Egyptian Ratscrew

Egyptian Ratscrew is the loud, fast slap card game where quick hands beat good luck. Play Egyptian Ratscrew free in your browser, with no download or sign-up, on desktop or on your phone. You play against one, two or three computer players, and the goal is simple: end up holding all 52 cards.

How to play

The whole deck is dealt out face down, as evenly as possible. Nobody looks at their cards. In turn, each player flips the top card of their stack face up onto the center pile.

• Face-card challenges. When someone flips an Ace, King, Queen or Jack, the next player must answer with a face card of their own. They get 4 tries for an Ace, 3 for a King, 2 for a Queen and 1 for a Jack. If they flip a face card in time, the challenge turns around onto the next player. If they run out of tries, the player who started the challenge takes the whole pile.
• Slapping. At any moment, anyone can slap the pile. If the top cards make a slap pattern, the first good slap wins the whole pile, even in the middle of a challenge or just before a challenger collects. The slap winner flips first on the new pile.
• Burning. Slap when there is no pattern and you burn your top card: it goes face down under the pile, and you have to wait a moment before you can slap again.
• Out of cards. With the default setting you can slap back in once. If you have no cards left, keep watching the pile and slap the next good pattern to get back in. Three bad slaps while you are out, or a second time running out, ends your game. You can switch this to “Out for good” instead.
• Winning. Collect every card to win. If one player holds the whole deck while someone could still slap back in, they flip three more cards as a last chance for the others.

Slap rules you can turn on

House rules vary a lot, so the settings let you pick which patterns count. Doubles (two cards of the same rank in a row, like 7 then 7) and sandwiches (the same rank with one card between, like 4, 9, 4) are on by default. You can also switch on:

• Top and bottom: the top card matches the rank of the first card played on the pile. The bottom card is shown under the pile while this rule is on.
• Tens: two cards in a row that add up to 10, with the Ace counting as 1 (so 3 and 7, or Ace and 9).
• Marriage: a King and a Queen next to each other, in either order.
• Run of 4: four cards in sequence, going up or down, such as 4, 5, 6, 7 or Ace, King, Queen, Jack.

Computer players

The computer players react like people, not machines. On Easy they take about a second or more to slap and miss quite a few patterns. Medium players are quicker, and Hard players often slap in about half a second. At every level they are sometimes slow, sometimes miss a pattern, and now and then burn a card on a bad slap. They also pause before flipping onto a pile that already has a match, which gives you a fair chance to slap.

Controls

Press Space, tap the big Slap button, or tap the pile to slap. Press F or Enter, or tap Flip, to flip your card when it glows. P or Esc pauses, and the game also pauses when you switch tabs. Your wins, good slaps, burns and fastest slap time are saved in your browser.

Tips

• Watch the top two or three cards. Doubles and sandwiches only need the top three, and the pile is fanned so you can see them.
• Don’t slap on hope. Every burn feeds the pile, and the lockout after a bad slap can cost you the next real one.
• Stay alert during challenges. A pile is up for grabs until it is collected, so a lucky double can steal a big pile from the challenger.

FAQ

Is this Egyptian Ratscrew game free?

Yes. It’s free with no account and no install. Press New game at any time to change the players, speed and slap rules.

Can I play it on a phone?

Yes. The Slap button is large, you can also tap the pile, and touches on the table never scroll the page.

What happens if two players slap at the same time?

The first slap to land wins. If you are quicker than the computer, the pile is yours.

What other card games can I play?

Egyptian Ratscrew belongs to the same family of flipping games as War, the luck-of-the-draw flipping game. For a calmer card game, try Crazy Eights.