Kings Corner Card Game Rules: The Complete Guide

Step 1: The Setup

You can buy Kings Corner as a board game that uses specialist cards and comes with a couple of other pieces. But these games use fairly standard playing card decks with a few small changes. The pieces are also not essential, and you don’t need the booklet with Kings Corner card game rules, as that’s what we’re here for!

Just grab yourself a standard 52-card deck and remove the jokers. Shuffle the deck and deal 7 cards to each player, working clockwise from the player on your left. It’s best to deal one at a time to each player rather than 7-7-7-7, as it helps to further mix the cards.

Once every player has 7 cards, place the remainder of the deck face-down in the middle of the table.

Draw the top 4 cards from the deck and lay them face-down around the deck—one left, one right, one above, one below. If a King appears, move it to one of the spaces between the 4 cards and draw another card.

Step 2: Play the Game

The game starts with the player to the dealer’s left. They draw a card from the deck in the middle of the table and add it to their hand.

The player must then discard as many cards as they can by playing them. Here are some basic Kings Corner rules to consider when playing your cards:

• If you have a King, place it in one of the empty corners
• You don’t have to play a King immediately if you don’t want to
• Place a card on a pile when it is 1 number lower (King is high; Ace is low) than the one on the top of the deck
• As Ace is low, it is the last card that can be placed
• Merge piles when the bottom card of 1 deck is a different color and 1 number lower than the top card of another

Kings Corners Hand Examples

Still not sure of the Kings Corner card game rules? Let’s look at some examples:

There is a 7 of Clubs, 8 of Spades, 4 of Diamonds, and 10 of Hearts on the table.

In your hand, you have the following:

• Jack of Spades
• Queen of Spades
• Jack of Diamonds
• King of Clubs
• 6 of Diamonds
• 7 of Hearts
• 3 of Clubs
• 2 of Hearts

You can begin by creating a new corner with the King of Clubs, add the 7 of Hearts to the black 8, and add the 3 of Clubs and 2 of Hearts to the red 4.

Step 3: The Winner

Your turn ends when you can’t discard any more cards or create/merge new piles. The player to your left then takes their turn and follows the same pattern.

If the deck in the middle runs out, the game continues with the other piles in place. It ends only when one of the players discards all of their cards. That player is then declared the winner.

Variations of Kings Corner

There is rarely just one way to play a card game. Every game has multiple different variations, and this one is no different. With a few Kings Corner rule tweaks, you could find a version of this game that is more suited to your play style.

One of the variations requires you to draw a card at the end of the hand and not at the beginning. It may slow the game a little, and it means that the player who takes the first move doesn’t have as much of an advantage.

Another variation speeds things up by tasking players to draw a card at the beginning and end of their hand.

One of the best ways to get more from this game is to simply track how many games each player has won. It’s a great way to enjoy the game over a prolonged session, and it will also reduce the element of chance.

Summary: Games Like Kings Corner

Now that you know all about this fun card game, the only thing left is to find a deck of cards and give it a go. It’s easy to set up, quick to play, and lots of fun. What’s more, you don’t need to worry about confusing your friends as you teach them Kings Corner card game rules.

Looking for something a little else? Give blackjack a go. It’s just as simple, and we even have guides on how to win at blackjack without counting cards. You should also check out triple edge poker rules for a fun game that takes a casino and cardroom classic and turns it into a novel and incredibly fun title.

Common Queries

How do you play the Kings Corner card game?

Kings Corner is a fast-paced card game that pits 2-4 players against each other as they race to empty their hands by building descending sequences of alternating colors. Check out our handy guide for rules.