How to play Egyptian Ratscrew
Egyptian Ratscrew is a fast, noisy card game of luck and reflexes: everyone flips cards onto one pile, and the first to slap the right combination wins it. The aim is to win all 52 cards. Here you play against Emma, or against up to three opponents with the 3p and 4p buttons.
- The deal - the whole deck is dealt face down, as evenly as possible. Nobody looks at their stack.
- Flipping - in turn, each player turns the top card of their stack face up onto the pile in the middle. You go first. Click your deck or press F (or Enter) to flip.
- Face-card challenges - when a jack, queen, king or ace appears, the next player must answer with a face card or ace of their own within 1, 2, 3 or 4 tries respectively. Succeed and the challenge passes on; fail and the player who played the last face card takes the pile and starts the next one.
- Slapping - anyone can slap the pile at any moment, whoever's turn it is. The first good slap wins the whole pile, and the slapper starts the next one. Click the pile, tap the SLAP button or press the space bar.
- Bad slaps - slap when there is nothing to slap and you burn your top card face down under the pile.
- Out of cards - you are skipped when it is your turn, but you can still slap your way back in. A wrong slap with no cards knocks you out for good.
A slap always beats a face-card claim: when a challenge is won, the pile sits for a moment before it is collected, and a double or sandwich on top can still be slapped away from the winner.
What you can slap
| Slap | When | Here |
|---|---|---|
| Double | The top two cards are the same rank | always on |
| Sandwich | Same rank with one card in between (7-4-7) | on by default |
| Top & bottom | The top card matches the first card of the pile | optional |
| Marriage | A queen and a king on top of each other, either order | optional |
| Tens | The top two number cards add up to 10 (ace = 1) | optional |
House rules for Egyptian Ratscrew vary from table to table. We follow the most common published rules - doubles and sandwiches, J=1 Q=2 K=3 A=4 challenges, one burned card per bad slap - and let you add the popular extras with the Slaps button. Online games with a friend use the standard rules.
Tips to win more piles
- Watch the top two cards, not your own deck. Every slap is decided by the last two or three cards, so keep your eyes on the pile even while you flip.
- Remember the card under the top. A sandwich needs the third card; saying the ranks to yourself as they land ("seven, four...") makes the next seven jump out.
- Do not slap on a near miss. A six on a seven looks like a double for a split second. A burned card is a card gone, and it ends up feeding whoever wins the pile.
- Face cards are your best friends late in the game. A short stack full of aces and kings can still win big piles, and challenges force your opponent to spend cards.
- Never give up at zero. With no cards you cannot lose a card to a bad slap, only your place - so wait for a sure double and slap back in.
Play Egyptian Ratscrew with a friend
Press Friends in the toolbar to open a private room and share the invite link. You race each other for real: the server takes the slaps in the order they arrive, and if your friend leaves, Emma takes over their seat.
Frequently asked questions
What can you slap in Egyptian Ratscrew?
Here a double (the top two cards are the same rank, like 7-7) and a sandwich (two cards of the same rank with one card between them, like 7-4-7) can always be slapped. Under the Slaps button you can also switch on top & bottom (the top card matches the first card of the pile), marriage (a queen and a king together) and tens (two number cards that add up to 10, ace counting 1).
What happens if you slap at the wrong time?
A bad slap costs you a card: your top card is burned face down under the pile, and whoever wins the pile later takes it too. If you have no cards left and slap wrongly, you are out for good. Slapping an empty pile does nothing - if somebody beat you to a slap by a split second, you are not punished for it.
How do face cards work in Egyptian Ratscrew?
A jack, queen, king or ace starts a challenge. The next player must play a face card or an ace within a set number of tries: 1 for a jack, 2 for a queen, 3 for a king and 4 for an ace. If they manage it, the challenge passes on to the next player; if they fail, the player who played the last face card wins the whole pile - unless somebody slaps it first.
Can you come back after running out of cards?
Yes. A player with no cards is skipped when it is their turn to flip, but they can still slap. A good slap wins the pile and puts them straight back in the game. Only a wrong slap with an empty hand knocks a player out permanently.
How fast are the computer opponents?
Choose Easy, Medium or Hard. Easy opponents take roughly a second or more to react, sometimes miss a slap and occasionally slap a near miss by mistake; Medium react in about half a second to a second; Hard react in 0.3 to 0.6 seconds and never miss. A quick human slaps in about a third of a second, so Hard is a real race.
Is Egyptian Ratscrew the same as Egyptian War or Slap?
Yes - Egyptian Ratscrew (often shortened to ERS) is also called Egyptian Rat Screw, Egyptian War, Ratslap or simply Slap. It is the English children's game Beggar My Neighbour with slapping added, and house rules vary a lot, which is why the optional slap rules can be switched on and off here.
Can I play Egyptian Ratscrew online with friends?
Yes. Press the Friends button above the board, type a name and share the invite link - the game opens in their browser with no account and no download. Egyptian Ratscrew is a two-player game, so it is you against one friend, each on your own phone, tablet or computer. The host deals when everyone is in. If a player drops out or stops responding, the computer takes over their seat so the game can always finish.
More free card games
Like games that are all speed? Try the real-time race Spit or the flip-and-take classic War. For something calmer with the same cards, play Crazy Eights or Blackjack against the dealer.