Top Card

Top Card is a small arithmetic game with a drink attached. It is not in the old drinking-game handbooks and, as far as we can tell, there is no traditional version to argue about, so the rules below are the rules. It is the drinking card game for a table that likes a bit of thinking between sips. You match the value of the card on top of the pile, either with one card or with several that add up to it, and because you choose which card ends up on top, you also choose what the next player has to deal with. That last part is the whole game.

What you need

• A standard 52-card deck, jokers removed; add a second deck for 6 or more players
• A drink per player
• A table with space for the draw pile and the play pile in the middle
• 3 to 8 players; 4 or 5 plays best

Setup

1. Shuffle and deal 8 cards to every player. Hands are big on purpose; you will need the options.
2. Put the rest face down in the middle as the draw pile. Flip the top card over beside it to start the play pile.
3. Run through the card values once. Aces are 1, number cards are face value, Jacks 11, Queens 12, Kings are wild. If the first card flipped is a King, the dealer names its value.
4. The player to the dealer’s left goes first. Then clockwise.

How to play Top Card

1. Match the value of the top card. Either play one card of the same value, or play 2 or more cards whose values add up to it. If the top card is a 7, that means a 7, or a 5 and a 2, or a 4 and a 2 and an Ace.
2. Put your cards on the pile in any order you like. The card you leave on top is the new target. Leave a 2 and the next player needs a 2 or two Aces; leave a Queen and they have options for days.
3. A King on top is whatever you say it is. Announce the value as you play it. A King inside a sum is worth whatever you need it to be.
4. If you cannot match, drink and draw 2. Your turn ends and the top card stays where it was for the next player.
5. Beat the player before you and hand out a drink. If you match using fewer cards than the previous player used, choose one person to drink and one person (the same or another) to draw 2 cards. A single card after a three-card sum is the classic way to do this.
6. When the draw pile is empty, shuffle the play pile. Keep the top card face up and reshuffle the rest underneath it.
7. First to empty their hand wins. The winner gives out 3 drinks, all to one person or split however they like. Shuffle and deal again.

Variations and house rules

• Exact sums only, no change. This is the default and the thing most new players get wrong: you cannot go over. A 9 on an 8 is a fail. If your table wants a softer game, allow “match or go one over”, which turns about half the failed turns into plays.
• Doubles. House rule. Play 2 cards of the exact target value at once (two 6s on a 6) and everyone else at the table drinks. The second 6 stays on top, so you have also just given the next player the same problem.
• Low Kings. House rule. A King used inside a sum costs 1 sip for the player who used it. Kings are strong enough that a small tax keeps them from settling every turn.
• Face-card finish. You cannot go out on a King. If the last card in your hand is a King, you must draw 1 card and play on. Stretches the end of the game and stops the person who was dealt three Kings from winning in four turns.
• Short hands. Deal 5 cards instead of 8 for a 10-minute version. Drinks come faster because nobody has the sums in hand.
• Shot clock. Our house rule for tables that overthink: 10 seconds from when the top card is set to when you start playing, or you drink. Someone counts out loud, which is its own form of pressure.

Tips

• Leave low cards on top. A 2 or a 3 on top is hard to match with a sum, and an Ace on top can only be matched with an Ace or a King.
• Keep count of what has gone by. If three Aces are in the pile and you leave an Ace on top, the next player needs the fourth one or a King.
• Use small sips for the “drink and draw 2” penalty. It hits the same unlucky player several times in a row by design, and a full drink each time ends their night early.
• Two decks for 6 or more. With one deck and 8-card hands, five players already take 40 cards and the draw pile lasts one round of penalties.