I’d be lying if I told you the card game Speed was an easy one to explain, once you learn how to play Speed, you’ll just get the hang of it. I learned to play Speed as a child, so trust me, the level of difficulty is not too high at all. It doesn’t take much skill, per se. Just a little focus and a quick hand.
How to Play Speed
Number of Players: 2
Objective: To be the first player to discard all your cards.
How to set up the card game Speed:
First, remove both jokers from the deck of cards. Now, this is where it gets a little confusing…
Each player is dealt a total of 20 cards, which are divided into 2 piles of 5 cards and 15 cards respectively. The cards remain face down.
The remaining cards go in the center of the 2 players and are placed as follows. 5 cards, 1 card, 1 card, 5 cards. Also face down.
How to Play Speed:
At the start of the game, the players get to look at the 5 cards that were dealt to them. They also turn over the 2 cards that were placed in the middle. That’s when the race begins.
The goal for each player is to pile their cards upon either of the 2 middle decks for the game. They’ll have to place cards consecutively in order for the play to be legal. So, for example, if the top middle card is a 5, the only cards that can be placed on top of it are a 4 or a 6.
Players can only have up to 5 cards in their hands at a time. As they deplete those cards, they replenish from their 15 card deck.
If no player is able to make a move, they both pull from the 5 outer cards that are face down in the center.
Note:
Players can place on either deck as long as they have a legal move.
There is no taking turns. Players can place cards in the center as fast as they can.
Once the first player gets rid of all 20 cards, he or she yells “Speed” and the game is over. The first player to yell Speed wins.
Still a little confused about how to play speed? Check out this video demonstration below.
See Also: 21 Old School Games For The Whole Family
