How to Play the Challengingly Fun 3 to 13 Card Game

If you love card games then the 3 to 13 card game is for you. This game takes a bit of time to play but is easy to learn and can be played with two to six players of just about any age.

Some card games that take about the same amount of time are Play or Pay, Boodle, Jok-R-Ummy and Hearts. Of course there is the commercial version of 3 to 13 called Five Crowns.

What you Need for 3 to 13 Card Game

For 3 to 13 card game, you will need one or more standard playing cards decks, jokers included. If you are playing a two player game, then you will need just one deck. For a three or four player game you will need two decks. And for five to six players you will need three decks. You can play with any number of players as long as you have enough cards to play with.

You will also need a score sheet. You can get our free score sheet in our Fun Library, it makes keeping score easy and straight forward.

How to Play 3 to 13

First, there are 11 rounds to 3 to 13 card game. For each round there is an increasing amount of cards dealt and a different wild card. It’s not as complicated as it sounds though.

For the first round, players are dealt three cards and threes are wild. In the second round, players get four cards and fours are wild. You can see the chart below to see the full list.

Jokers are always wild.

The goal is to be the first player to go out, or down. The overall goal of the game is to be the player will the least amount of points at the end of the 11 rounds.

To lay down cards, a player must use all of her cards and have a discard card.

Cards can be out down in either straights or books.

Straights

Straights are three or more card that are in sequence in a suit. For example the 2, 3, 4 of hearts is a straight. So is 9, 10, Jack, Queen. The straights must be in the same suit.

Aces are low in this game.

Books

Books are sets of three or more of a number. For example three 4s or four 9s are books. A book may contain two or more of the same card; an example could be the 5 of clubs, the 5 of clubs and the 5 of spades.

Wild Cards

The wild cards are what make 3 to 13 card game interesting. The Jokers are always wild. In each round there is a different number that is wild; this is part of the challenge and fun of the game. Wild cards can be used as any card. A straight or book can have any number of wild cards in it.

Playing

The dealer job rotates for each round. To start, the dealer passes out three cards to each player and flips over the last card to form the discard pile.

The first player then can draw the top card from the deck or pick up the top card on the discard pile. If she has a book or straight, she can go down. On the other hand, if she doesn’t have the card to go down, she must discard and play moves to her left.

Going Down

To go down, a player must have used all of his cards in either books, straights or a combination of the two. A card may only be used in one place and can’t be used in both a book and a straight at the same time. He must also have a discard.

Once a player has gone down, all other players have one more turn to lay down any and all cards that they can. A player may only use their own cards, meaning that they can’t add on to anyone else’s cards.

Scoring 3 to 13 Card Game

Any cards left in a plyers hand after their last turn count against them.

To start, the cards from 2 to 10 are worth their face value. For example 5s are worth 5 points, 6s are worth 6 points.

Aces are worth one point.

Jacks are worth 11 point, Queens 12 points and King are worth 13 points.

Jokers are worth 50 points and the current wild card is worth 20 points. So if you are left with one 8 and 8s are wild then you’d have 20 points.

Each round’s score is added to the last round’s score.

Winning 3 to 13 Card Game

The player with the lowest score after the 11^th round is the winner.

Variations of 3 to 13 Card Game

Aces High or Low

Some variations of 3 to 13 have the aces being either low or high at the same time. As before, an ace can only be used in one place at a time.

10 Point Score

Some games have the Jacks, Queens and Kings scoring only 10 pints each. The Jokers would only be worth 20 points.

No Jokers

Some people will play 3 to 13 card game with no jokers and only the changing wild cards.

It’s Not Over Until the Kings Go Wild

The card game 3 to 13 will keep you on your toes trying to keep track of what is wild. The best part of the game is that it’s anyone’s game, no matter what the current score, until the last round when the kings go wild.

To make the game even more fun, try playing with some fun playing cards. You can also buy the Five Crowns variation that includes a fifth suit. Canadians can check out Five Crowns here. For either the playing card game or the Five Crowns game, be sure to get our free Score sheet in the Fun Library.