G4A: Spite & Malice

A competitive patience card game for two players!

Spite & Malice is a head-to-head patience game where two players compete. Each player begins with a 5-card hand, a pay-off pile of 20 cards, and 4 empty side stacks.

In the center of the table, you'll find 3 empty center stacks and a stock pile that holds the remaining cards.

Your goal is simple: be the first player to empty your pay-off pile.

The center stacks are built up from aces in ascending order, regardless of suit. So the first card could be the ace of diamonds

followed by the two of spades, three of hearts, and so on. Kings are wild cards, meaning you can play a king

on any center stack, and it will transform into the correct card needed for that stack. For example,

if you play the king of spades on a ten of clubs, the king becomes a queen.

Once a center stack is completed (by placing a queen or king on a jack), the stack is shuffled back into the stock pile.

You can place any card on your side stacks, no matter what cards are already there. Note that only the top card of each side

stack is accessible during play, as explained below.

At the beginning of your turn, draw cards from the stock until your hand reaches 5 cards.

During your turn, you can make one of the following moves:

- Play the top card from your pay-off pile onto a center stack.

- Play the top card from one of your side stacks onto a center stack.

- Play a card from your hand onto a center stack.

- Play a card from your hand onto one of your side stacks. This action ends your turn immediately.

The game concludes when a player places their last card from the pay-off pile onto any center stack.

That player wins the game and earns points equal to the number of cards left in the opponent's pay-off pile.

If the stock pile runs out, the game ends in a tie, and neither player scores any points.

The first player to reach 50 points wins the match!