How to play Prší: the rules, and the house rules that change everything

Prší is the card game half of the Czech Republic learned on a train, at a cottage, or under the desk at school. It takes a minute to learn, and it never plays the same way twice — because every table plays it a little differently.

This is how it works in Spades & Clubs, where the mode is called Rain: first the classic rules, then the house rules you can switch on before a match.

The goal

Be the first to get rid of every card in your hand. That's it.

Setting up

• A full deck: 52 cards plus 4 Jokers. (Traditional Prší uses a 32-card deck; the Jokers are what make the house rules below possible.)
• Each player gets 5 cards. One card goes face up in the middle — the pile — and the rest are the draw pile.
• A coin flip decides who starts. If the face-up card is a 7, the King of Spades, a Joker or an Ace, its effect counts against whoever plays first.

Your turn

On your turn you do one of two things:

1. Play one card onto the pile. It must match the top card's suit or its rank — a 9♥ goes on any heart or on any 9.
2. Draw one card and your turn ends.

When the draw pile runs out, the pile is shuffled back in (the top card stays).

The special cards

A penalty card you can't answer means drawing all the cards — and then your turn is over.

Stacking

With penalty stacking on, a penalty can be passed along instead of taken:

• a 7 on a 7: the next player now faces +4, then +6…
• a K♠ on a K♠, and a Joker on any penalty;
• an Ace on an Ace passes the skip back.

With stacking off, a penalty is simply taken. Agree which way you play before you start — it changes the whole game.

The house rules

This is where Prší gets interesting. Every special card has alternative rules; pick one per card before the match.

Kings of Spades

• Classic — draw 4.
• The Tax Collector — two random cards from your hand are swapped with two random cards from your opponent's. Great when you're holding cards you can't get rid of.
• The Executioner — your opponent is silenced for 2 turns: they can't play 7s, the King of Spades or Jokers, and they can't answer a penalty.

Queens

• Classic — change the suit.
• The Gossip — you see your opponent's hand for 5 seconds.
• The Diplomat — cancels any penalty waiting on you, of any kind, with or without stacking. The Queen's suit stays in play.

Sevens

• Classic — draw 2.
• The Contagion — your opponent is infected with the 7's suit: until they play a card of that suit (or a Joker), nothing else is allowed.

Jokers

• Classic — draw 5.
• The Shapeshifter — the Joker copies the card underneath it, effect included.
• The Shield — only for defence. Facing a penalty, play the Joker and it becomes the card that attacked you: a K♠ +4 comes back to your opponent as a K♠ +4. They must take it — no stacking it back, no Shield ping-pong. (Only a Diplomat Queen can still cancel it.) Play continues in that card's suit, and a card of the same rank fits on it, just as on the real thing.

How a turn flows

• Draw until you play — instead of drawing one card, keep drawing until you find one you can play.
• Forced play — if you can play, you must. You may only draw when nothing in your hand fits.
• Multi-drop — play several ordinary cards of the same rank in one turn (three 5s at once). Tap the draw pile to end your turn when you're done.

Three quick tips

1. Don't fire your 7 the moment you get it. A 7 held back is your answer to theirs.
2. Keep a Queen for emergencies. It goes on anything — it's the card that gets you out of a suit you don't hold.
3. Count their cards. When your opponent is down to two or three, every penalty you send matters twice.

Play it with friends

Rain in Spades & Clubs lets you set the house rules once and play against friends — taking your turn whenever you like — or against a bot when nobody's around.