Knuckles is a kid-friendly card game that gets its’ name from the ability to knock when you think that you have the lowest score. This game shouldn’t ben confused with the games like Bloody Knuckles or the bar card game knuckles or the hand punching games. There is no blood or injury associate with this game, even though I did find a variation that was called Bloody Knuckles.
The Knuckles card game is great for kids who have a handle on addition of several numbers and ones who like games of risk. Games like the card game 31, Finders Keepers or Go Low are also games that a player like that would like.
In this post we’ll cover the rules, how to play and the variations on the Knuckles card game. Let’s go to it.
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What You Need For Knuckles
You will need a deck of playing cards with the jokers removed.
How to Play the Knuckles Card Game
To start, each player is dealt five cards. The rest of the cards are put in the middle as the draw pile.
The goal of the game is to have the lowest amount of points.
The point values of the cards are as follows: 2 to 10 are face value (meaning 2 is worth 2 points, 3 is worth 3 points). Next are the Jacks; these are worth zero points. Last is the Queen and King. These are both worth 10 points each. Aces are worth one point.
The first player takes the top card of the draw pile. She then decides what cards to keep in her hand and which one to discard.
Now the next player has the choice of taking the top card off the draw pile or the discard pile.
At any point, if a player thinks that he has a lower score than anyone else, he can knock as his turn. Now, all other players have one more turn to lower their score.
If no one knocks, the game is over when the draw pile is empty.
Winning Knuckles Card Game
The player with the lowest point value wins the game.
Knuckles Card Game Variations
The first rule change is the amount of cards. Instead of five cards, only three cards are dealt. This make the addition part of the game easier.
The next change is a bigger one. In this variation, 10s, Jacks, Queens and Kings are all worth 10 points. Aces are worth 1 point and the numbers 2 to 8 are worth their face values. On the other hand, 9s are worth just half a point. This makes it more challenging because players could forget and discard a 9 thinking it’s higher than say a 8.
Knockout Fun
Knuckles is a fun, light strategy game that kids will want to play again and again.
For more cards games be sure to check out Rolling Stone, GOPS and our original game Hay Stacks. Check out our Family Game Shelf Shop for more fun, original and seasonal games.
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How do we play dirty knuckles.?..?.
Played with my kids when they were little. I cant remember number of cards dealt. Number of players? What happens to the loser?
Much appreciated!