Shithead — sometimes called Shed — is a shedding game of bluffing and bad luck.
Empty your hand before anyone else. Whoever's still holding cards when
everyone else is out wears the title.
The deal
Every player gets nine cards: three face-down in front of you, three
face-up on top of those, and a hand of three. You play from your hand
first — the face-down and face-up cards stay put for now. Ranks run
2 (lowest) up to A (highest).
Whoever was dealt the 4 of hearts leads the first trick.
On your turn
Play one card, or several of the same rank at once, equal to or
higher than the top card on the pile. Can't beat it? Pick up the
entire pile into your hand and play passes on.
The special cards
- 2 — always playable, on anything. It resets the pile, so whoever's next can follow with any card.
- 3 — transparent. Play it like a normal card, but the next player plays against whatever card is underneath it instead.
- 7 — flips the rule: the next card played must be a 7 or lower, until someone breaks it with a 2 or burns the pile.
- 8 — reverses turn order. Heads-up, that just means you go again.
- 10 — always playable (unless a 7 is in effect). Burns the pile for good, and you go again.
- Four of a kind — four cards of the same rank stacked in a row also burns the pile, and you go again.
Running out of hand
Once your hand and the draw deck are both empty, play straight from
your face-up cards. Once those are gone too, play blind from your
face-down cards: flip one, and if it doesn't beat the pile, you pick
up everything — the revealed card included.
Winning (and losing)
First player to clear their hand, face-up, and face-down cards is
safe and out of the running. Play continues among whoever's left —
the very last player still holding cards is the Shithead.