How to Play War

By Jaques of London · Est. 1795 · Updated 2026-08-17

War is a two-player card game requiring no reading, no arithmetic and no prior knowledge of cards. Each turn takes roughly two seconds, which makes it genuinely accessible for young children while remaining satisfying for anyone who enjoys the suspense of a blind reveal.

It is played at kitchen tables, on long car journeys and in classrooms the world over. The appeal is simple: the outcome of each flip is completely unpredictable, yet the cumulative swing of a long game creates real tension. No hand management, no bluffing, just cards.

A little history

The precise origins of War are unclear. Card games built around comparing rank with no skill element appear in European gaming literature from at least the nineteenth century, and simple comparing games likely predate that in folk play. War as a named, codified game for children became widely documented in American and British games guides during the early twentieth century, though no single inventor or publication is credited with establishing the rules as they are known today.

Setting up

1. Remove jokers from the deck so you have exactly 52 cards.
2. Shuffle the deck thoroughly.
3. Deal all 52 cards face down, one at a time, alternating between the two players until each holds 26 cards.
4. Each player holds their cards face down in a single pile. Neither player looks at their cards.

How to play

1. Both players simultaneously turn over the top card of their pile and place it face up in the centre of the table.
2. The player whose card has the higher rank wins both cards and places them face down at the bottom of their own pile.
3. Card ranks from highest to lowest are: Ace, King, Queen, Jack, 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2. Suit has no bearing on rank.
4. If both players turn over a card of equal rank, War is declared. Each player places three cards face down on top of their revealed card, then flips a fourth card face up. The higher of the two face-up cards wins all ten cards on the table.
5. If the fourth face-up cards are also equal, repeat the war procedure: three face-down, one face-up. Continue until one player wins the war.
6. If a player does not have enough cards to complete a war, see Fine Points below for the standard ruling.
7. Continue flipping cards, one per turn, until one player has collected all 52 cards.

Winning and scoring

The player who collects all 52 cards wins the game. There is no points scoring. Because the deck contains an even 52 cards, a decisive win always results in one player holding the full deck. If time is limited, stop play at an agreed point and the player holding more cards at that moment is the winner.

The fine points

The most common dispute concerns a player who runs out of cards during a war. The standard ruling is that if a player cannot place the required cards face down plus one face up, they lose the game immediately, regardless of how many cards remain on the table. A softer house rule, popular with younger players, allows the short-stacked player to use whatever cards they have left: place as many as possible face down and flip the last card as the deciding card. Either approach is valid; agree which you are using before play starts.

A second frequent question is whether won cards are shuffled before being placed at the bottom of the pile. Strictly speaking, no shuffling takes place during play; cards go to the bottom in whatever order the player chooses. This matters because a predictable ordering of returned cards can, over a very long game, create cycles that prevent either player winning. If you find the game looping, shuffling won cards before returning them is a sensible house rule that resolves the issue without changing the fundamental game.

How to win more often

• There is no strategy in the pure game because neither player chooses which card to play. Accept this and focus on the ritual of the flip rather than trying to influence outcomes.
• Agree up front on the 'out of cards during war' rule. Misaligned expectations on this point are the number one cause of disputes mid-game.
• If playing with a younger child, use the softer 'play what you have' war rule to avoid a game ending abruptly on a technicality, which can feel unfair to a six-year-old.
• To keep a long game moving, set a time limit before you start and award the win to whoever holds more cards when time is called. Forty minutes is a reasonable cap for most sessions.
• If the same cards keep cycling, introduce the shuffle rule for returned cards. It takes five seconds and prevents indefinite draws.

Variations

Three-player War

Deal 17 cards to each player and set aside one card face down. On each turn all three players flip simultaneously; the single highest card wins all three. On a tie between two players, those two fight a war while the third player's card stays on the table: the war winner takes everything. If all three tie, all three fight a war together. The player who collects all cards, or the most cards at a time limit, wins.

Reverse War

All rules remain the same except that the lower card wins each battle rather than the higher. Ace becomes the weakest card and 2 becomes the strongest. The game plays identically in mechanics but forces players, especially children, to reframe their understanding of card value, which makes it a useful teaching variation.

War with Jokers

Reintroduce both jokers to the deck, making it 54 cards. Jokers beat every other card, including Aces. If both jokers are played simultaneously, standard war procedure applies. Each player starts with 27 cards. The joker rule raises the stakes of any battle and adds two wild-card moments to a typical game session.

Speed War

Set a countdown timer for ten minutes. Both players flip continuously without pausing, placing won cards at the bottom of their pile as fast as they can manage. No formal war is fought on ties: tied cards simply go to the player who physically grabs them first. The player holding more cards when the timer sounds wins. This version suits older children and adults who find the standard game too slow.

War: frequently asked questions