Luther
8 Feb 2007, 16:18
A couple of us here have been thinking about a simple Worms game, played with a standard deck of cards. I thought that some of you might like to see what we've come up with.
Players:
2-? players (4 or more requires two decks of cards)
Setup:
Deal each player three stacks of four cards, all face up, each stack arranged in a 'patience' style column so that the cards below the top can all be seen. Each stack represents a 'worm'. The rest of the deck is put aside face down.
Play:
Play proceeds to the left of the dealer. On his or her turn, each player can either attack or 'darkside' (worms terminology for hiding out where you're harder to hit)
To attack, the player plays the top card of one of his worms against an equal or lower top card of someone else's worm. Suits are not important. Both cards are removed and placed face up in a discard pile. In addition, any uninterrupted descending sequence of cards below the one he attacks are also removed and placed on the discard pile. The attacking player then draws a new card from the pack and puts it on the worm from which he played the card.
Example attack (player 1's turn):
Player 1 worms (right hand card is top):
[8 [2 [4 [K ]
[6 [6 [7 [4 ]
[9 [2 [9 [Q ]
Player 2 worms:
[4 [3 [7 [9 ]
[K [J [2 [8 ]
[J [A [4 [6 ]
Player 1 decides to attack, and plays his queen against Player 2's 9. The queen, 9, 7 and 3 are all removed, and a new card dealt onto the attacking worm:
Player 1 worms (right hand card is top):
[8 [2 [4 [K ]
[6 [6 [7 [4 ]
[9 [2 [9 [7 ] <<< queen played and replaced
Player 2 worms:
[4 ] <<< 3 7 and 9 removed
[K [J [2 [8 ]
[J [A [4 [6 ]
The 4 is not removed because it was higher than the card above.
Alternatively, or if a player finds he has no top cards high enough to attack his enemy, he can 'darkside'. To 'darkside', the player nominates a worm and deals a single card onto the top of it. Continuing the example above, player 2 decides to 'darkside' his first worm:
Player 2 worms:
[4 [9 ] <<< new card
[K [J [2 [8 ]
[J [A [4 [6 ]
Killing a worm:
A worm is dead when an attack removes all its remaining cards. Playing a one-card worm's card as an attack doesn't kill it; you still deal another to replace it after the attack.
Special Rule for Aces:
If an ace is on the top of a worm, it's a high card - only another ace can beat it. However, if it's anywhere below the top card, it counts as low. So on his second turn, player 1 can remove the 6, 4 and Ace from Player 2's third worm by playing his 7:
Player 1 worms (right hand card is top):
[8 [2 [4 [K ]
[6 [6 [7 [4 ]
[9 [2 [9 [J ] <--- 7 played and replaced
Player 2 worms:
[4 ]
[K [J [2 [8 ]
[J ] <---- 6 4 and A removed.
Special Rule for when a player has only one worm left:
If a player only has one worm left, he can choose not to draw another card after attacking. This allows him to expose more powerful attacking cards that his opponent might be unwilling to bring to the top.
Other rules:
If the deck is exhausted, flip over the discard pile, shuffle and re-use it.
Winning the game:
The last player with worms left wins!
Optional Rules:
Sudden Death: For a quicker end-game, when only two players remain with one worm each, the water starts to rise. Every round (2 turns), one card is removed from the bottom of each worm and put on the discard pile.
Hints and tips:
1. Don't darkside on top of aces. A worm with an ace on the top is very strong; a worm with an ace in the middle is very weak.
2. Think twice before darksiding on top of low cards: this tends to make vulnerable descending runs.
2. Worms with cards that get smaller towards the top aren't much use in attack, but they take a lot of killing. Think about using your attacks and darksides to construct a hard-to-kill worm - it'll come in handy.
3. If you're in a 3-way game, play devious! Use your attacks on the player to your right to expose tempting descending runs of cards, so that the player to your left will leave you alone.
