Spite and Malice

How to play Spite and Malice

Spite and Malice is for two players here: you and the computer. It uses two ordinary decks shuffled together. Each of you has a goal pile of 20 cards with only the top one face up. The aim is to be the first to play every card from your goal pile.

• Between you are up to four building piles. Each starts with an Ace and is built up one card at a time, in any suit: Ace, 2, 3, and so on up to the Queen.
• Kings are wild. A King can go on any building pile as the card it needs, or start a new pile as an Ace. A yellow label shows what each King stands for.
• Your turn starts with your hand filled to five cards from the stock.
• Play cards onto the building piles from your hand, from the top of your goal pile, or from the top of any of your four discard piles. If you play all five cards in your hand, you draw five more.
• End your turn by putting one card from your hand on one of your discard piles. Only the top card of each discard pile can be played later, so try to put cards on top of higher ones: a 7 on an 8, say.
• When a building pile reaches its Queen, it's set aside. When the stock runs out, the set-aside cards are shuffled to make a new stock.
• The first player to empty their goal pile wins.

Tap a card, then the building pile to put it on. A card from your goal pile or a discard pile that fits only one pile plays there at once. To end your turn, tap a card in your hand, then one of your discard piles. Undo takes back one step at a time.

Keyboard

Tab moves between your goal pile, your discard piles, the building piles and your hand, and the arrow keys move between the cards in your hand. Enter or Space chooses a card or a pile. H shows a hint, Ctrl+Z undoes and Escape cancels a choice.