How To Play Scum Card Game Rules

How to Play Scum Card Game

Alright, let’s dive into the super fun card game called Scum! It’s also known by a bunch of other names like President, Asshole, or Capitalist, but no matter what you call it, the rules are pretty much the same. It’s a shedding-type game, which means the goal is to get rid of all your cards before anyone else does. It’s simple to learn, but there’s definitely some strategy involved, making it a great game for a group of friends or family. So grab a deck of cards, and let’s get started!

Setting Up the Game

Before the game can even start, you need to get everything ready. This isn’t a complicated process, but it’s important to make sure it’s done right.

Gather Your Crew and the Cards

Scum is a game best played with a minimum of three players, but you can go up to seven or eight quite comfortably. More than that, and you might need to use two decks of cards. For a standard game with up to seven players, just a regular 52-card deck works perfectly. No jokers needed!

Dealing Out the Cards

Now comes the important part: giving everyone their hand. You deal out all the cards as evenly as you can. It doesn’t matter if some people have one extra card at the end. It’s completely fine. Just go around the table dealing one card at a time to each player until the whole deck is gone. Keep the cards in each player’s hands, face down.

The First Round: Finding the Scum

At the beginning of the very first game (not in subsequent games), you need to figure out who gets to go first. There are a couple ways people usually do this:

• The lowest card: Each player flips over one card from their hand. The player with the lowest value goes first. If there’s a tie, those players flip another card until one of them has a lower card. Suits don’t matter in this case. Ace is low.
• High card order: Alternatively, you can decide that whoever has the highest value goes first. Again, if there is a tie, the involved players reveal another card until one of the tied players reveals the highest among them. This makes the first round slightly different from subsequent rounds.
• Age: The youngest (or the oldest depending on your preference) player can go first

Once you decide, that person begins the play.

How to Play Scum

Okay, the cards are dealt, the first player has been established, now let’s get to the gameplay. This is where the fun begins!

Understanding Card Ranks

In Scum, the cards have a rank from lowest to highest, unlike most other games where Ace is the highest. Here it’s the reverse, making it a crucial part of the strategy. They rank as follows:

1. 3 (lowest)
2. 4
3. 5
4. 6
5. 7
6. 8
7. 9
8. 10
9. Jack
10. Queen
11. King
12. 2 (highest)
13. Ace (next lowest, below 3)

Suits don’t matter at all. Just card rank, is everything that matter here.

The Basics of Play

The basic gameplay involves players trying to play cards of a matching or higher value than the last card played. Here’s how a round unfolds:

• Starting the Play: The player who goes first can play any single card, or multiple cards of the same rank. For instance, the first player can lay down a single 5, or a set of three 7’s.
• Following the Play: The next player must either play cards of a higher rank matching the number of cards of the previous player. If the first person laid down a single 5, the next player must play a single card higher than a 5. They could play any card from 6-2. If the first person laid down two 7’s, the next player must play two matching cards that are higher than 7. For instance, two 8’s, two 9’s, two 10’s and so on.
• Passing: If a player doesn’t have a card or combination of cards they can play, or chooses not to, they pass. Once a player passes, they don’t get another chance to play until everyone else has either passed or the round has reset.
• Clearing the Pile: Once everyone passes, the player who put down the last set of cards gets to choose a new rank to start with. They can put down any single card, a pair of cards, a set of three or four cards of same rank.

Special Card Combinations and Actions

While simple card plays make up most of the game, certain card combinations can add a fun twist.

• Pairs: You can play two cards of the same rank. The next player must play a pair of a higher rank.
• Triples: You can play three cards of the same rank. The next player must play three of a higher rank.
• Quads: Four cards of the same rank. The next player must play four of a higher rank.
• The 2 card: The 2 is the highest card in the game. You can only play a 2 on another 2, or at any time to end a round. For instance, if you hold one or more 2’s in your hand, you can stop the round at any time if no one has played a 2 until your turn.
• Bombing/Clearing: If you play four cards of the same rank at any point you “bomb” or clear the pile. No matter what was previously in the middle, everyone passes, and you get to start a new round. This clears the table and lets you begin again.

