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Goal

Fill all 16 cells of your 4×4 grid (or all 25 of a 5×5 grid, chosen at setup) so that every row and every column is in order. The first player to do it wins.

Cards

Use a standard 52-card deck without Jokers. This is a game for 2 or 3 players. With 3 players, use the 4×4 grid.

Ranking

The Ace is low and counts 1. The 2 to 10 count their number, the Jack 11, the Queen 12, and the King 13. Suits never matter.

Setup

1. Deal the diagonal. Deal 4 cards to each player. Each player places their cards on the diagonal of their own grid, from the top left cell to the bottom right, in any order. The diagonal cells share no row and no column, so any order is allowed.

2. Make the piles. The other 44 cards are the draw pile, face down. The discard pile starts empty.

3. Every grid is face up for the whole game.

On a 5×5 grid, deal 5 cards to each player, and the other 42 cards are the draw pile.

Play

1. Take one card. Take the top card of the draw pile, or any card in the discard pile. Every card in the discard pile stays face up and can be taken, not only the last one.
2. Throw it away or place it. Put the card face up on the discard pile, or place it in your own grid. It can go in an empty cell or on top of a card, and a covered card goes to the discard pile.
3. Keep the grid in order. Every row reads left to right and every column top to bottom, never decreasing. Equal ranks may sit side by side. Empty cells are skipped, so only the cards in a row or a column are compared. A card can’t go where it would break this order.
4. No covering an equal rank from the discard pile. A card you took from the discard pile can’t cover a card of the same rank. A card from the draw pile can.
5. Another turn. If the card you place has the same rank as a card diagonally next to it in your grid, take another turn. There’s no limit on how many you take in a row.
6. The draw pile is never reshuffled. When it runs out, take from the discard pile.
7. Winning. The first player whose cells are all filled, with every row and column in order, wins at once.
8. A repeated position ends the game. When every grid, the discard pile, and the player to move are the same for the third time, the game ends. The player with the fewest empty cells wins, and a tie for the fewest is a draw.

How this version differs

This version is for 2 players. The 3-player game on the 4×4 grid isn’t available here.