To play Dutch Blitz card game, each player uses their own deck to rapidly play cards onto central stacks, following suit and ascending order while also managing a personal blitz pile.
Want a fast-paced card game that’ll get your heart racing? Well, you have come to the right place! This article will show you how to play Dutch Blitz card game, a fun and frantic game for two to four players.
It involves quick thinking and even quicker hands, as you’ll be racing against your opponents to empty your blitz pile first. Get ready for a great time with this exciting, engaging card game.
How to Play Dutch Blitz Card Game
Getting Ready to Play Dutch Blitz
Alright, let’s dive into the exciting world of Dutch Blitz! Before you can start blitzing, you need to get everything set up correctly. It’s not a difficult game, but a good setup makes all the difference. Think of it like prepping your ingredients before you start cooking, everything in its place! First things first, you’ll need a Dutch Blitz deck. Unlike normal card games, Dutch Blitz uses its own special deck with four different colors on the card backs: yellow, green, blue, and red. Each color has numbers from 1 to 10, and each number is on four cards. Make sure you have all 160 cards of a deck. If you have more than one deck, just separate out the decks using the colors of the backings, so every player can have their own deck to work with. We need 1 deck for every player. So, if there are 3 players we need 3 separate decks with different back colors. If one of them is missing, you will need to find that deck or just play with less number of players.
Setting Up Your Personal Pile
Each player needs a space in front of them. From their shuffled deck, they’ll create some important piles. This is where the strategic part starts! Here’s how each player makes their personal set of piles:
- Blitz Pile: Pick the top 10 cards from your deck. Place them face down in a pile to your left. This pile is the ‘Blitz’ pile that gives the game its name.
- Post Pile: Next, take the top three cards from your deck and place them face up side by side to the right of your Blitz pile. These cards are called ‘Post’ piles.
- Wood Pile: The rest of the cards, that are not part of the Blitz pile or the Post pile, form your “Wood Pile” and are placed face down in the center of your playing area.
The Play Area
Now, we have to create the foundation for playing the cards in the center of the table. The center area should be big enough for everyone to reach. You need some space because, as the game goes on, it will start to grow. The center of the table will hold the ‘Dutch Piles’. These piles will be built using the ‘1’ cards in each color and continuing up to the ‘10’ card. So, we need enough space to have 4 piles all the way to ten. This might be different for some players. This depends on how fast they can play cards and place it on table, and also how many players are playing the game. With more players, the game is going to be more complex and you will need more table space. Everyone needs to be able to reach all the Dutch Piles. Now that the play area is setup, let’s discuss how to actually play the game.
How the Game Works: The Core Gameplay
Dutch Blitz is all about speed and spotting opportunities. It’s not a turn-based game. Everyone plays at the same time! This makes it exciting and sometimes a little chaotic, but that’s part of the fun. You’ll try to empty your Blitz pile by placing cards on the Dutch Piles in the center of the table. Here’s a breakdown of how you do it:
Building the Dutch Piles
In the center of the table, everyone can build the Dutch Piles. You will start these piles when a ‘1’ card of any color comes up in your Post Pile or when you flip cards from your Wood Pile. Remember, the Dutch Piles must start with a “1” card. When a ‘1’ is played, the same color card must be played to continue the pile. The same color cards are added to the Dutch Pile in ascending order, from 1 to 10. So, if you have a red ‘1’, next you will need a red ‘2’, then a red ‘3’ and so on until you hit red ’10’. Each of the four Dutch Piles will be built with cards of the same color.
Playing from Your Post Piles
The three Post piles are the first cards you’ll try to play. You can play any of these face-up cards on a matching Dutch pile if the color and number match. If the card on top of a Post pile is playable you have to play it first before playing any other card on your Post pile. If you want to play the bottom cards on the Post piles, then you need to play the top card, until they are playable by playing them on the Dutch Pile. You can’t move the cards from one Post Pile to another. These are in a straight line and all the cards are independent of each other.
Working With Your Wood Pile
When you can’t play any cards from your Post Piles, it’s time to look at your Wood Pile. Flip over three cards from your Wood Pile at a time, and if you see any cards in order, that can be added to the Dutch Piles then add them to the piles. If those three cards are not playable, put those cards face up to the side. Flip the next three from the Wood Pile. You can play them if you can. If you can’t, then add them to the previous cards you placed aside and flip the next three from the Wood Pile and continue until you can play something to the Dutch Piles. When you are flipping the Wood Pile always move the cards to the side you are looking at. You need to keep those cards available for you to add to the Dutch Piles if there are cards that can be played. Remember that when you are flipping the Wood Pile cards in sets of three, you cannot look at the back of the cards before placing them. It has to be a complete set of three cards. If you pick two cards instead of three then those two cannot be used until you pick the third card. So keep all three cards together. Try to work the cards quickly.