The End of a Round

A round in Scum ends when all the players have passed consecutively or someone has played a 2. The player who played the last set of cards before the round reset gets to start the next round by playing any card or combination they want. Remember, if you clear the pile with a quad, you also start the new round!

The Goal and Winning the Game

The ultimate aim of Scum is to be the first to get rid of all of your cards. This earns you the coveted title of “President.” But the game isn’t over until everyone is out of cards. That’s where the other rankings come in. The person who gets rid of all their cards first is named President and the last one remaining is named the Scum.

The Rankings

After the first person gets rid of all their cards, keep going until you reach the last player, they are the ‘Scum’. Every player in between gets a title depending on the order they came out in.

• President: The first player to get rid of all their cards.
• Vice President (or middle titles depending on number of players): The second player to get rid of all their cards.
• Vice Scum (or middle titles depending on number of players): The second to last player to get rid of all their cards.
• Scum: The last player to get rid of all their cards.

In some variations, these titles are not used or players are just ranked according to order they get rid of their cards.

The Next Game

After you have determined the rankings for the current game, you move to the next game! In this next round, things can be different for players depending on some rules that are different from variation to variation.

Here’s a popular method for the next round that adds a fun twist:

• Card Passing: The “President” (or winner of the previous game) gets to pick their two favorite cards from their hand. They then hand their lowest two cards to the Scum. In return, the Scum hands over their two best cards to the President. In a four-player game, the Vice President and Vice Scum also exchange a single card in a similar fashion. This helps make each game fun and helps players be more engaged in the game.
• The Seating Arrangement: You could have a system where after each round the players who won get to move up the pecking order to be near the President and those who lose move down to be near the Scum. For instance the winner moves to the top of the table and the loser moves down to the bottom. This way, even in subsequent rounds, people get to enjoy something to look forward to.

Variations and House Rules

Like many card games, Scum comes with a bunch of variations and fun house rules that you and your friends can change the game to! Here are a few popular variations you might want to try!

The ‘Reverse’ Rule

In this variation, the 3 is considered the highest card, and the 2 is the lowest. The card rankings are reversed which can really change the strategy of the game.

So the order of the card would be – 3, 2, King, Queen, Jack, 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, Ace.

The ‘One-Eyed Jacks’ Rule

In this variant, the Jack of Spades and Jack of Hearts are considered ‘wild cards’. Meaning they can be used to make any set or replace any number you are missing. This can help players create combinations when they are lacking a certain card.

The ‘Equal Play’ Rule

Normally, when the next player has to play a higher value set of cards, they have to play the same number as the previous player. But in this variant, they can play any number of cards as long as they are of a higher value. For example, If you put down three 5’s, the next player can put down two 6’s or one 7. This can really change the game because it allows for more cards to be cleared from hands early.

‘No Talking’ Rules

To increase the difficulty, some players prefer to play silently. No talking or indicating when you don’t have cards or are passing is allowed. This can make it hard for other players to know when to play the right number of cards and when they may need to pass.

Tips for Winning at Scum

Okay, now that you know the rules and some variations, let’s talk about some helpful strategies that will help you win at Scum! Remember, this game can have a lot of different things going on at the same time and require a lot of thinking.

• Hold onto high cards strategically: Don’t just get rid of your highest cards right away. Keep them for when you need to clear the pile or if you have a bunch of low cards and don’t have many combinations.
• Watch your opponents: Pay attention to what other players are doing and how many cards they have. This will help you guess what cards they are holding and what strategy they are using.
• Save your pairs, triples, and quads: Don’t play your combinations unless you need to. Holding onto these combos can help you when you are forced to play cards or clear the piles when you need to.
• Be aware of card exchanges: During card exchanges between rounds, remember which cards you gave away, and which cards you were given. This will help you plan for the next round and know what cards you have and what cards your opponents might have.
• Don’t forget to play your 2’s!: These high value cards can really get you out of trouble when you have no other play. So play them when you need to stop a round.

Scum is a game that is both easy to learn and also difficult to master. It requires lots of thinking and strategies but it’s also a fun way to connect and have a good time. Now that you have a good understanding of the rules and tactics involved, go grab a deck of cards and some friends and try this game for yourself!