Blitz

2-10 players. Play online with family and friends, over the internet or across a home network

Blitz is a popular card game also known as Scat or 31. Blitz is played with a standard deck of 52 cards. With a hand of only 3 cards, players try to get 31 points in one suit, or "rap" if they think at least one other player has fewer points. The player with the fewest points loses a token. But a player must be cautious about rapping, for if they have the worst hand, they lose two tokens.

Start the Game

Before you can play the game, one player, the host, must start a game. Learn more about hosting this game.

After the host has started the server, each player should start the Blitz game on their own computer and enter the port, IP address, and player name exactly as instructed by the host.

Dealing the Cards

Players are arranged in the order in which they join the game. Cards will be deealt when the last person arrives. Each player is dealt three cards, one card is turned up on the discard pile, and the rest are placed face down beside the discard pile to be used as a draw pile. Each player is also given three tokens.

Playing

The first player, the 'leader', is randomly chosen. If additional games are played, the player seated to the left of the winner will lead.

Players take turns trying to get a "blitz" or "rapping". Each player must either "rap" or take a card from the draw pile. A player should rap if they think someone else may have fewer points. If they draw a card, they must discard a card.

Points

Points are determined by adding the card value of all the cards of the same suit. Aces have a value of eleven points, face cards have a value of ten points, and all other cards have a value equal to the card's face value.

Rap

If you think someone's hand might be worse than yours, you should consider rapping. If you rap, you do not get to draw a card and your turn ends. All other players have one more turn to try to improve their hand. After all players take one more turn, the player with the fewest points loses a token. If the player who rapped had the fewest points, they lose two tokens; no one else loses any tokens, not even player(s) who tied the person who rapped.

Blitz

A "blitz" is three cards of the same suit whose point values add up to 31. If a player has 31 points in their hand after they discard, all other players immediately lose a token.

Riding

After a player loses their third token, they are considered to be "riding". They may continue playing until they play a hand in which they are supposed to lose another token.

Out

If a player who is riding loses one more time, or a player raps with one token but has the lowest number of points, they are out of the game and the other players continue playing without them.

End of Draw Pile

The number on the draw pile indicates the number of cards in that pile. If the draw pile runs out of cards before anyone gets a blitz or raps, the game will continue as long as players keep taking the discard. If someone doesn't want the discard, they must end the hand by clicking the empty draw pile, at which time, the player with the fewest points will lose a token.

Winner

The game continues until only one player remains in the game. That remaining player is the winner.

Tips

• Watch the suit taken by the person after you. If you can, avoid discarding cards in the suit they are collecting.
• You can play this game without conversing with other players, but you may find it more enjoyable if you use some other form of audio or video communication while you play this game. For example, Zoom, Discord, or phone.
• If one person leaves the game early or loses their internet connection, the game will automatically end for everyone.
• If anyone leaves the game and others want to play again, the host must stop and restart the game server (click Stop then click Start) or close the server and start it back up again.
• All players should run the same version of the game. Playing with different versions of the game may cause the game to suddenly terminate for everyone.

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