What You'll Need
- One standard 52-card deck
- Two to six players around a table everyone can reach
- Fast hands and short fingernails
Setup
Deal the entire deck out face-down between the players. Nobody looks at their cards. Uneven piles are fine; the deck evens itself out as the game runs. Leave a clear space in the middle of the table for the shared pile, because that is the only place hands go.
How to Play
Players take turns flipping one card from the top of their own face-down stack onto the shared pile in the middle. The flip goes around the table. You never look ahead, and you never choose which card you play.
The Slap Patterns
Two patterns win the pile:
- A double. Two of the same card land back to back on the pile.
- A sandwich. Two matching cards with exactly one card between them.
When either shows up, slap the pile. The first hand down takes the whole pile, adds it to the bottom of their stack, and starts the next flip.
Slapping Wrong
Slap when there is no valid pattern on the pile and you owe the pile a card as a penalty. It goes face-down under the pile, and whoever wins that pile collects your mistake along with it. This is why the good players slap late and clean rather than early and often.
Face-Card Challenges
Flip a face card and the next player is challenged. They get a limited number of tries to put down another face card. Beat the challenge and the pressure passes to the player after them. Fail it, and you take the whole pile.
Winning
Run out of cards and you are out of the game, unless you slap your way back into a pile before your turn comes round. The last player holding cards wins the whole deck.
Tips and Strategy
- Watch the pile, not your hand. You cannot control what you flip, so the only edge in the game is seeing the pattern a half-second before everyone else.
- Do not slap on reflex. Every bad slap hands a free card to whoever wins the next pile.
- Sandwiches are the ones people miss. Doubles are obvious. Trained eyes win on sandwiches.
- Being down to one card is not being out. One good slap and you are back to a full stack.
Make It a Party Night
Egyptian Rat Screw needs nothing but a deck, which makes it the easiest game on this list to bring somewhere. More printable rules, scorecards and dare decks are in the Party Pack, and the free Party Starter Pack gets you going tonight.
Variations
Slap-Only House Rules
Some tables add extra slappable patterns before the first flip. Agree on the full list up front, because a pattern nobody announced is an argument waiting to happen.
Elimination Play
Play it strict: run out of cards and you are out immediately, with no slapping back in. It shortens the game considerably.