Playing from the Wood Pile Piles
After flipping three cards from your Wood Pile. You must move all the flipped face up cards to side and flip the next three cards, until there are cards that can be played to the Dutch Piles. All the cards that are flipped face up will be added to the side of the cards you flipped before them. If there are playable cards in those face up side piles, you can play them as well. If all the cards are played to the Dutch Piles, you can then flip another three from your Wood Pile.
Moving Cards
The objective of Dutch Blitz is to empty your Blitz Pile. The goal is to get rid of your ‘Blitz’ pile cards first, and you do this by moving them to your ‘Post’ piles. If you have a card from the post pile that can be moved to Dutch piles, then you have to play that card first. Remember, always move the cards from the Blitz piles to the ‘Post’ piles and from ‘Post’ piles to the Dutch piles. You cannot play a card directly from the Blitz pile to the Dutch Pile.
Winning the Game
The first person to get rid of all the cards in their Blitz pile wins the round! They shout out “Blitz!” Once someone has shouted “Blitz!”, everyone stops playing immediately. You don’t get to finish your move if somebody else has shouted ‘Blitz’. Now that one person is declared the winner, you need to keep track of the points. You can do this on a piece of paper or a scoring pad.
Scoring Points
After each round, points are awarded to the player who was first to call “Blitz!”. Here’s how you score:
- Blitz Winner: The player who won the round gets one point for each card remaining in the other players’ Blitz piles.
- Dutch Pile Points: Additionally, the winner gets one point for every Dutch Pile card they placed during the round.
So, for example, if you won and the other three players had 4, 5, and 7 cards left in their Blitz piles, you would get 4 + 5 + 7 = 16 points for their remaining cards. Plus, you’d add your total number of cards from the Dutch Piles that you placed down. For the next round, just shuffle your cards and reset, then do the same again. The player who reaches the agreed point total first, is declared the overall winner of the game.
Ending the Game
The game continues until one player reaches a set number of points. Typically, games are played to 75, 100, or 200 points. You can set your own goal before you start the game. After you reach the target points the game is over and the player who first reached the points is declared as the ultimate winner of the game.
Important Rules and Strategies
No Taking Back Cards
In Dutch Blitz, if you play a card, it’s played! You cannot take cards back from the Dutch Piles or your Post Piles. Be careful and play strategically, and plan ahead. If you put it on the table you cannot move it back. So choose the cards wisely. Do not place cards on the Dutch Piles randomly, try to plan which card you want to play first. This rule makes the game more competitive, and adds to the fun.
Working Quickly and Accurately
The speed is important but being accurate is even more important. You cannot start flipping three cards from your Wood Pile before you are sure that you placed all playable cards to the Dutch piles. Make sure that every card you place on the Dutch Pile is in the correct order and that it is the correct color for the Dutch Pile. Playing fast without accuracy will cost you a lot of points, because you will have to flip a lot of cards from your Wood Pile and you will be missing out on playing the cards. Be quick but also be accurate.
Keep an Eye on Everyone’s Piles
While you’re focused on your own cards, try to keep an eye on what everyone else is doing. If you see a chance to block someone, do it! For example, if you see another player getting close to playing a red ‘5’ card, you can play a red ‘4’ card to prevent them from playing the ‘5’ card. This way you can buy more time. Keep in mind that everyone is working to play all the cards. So try to take every advantage you can to empty all the cards from your Blitz pile.
Practice Makes Perfect
Like any game, the more you play Dutch Blitz, the better you’ll get! You’ll learn to spot opportunities quicker, move your cards efficiently, and develop your own strategies for winning. Don’t give up after your first few tries. Keep playing and you will get better each time. You can also play some practice rounds to get better at playing cards fast, and accurately.
Adapt and Have Fun
The most important thing is to adapt to the game, be competitive, and most of all, have fun. Each round is going to be different from the other, some games will be easy, some games will be tough. So, just enjoy the process and have fun. Remember, it’s a game and it’s meant to be fun and exciting. Don’t take it too seriously, and try to get together with your friends and family to have some fun time. That’s what Dutch Blitz is all about!.
So now you know how to play Dutch Blitz! Get your cards ready, gather your friends, and start blitzing your way to victory. Remember the key steps: set up your piles, build the Dutch piles in the center, and get rid of your blitz pile first to win! Each round you learn more about the game and become a better player. Enjoy the fun of this quick-paced game!
How to play Dutch Blitz
Final Thoughts
Dutch Blitz involves quickly playing cards from your Blitz Pile onto center stacks, matching suits and ascending order. Players simultaneously try to empty their Blitz Pile. Using Post Piles helps manage your hand, while Wood Piles provides additional play options. It’s a fast-paced game, that really test skills.
Remember, you must play quickly and strategically to get rid of your cards. The first person to empty their Blitz Pile wins the round. How to play Dutch Blitz card game requires practice.
