The goal
War is the simplest game in the suite, and pure luck. You want to win every card in the deck. Each round both players turn a card, and the higher card takes both.
The deal
A full deck is split evenly: twenty-six cards each, face down, never looked at. There is one deal for the whole match. The deck is never reshuffled.
Aces are high, then king, queen, jack, ten, down to two. Suits do not matter at all. A king of hearts and a king of clubs are equal.
The play
Both players turn their top card at the same time. The higher card takes both. Cards you win go face down on a second pile. When the pile you play from runs out, that second pile is shuffled and becomes your new one.
If the two cards match in rank, it is war. Neither card is taken yet. Both stay on the table, and more are about to join them.
Each player lays three cards face down and one face up. The higher new card takes everything on the table. Another tie means another war on the growing pile. Run short mid-war and you commit what is left face down. You cannot win it, but your cards still ride. If you both run short, whoever put in more takes it all; on an equal stake, the first player seated does. Three down is the usual stake. A table can be set to lay anything from one to five, and the lobby shows the number before the deal.
Scoring
There are no points in War. Your score is simply the cards in your pile. The two piles always add up to fifty-two, so every card you win is one your opponent has lost.
Winning
The match ends when one player holds all fifty-two cards. Because War can in principle run forever, a match that reaches two thousand hands is settled on the spot for whoever holds more cards. Level on cards, the first player seated wins. If a player's connection drops, the table waits a minute for them. If they do not return, the match ends for both with no winner.
