Crapette Rules for 2 Players

Game Overview

Crapette is played by exactly two people, each with their own standard 52-card deck — ideally with different-colored backs, since the two packs get mixed together during play and need sorting out again afterward. It's an old game, known elsewhere under other names (Russian Bank in English-speaking countries, Streitpatience in Germany, Tonj in the Middle East — see the story below). Crapette belongs to the family of competitive patience games: unlike a classic trick-taking game, each player builds their own solitaire while getting in the other's way.

Objective

The goal is to be the first to get rid of every card in your hand, waste pile, and reserve. You do this by playing cards onto the eight shared foundations or the eight tableau houses, or by "loading" them onto your opponent's reserve or waste pile.

Setup

Each player shuffles the other player's deck, then deals from it:

• a stack of 12 cards face down topped by a 13th card face up, on their right: the reserve;
• 4 face-up cards in a column above it, without overlapping: the houses. The eight houses (four per player) form the tableau, split down the middle by a gap of at least two card-widths reserved for the eight foundations, built later from the aces;
• the remaining 35 cards, face down on their left: the hand.

The space between the hand and the reserve holds the waste pile, which builds up during play. Houses and foundations are shared territory for both players. A small point of vocabulary: the reserve is sometimes called "the crapette" — it's this pile's name, not the whole game's, that gave the French title its origin.

How to Play

The player whose visible reserve card ranks lower goes first (king high, ace low); ties are broken by comparing the neighboring houses one by one until the players are separated.

On your turn, you may play any available card — the visible card of your reserve, or the outermost card of each of the eight houses — onto a foundation, a house, or the opponent's reserve/waste pile, following these building rules:

• Foundations: an empty foundation only takes an ace; it then builds up in the same suit, ascending to the king (only the 5 of diamonds fits on the 4 of diamonds).
• Houses: descending order, alternating colors (only a red 7 fits on a black 8). An empty house takes any card.
• Opponent's reserve and waste pile: you may "load" them with a card of the same suit as the exposed card, one rank higher or lower — onto a 9 of spades, an 8 or a 10 of spades.

As soon as you play the top card of your reserve, you immediately turn up the next one. When no compulsory move remains, you turn up the top card of your hand: if playable, you play it; if not, it goes to the waste pile and your turn ends (your opponent can then force you to play it onto a foundation instead, if it was compulsory there). Once the hand runs out, you turn the waste pile over as a whole, without reshuffling it, to form a new hand.

End of the Game

The game ends as soon as a player has no cards left in hand, waste pile, or reserve — that player wins immediately. It can also reach a deadlock: neither player can find a single legal move left from their reserve or hand, and the game simply stops with no winner.

Common Variants

Variants mostly come down to geography: in Germany, Streitpatience or Schikanös-Patience; in the Middle East, Tonj. The North American version, known as Stop or Touch, adds one precise rule: if a player makes an illegal move, or merely touches a card that can't legally be played, the opponent may stop the game and take over instead.

A Game That Changed Its Name at Every Border

Few card games carry as many different names as this one. It already appears in an 1884-85 German book under the name Zank-Patience: a century-old classic that picked up a new label at every border it crossed before becoming, in France, la Crapette — a name that, as we saw, originally referred to nothing more than the reserve pile.

Where to Buy the Game

crapette card game 2 decks on Amazon

Beginner Mistakes to Avoid

The most common slip: forgetting to immediately turn up the next reserve card the moment you play one — it's compulsory, not optional. Another classic mix-up: confusing the foundations' building direction (ascending, same suit) with the houses' (descending, alternating colors). Many beginners also try to load the opponent's reserve or waste pile with a card of the same color but a different suit — a 9 of diamonds onto an 8 of hearts, say — when only the exact same suit is allowed. Finally, never turn your hand or waste pile over while reshuffling the card order, and remember that touching an unplayable card can let your opponent stop the game.

FAQ

1. Where does the name "Crapette" come from?

Originally, "crapette" referred only to each player's 13-card reserve pile. French players eventually adopted the word to name the whole game, while elsewhere it's known as Russian Bank, Streitpatience, or Tonj.

2. How many players and decks do you need?

Exactly two players and two separate standard 52-card decks, ideally with different-colored backs since they get mixed together during play.

3. How do you win a game of Crapette?

By being the first to get rid of every card in your hand, waste pile, and reserve, playing them onto the foundations, the houses, or the opponent's reserve and waste pile.

4. What's the difference between the tableau houses and the foundations?

Foundations only start with an ace and build upward in the same suit. Houses build downward in alternating colors, and an empty house takes any card — unlike an empty foundation, which only takes an ace.

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