There you go. Maybe some of you might like to give it a try and let us know what you think. Enjoy!
Players:
2-? players (4 or more requires two decks of cards)
Setup:
Deal each player three stacks of four cards, all face up, each stack arranged in a 'patience' style column so that the cards below the top can all be seen. Each stack represents a 'worm'. The rest of the deck is put aside face down.
Play:
Play proceeds to the left of the dealer. On his or her turn, each player can either attack or 'darkside' (worms terminology for hiding out where you're harder to hit)
To attack, the player plays the top card of one of his worms against an equal or lower top card of someone else's worm. Suits are not important. Both cards are removed and placed face up in a discard pile. In addition, any uninterrupted descending sequence of cards below the one he attacks are also removed and placed on the discard pile. The attacking player then draws a new card from the pack and puts it on the worm from which he played the card.
Example attack (player 1's turn):
Player 1 worms (right hand card is top):
[8 [2 [4 [K ]
[6 [6 [7 [4 ]
[9 [2 [9 [Q ]
Player 2 worms:
[4 [3 [7 [9 ]
[K [J [2 [8 ]
[J [A [4 [6 ]
Player 1 decides to attack, and plays his queen against Player 2's 9. The queen, 9, 7 and 3 are all removed, and a new card dealt onto the attacking worm:
Player 1 worms (right hand card is top):
[8 [2 [4 [K ]
[6 [6 [7 [4 ]
[9 [2 [9 [7 ] <<< queen played and replaced
Player 2 worms:
[4 ] <<< 3 7 and 9 removed
[K [J [2 [8 ]
[J [A [4 [6 ]
The 4 is not removed because it was higher than the card above.
Alternatively, or if a player finds he has no top cards high enough to attack his enemy, he can 'darkside'. To 'darkside', the player nominates a worm and deals a single card onto the top of it. Continuing the example above, player 2 decides to 'darkside' his first worm:
Player 2 worms:
[4 [9 ] <<< new card
[K [J [2 [8 ]
[J [A [4 [6 ]
Killing a worm:
A worm is dead when an attack removes all its remaining cards. Playing a one-card worm's card as an attack doesn't kill it; you still deal another to replace it after the attack.
Special Rule for Aces:
If an ace is on the top of a worm, it's a high card - only another ace can beat it. However, if it's anywhere below the top card, it counts as low. So on his second turn, player 1 can remove the 6, 4 and Ace from Player 2's third worm by playing his 7:
Player 1 worms (right hand card is top):
[8 [2 [4 [K ]
[6 [6 [7 [4 ]
[9 [2 [9 [J ] <--- 7 played and replaced
Player 2 worms:
[4 ]
[K [J [2 [8 ]
[J ] <---- 6 4 and A removed.
Special Rule for when a player has only one worm left:
If a player only has one worm left, he can choose not to draw another card after attacking. This allows him to expose more powerful attacking cards that his opponent might be unwilling to bring to the top.
Other rules:
If the deck is exhausted, flip over the discard pile, shuffle and re-use it.
Winning the game:
The last player with worms left wins!
Optional Rules:
Sudden Death: For a quicker end-game, when only two players remain with one worm each, the water starts to rise. Every round (2 turns), one card is removed from the bottom of each worm and put on the discard pile.
Hints and tips:
1. Don't darkside on top of aces. A worm with an ace on the top is very strong; a worm with an ace in the middle is very weak.
2. Think twice before darksiding on top of low cards: this tends to make vulnerable descending runs.
2. Worms with cards that get smaller towards the top aren't much use in attack, but they take a lot of killing. Think about using your attacks and darksides to construct a hard-to-kill worm - it'll come in handy.
3. If you're in a 3-way game, play devious! Use your attacks on the player to your right to expose tempting descending runs of cards, so that the player to your left will leave you alone.
There you go. Maybe some of you might like to give it a try and let us know what you think. Enjoy!