There are many card games that you can play with your friends and loved ones like the ever-popular poker, spit, tonk and many others.
- Egyptian Rat Screw Online
- Egyptian Rat Screw Game Rules
- Egyptian Rat Screw Instructions
- Egyptian Rat Screw Origin
Egyptian Rat Screw Online
If you are looking to change things up, you can try playing the Egyptian Rat Screw. Also known as the Egyptian Rat Slap, Egyptian Rat Race, Egyptian Rat Killer, Egyptian War, this strangely-named card game is great fun for bored family and friends.
Unlike most complex card games, the Egyptian Rat Screw card game is very easy to learn with just a few rules to remember. It’s also a game that requires quick wits and luck, so things can get a little frantic fast.
In this article, we’ll show you the steps on how to play Egyptian Rat Screw to entertain your family and friends once they come over.
How to Play Egyptian Rat Screw
Egyptian Rat Screw is a fast-paced, fun card game that 2 or more players can play. This game is also called Egyptian Ratkiller, Slap, ERS, Egyptian Ratslap, and Egyptian War. Unlike most other card games, Egyptian Rat Screw generally rewards players having the. How to Play Egyptian Ratscrew: Here we'll teach you how to play the fast paced family-friendly card game Egyptian Ratscrew. It's a fairly unknown game with few sources to learn the rules from, so we've included all the necessary information as well as some pictures and instructio. Egyptian Ratscrew - Card Game » Remixes. ERS card game!!! By infiniteswag03 Egyptian Ratscrew - Card Game remix by bw201878; Egyptian Ratscrew - Card Game remix by mrblum205; Egyptian Ratscrew - Card Game remix by zmaaieh; Egyptian Rat Slap card game by boltoneb; Egyptian Ratscrew - Card Game remix-2 by michaelps205; Egyptian Ratscrew - Card Game remix by all-about-cats.
Egyptian Rat Screw is a fun and fast-paced card game but also one that can seem a little intimidating to beginners. The basic gameplay is quite simple, but the slap rule is where things get interesting! If you have ever wanted to give Egyptian Rat Screw a go, now is the perfect time! Hands land on top of each other, racing to be the first ones on the cards. Sometimes all a student can afford is a deck of cards. Thankfully, there is a multitude of games to play with these cards for a fun time. I recommend the card game Egyptian Ratscrew. All you need for.
Get a standard playing card deck (take out the Jokers) and shuffle it properly. Distribute the entire card deck to all participants. Make sure that each player will have the same number of cards. Participants hold their cards but should be faced down and not to be seen.
Getting Started
Start the game. The player on the dealer’s left will start first by drawing the top card from his or her own pile, openly placing it in the middle. Note that players are not allowed to see the cards on his or her pile until this is done.

When the card placed in the middle is a number, the next person in a clockwise manner pulls the card down too and place it in the middle. This goes on in a clockwise manner until a player puts a face card or an A in the middle.
Once a face card or an ace is played, the play will only continue when the next player in the sequence has pulled down a face card or an Ace.
Knowing Your Chances
Several chances are given to play a letter card and is dependent on the initial letter card. If an A is played, there are 4 chances to play, 3 chances for a King, 2 for a Queen, and 1 for a Jack.

If there are no letter cards played within the chances that have been allotted to the player, whoever initially got the letter can win that round and the whole pile. The next game will start with the winning player.
Moreover, slap is the only rule that overrides the letter card rule. The first player who was able to slap the card pile wins the round. If multiple players have slapped the pile, the one with the most fingers on top of the card wins.
Standard Slap Rules
- Double: Here, two cards of the same value are consecutively laid down. Example: 9, 9
- Sandwich: This happens if cards of the same value are placed consecutively, but there’s a card with another number value in between. Example: 7, 5, 7
- Bottoms up: When the same card as the first one in the set is played.
- Tens: When the two cards laid down is added up to a 10. Example: 4, 6
- Jokers: When you are using a Joker for the game, players can slap the pile as soon it’s laid down.
- Four in a row: Here, four cards in a sequence have been played, whether in ascending or descending order. For example: 2, 3, 4, 5 or 7, 6, 5, 4
- Marriage: This is when a King is played after a Queen or vice versa.
In the event that a player slaps the pile without satisfying one of the slap rules, he or she should add one or two cards to the bottom of the pile. This is referred to as “burning cards” and it nulls the top bottom slap.
If a player performs an invalid slap and he or she doesn’t have any cards left, then that player is out of the game.
The game continues even if one player runs out of cards. He or she can still slap (as long as it’s a valid slap) in order to get cards. The game will keep going until there’s a person who obtains all the cards.
Are You Up for Speed?
As you can see from the rules, the Egyptian Rat Screw requires both quick thinking and reflexes. The game needs speed, counting, and recognition of patterns.
If you want to practice or a convenient way to play, there are no shortage of sites where you can enjoy Egyptian Rat Screw online.
What do you think of this game? Let us know your thoughts in the comments!
Looking for more card games to play? Strategies to improve your card game? CardGameInfo is a great website that provides a wealth of information about the most popular card games.
Also referred to as Egyptian Rat Screw, Egyptian War, Egyptian Ratscurry, Egyptian Ratslap, Egyptian Ratkiller and more, this classic card game, based on the 1860’s hit Beggar-My-Neighbor, gained popularity in the 1990’s in the United States. Can you slap your way to grabbing the entire deck?
Be the person with the entire 52 deck of cards in your hand to win.
Play
Shuffle the deck thoroughly and deal the entire deck out to players evenly. Don’t look at your cards!
Egyptian Rat Screw Game Rules
Starting with the player to the left of the dealer, place a card face up in the discard pile. In clockwise fashion, each player continues to place a card in their hand face up into the discard pile until any face card (Ace, King, Queen, Jack) is played or a chance to slap occurs (see below).
When a face card is played, the next player has a limited amount of chances to play another face card on the pile.
Ace – Four chances
King – Three chances
Queen – Two chances
Jack – One chance

Doing so forces the player after them to attempt them same. Failure to do so allows the previous player to collect the entire discard pile and resume play with them. Keep in mind that nobody can see what cards are being played next, so all of this is completely random.
Slap Rules
Often, there are other chances for players to collect cards. This requires the discard pile to meet any of the slap rules below. The first player to see any of these and slap the pile first gets the cards and resumes play with them.
Egyptian Rat Screw Instructions
Doubles – When cards of the same value are played consecutively. Ex. a 9 and 9.
Triples – When a double goes unnoticed and a third consecutive card is placed on top of it. Ex. 4-4-4.
Sandwich – When a number is in between two numbers of the same value. Ex. 5-7-5.
Top Bottom (Bottoms Up) – When the card played matches the first card placed in the discard pile. This does not count if burned cards were placed in that pile. Ex. 4-7-2-Q-8-4.
Tens – When a set of two or more cards adds up to ten, face cards included (the ace can count as one). Ex. 3-5-2 or 9-A.
Four in a Row – When four cards are played in acending or decending order in a row. Ex. 7-8-9-J or 5-4-3-2.
If somebody slaps without reason (or when the cards were unslappable), they suffer a penalty called “burning cards.” They must place two cards at the bottom of the discard pile and resume play with whomever’s turn it was next.
Slap In
If you run out of cards, you’re not out! If you notice the pile is slapable, you can always slap first to slap right back into the game.
Winning the Game
Slap and collect your way to having the entire deck in your hands!
Variations
Jokers: Put jokers into the game. Playing a Joker is an immediate slap!
Egyptian Rat Screw Origin
Marriage: Slap the deck when a Queen is placed above or below a King.