A competitive patience card game for two players!

Spite & Malice is a two-player competitive patience game. Each player begins with a hand of five cards, a pay-off pile holding 20 cards, and four empty side stacks.

At the center of the table lie three empty center stacks and the stock pile made up of the remaining cards.

The goal is to be the first to clear your pay-off pile completely.

Center stacks are built upward starting from an ace, regardless of suit. So the first card can be the ace of diamonds

followed by the two of spades, the three of hearts, and so on. Kings act as wild cards. This means you can play a king

on any center stack, and it will transform into the appropriate card for that stack. For example,

if you place the king of spades on a ten of clubs, it becomes a queen.

Once a center stack is completed—by playing a queen or king on a jack—it is shuffled back into the stock pile.

You may place any card onto your side stacks, no matter what cards are already there. However, only the top card of each side

stack is accessible during play, as explained below.

At the beginning of your turn, draw cards from the stock to bring your hand back up to five cards.

During your turn, you can take one of the following actions:

- Play the top card from your pay-off pile onto a center stack.

- Play the top card from one of your side stacks onto a center stack.

- Play a card from your hand onto a center stack.

- Place a card from your hand onto one of your side stacks. Doing so ends your turn.

The game concludes when one player plays the final card from their pay-off pile onto any center stack.

That player wins the game and scores points equal to the number of cards left in their opponent's pay-off pile.

If the stock runs out, the game ends in a tie, and no points are awarded.

The first player to reach 50 points wins the match!