Egyptian Rat Screw
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University Games presents their version of the classic card challenge: Egyptian Rat Screw! It's a bit of physical fun as players flip cards trying to be the first to 'slap-down' the pile when the same number or faces appear Roll the dice to determine from which body part the 'slap' will originate - ear, nose or neck, etc. The name Egyptian Rat-Screw seemed to be made up on the spot, just to sound exotic and vicious. No jewellery on your slapping hand was added after a game or two because one girl with a lot of rings caused several bloody knuckles. Slapping in didn't occur to us until someone new wanted join mid-game. It is believed that this game, often originally played as Egyptian Rat's Crew morphed to the even more nonsensical name Egyptian Rat Screw which is another common name for the game. As opposed to the majority of other card games, this game usually rewards. Egyptian Rat Screw is a multiple player game that combines chance with agility. Played with a standard 52 playing card deck, the objective of the game is to win all of the cards through drawing and slapping. For more classic card games, check out our guides for Go Fish and War. Egyptian Rat Screw is a multiple player game that combines chance with agility. Played with a standard 52 playing card deck, the objective of the game is to win all of the cards through drawing and slapping. For more classic card games, check out our guides for Go Fish and War.
Other names: Egyptian Rat Screw, Egyptian Ratslap, Egyptian Rat Race, Egyptian Ratkiller, Egyptian War, Bataille Corse
In this guide, we will refer to the game as ERS
ERS uses a standard 52 card deck.
Number of players: 2-4
Start of Game
The deck is shuffled at the start of the game and each player is dealt an equal number of cards. The cards for each player are kept face down.
Gameplay
Play occurs in clockwise order. The objective is to win all of the cards in the deck.
Players take turns flipping cards from their pile onto a pile in the center of the table without looking at the card as it is being flipped.
There are two categories of cards (suits are irrelevant):
- Special cards: J, Q, K, A (Jack, Queen, King, Ace)
- Normal cards: 2 through 10
If a player puts down a normal card, nothing happens and it becomes the next player's turn
However, if a special card is played, a countdown is started for the next player. The next player has a set number of attempts to play a special card and it remains their turn until either they run out of attempts or they play a special card. If they fail to play a special card then all of the cards in the middle go to the previous player.
The number of attempts allotted for each special card is as follows:
- J → 1 attempt
- Q → 2
- K → 3
- A → 4
Example:
Let us assume we have two players Alice and Bob
If Alice plays a Queen then Bob has two attempts to play a special card. Let's assume they play a 2 followed by a 3. Then, they failed to play a special card in their two attempts and the pile of cards goes to Alice. However, suppose now that the second card played by Bob was actually an Ace. Then, it becomes Alice's turn again and she has four attempts to play a special card
Slapping Rules:
These rules are what change this game from one of chance to one of skill.
Players can win the pile of cards in the middle if the slap the pile when one of the following conditions is met:
- Double - the top two cards have the same rank (e.g. 9 ♣️ 9 ♦️ )
- Sandwich - the first and third card have the same rank (e.g. 9 ♣️ K ♠️ 9 ♦️ )
- Add to Ten - the top two cards add to 10 (note that aces count as 1 for this rule) (e.g. A ♠️ 9 ♦️ or 3 ♠️ 7 ♣️ )
- Marriage - the top two cards contain a king and queen (e.g. K ♦️ Q ♠️ or Q ♦️ K ♣️ )
Play Egyptian Ratscrew Card Game
- Top & Bottom - the top card and bottom card have the same rank
Players can slap the pile at any time, so it does not have to be their turn.
Penalty
If a player slaps the center pile when none of the slapping conditions are met then they must burn a card (i.e. place their top card under the bottom of the center pile)
Egyptian Rat Screw Online
End of Game
Egyptian Rat Screw Name Origin
The game ends once one player collects all of the cards.