaining chips.

Contents

  • 2 How To Play
  • 3 Rules
  • 4 Strategy

Kings in the Corner, also widely known as Kings Corners, is a multi-player card game.

This is very similar to solitaire but brings in a twist make it more exciting. During a Kings in the Corner game, it feels like everyone is playing a single solitaire game but with the twist that there is only one winner.

There are 4 piles at the beginning and 4 more in the corners can be started off with a king – thus the name of this game. Only things you need to indulge in this amazing game are one 52-card deck together with a supply of chips or pennies (Source).

History

A playing set for the Kings in the Corner card game is being published by Jax Ltd. of Minneapolis since 1996. The actual card game was thought up in the 1910s by the “Grey Family aboard the SS Suevic”, says a current entry in Wikipedia.

How To Play

The gameplay of Kings in the Corner is quite simple. The dealer shuffles the deck of cards and deals 7 cards to every player.

Quick Video Guide

The remaining deck of the cards is kept in the middle on the playing board.

Now, the topmost 4 cards from the deck are kept on the 4 sides of the deck like in North, East, South, and West directions, creating 4 foundation piles. All of these cards are kept face up. A card is drawn from the pile by the first player.

The player places that particular card or any other card from his/her hand on the playing board. More than one card can be placed by the player at a time. The 4 face-up cards are considered as a beginning point while placing the cards from the player’s hand.

A player places the cards in alternate colors and in descending order.

For instance, if the beginning point card is 7 of spades, the player will place 6 of diamonds or hearts on it if he/she has the card on hand.

Then the player creates combinations from the available cards in his/her hands and attempts to discard as many cards he/she can. If the current player cannot play any more cards, the turn is passed to the player on his/her left. If a king is drawn by any player, it is placed in an open corner.

Kings

Then, it should be utilized as the beginning point as well. The game continues this way until a player discards all the cards in his/her hand and that particular player wins the game.

If you manage to play all the cards available in your hand, you win. Else, after you have played any card you wish to or can, you have to draw one card from the stock and it ends your turn.

You can watch a useful gameplay video at the official website of JAX Games.

Playing Online

If you want to play online, check out cardgames.io.

Rules

Play Kings In The Corner

Here is a quick overview of the rules of Kings in the Corner card game.

  • Ideal for 2 to 4 players.
  • The first dealer is selected at random and after each hand, the turn to deal passes clockwise.
  • If the center deck runs out of cards, the game continues without drawing.
  • Point-wise, kings are considered the highest and aces are considered the lowest.
  • A player is not allowed to hold any card back intentionally if it fits the playing board.

PDF Rulebook

Kings in the Corner Coronation

In this version of Kings in the Corner, only two people can participate.

Every time a king’s corner gets filled with an entire series from King-to-Ace, the participant who completes it gets a point for a “coronation”.

Also, the player who first gets rid of his/her cards receives one point (Slaying the Dragon), but this player then continues playing by refilling his/her hand. The game keeps on continuing until all the cards have been used.

Hence, in every game, there will be 5 points scored: 4 coronations and 1 dragon slain. The player with a majority of points wins – 3 points to 2 is a normal victory, 4 points to 1 is an incredible victory, and 5 points to 0 is an absolute victory.

Kings in the Corner Points

Each player gets penalty points for the cards left in his/her hands at the end of the play. Cost of a king is 10 points and all the other cards cost 1 point each.

Kings In The Corner Rules

These points get accumulated until a player exceeds or reaches a target score agreed in advance (for example, 25 or 50).

The player who holds the lowest number of penalty points at the specified target becomes the winner.

Kings in the Corner Valid Moves

These moves are considered valid in Kings in the Corner.

  • You can literally play a “King in the Corner”. Kings are the only cards that you can play in the corner spaces formed by the cross. Once a king is played, cards may be laid off that pile by the players like any other foundation pile.
  • You can move a complete foundation pile onto another pile, as long as the move creates a valid sequence. This becomes possible when the cards are dealt first.
  • You can play a card on a foundation pile on the cross. For this, the card played has to be of the opposite color of the foundation card and immediately below its rank.
  • Any card or sequence of cards can be played on a vacated foundation pile.

Strategy

Kings in the Corner Variations

Variations to Kings in the Corner add extra rules or scoring regulations. In one method, a tableau is used that consists of 16 cards, presented in a 4-by-4 grid.

Kings In The Corner Instructions

When playing this version, players may only advance kings to the corners while queens can only be advanced to the left and right center tableaux, and jacks only to the top and bottom center tableaux.

Kings In The Corner How To Play

The remaining tableaux is then filled by the players, removing pairs of cards with an accumulated value of 10 with the aim of freeing up the tableaux for extra cards, trying to play the whole deck without running out of room.