Suit Up!: Strings

Strings (one of two games in a article titled Suit Up!) is a no-luck card game. Each player gets the 13 cards of a suit from a standard deck of cards, and takes turn playing one card at a time to a set of "strings" on the table. A "string" is a row of cards in ascending sequence with no gaps, e.g. a 4 must be followed by a 5, then a 6, etc. A string can be started with any card except an ace, 10, or a court card; the latter are wild. There is a limit of seven strings with three players and nine with four, which may make it impossible for a player to play later in the game, in which case they discard a card. When all cards are gone players assess each string to see who wins it: 2-10 count their face values, aces count 11, and court cards count 5. The winner takes the string; if there is a tie the cards are split evenly. The player winning the most cards wins the game. Several variants are provided.