Welcome to Suit Hoarder
Get ready for a fun card game where you try to collect as many cards of the same suit as possible. It's like a treasure hunt, but with cards. You can play with 2 or more players, and it's easy to learn.
Let's Get Started
- Use a standard 52-card deck (no jokers needed)
- Choose a dealer. Each player will take turns being dealer in future games
- Deal cards in groups of 3 until each player has 6 cards
-
Put the rest of the cards in the middle—this is your draw pile.
Mentally allocate four discard piles around the draw pile, one for
each suit:
Illustration: Deck of cards in the center, with four discard piles (Clubs, Diamonds, Hearts, Spades) surrounding it. - The player to the dealer's left goes first.
What Can You Do?
On your turn, you can do one of these things:
- Discard any number of cards from the same suit into that suit's pile, then draw that many new cards
- Discard a Queen into its own suit pile to make your hand smaller (you don't draw a new card)
- Play a Jack on another player to make their hand bigger (then draw a card)
- Discard four cards of the same number (like four 7s) into their respective suit piles, then draw three new cards
After you do one of these things, your turn is immediately over. Play continues clockwise.
Special Rules
How to Win
Winning anytime:
-
If all your cards are the same suit (including any wild Aces that
contribute to that suit), immediately show your hand and say "I
win"
- Be careful! If you show your hand and you were wrong about having all the same suit, you lose
- 💡 Tip: You'll usually win right after your turn ends - either by drawing the final card you needed, or by playing a Queen and having only one suit left over
-
Say "Guess" to stop all play, then pick an opponent and guess
their suit
- You win if you correctly guess their majority suit (including any wild Aces contributing to that suit)
-
You lose if:
- There is a tie for majority suit in their hand
- You did not guess their majority suit
-
Trick your opponents into guessing wrong
- If any opponent loses by incorrectly guessing your suit, you win
- This means you can win even if you don't have all cards of the same suit!
Magic Cards
- Jack (J): The tricky card. Play it face-down in another player's hand - they'll see the back of the card and can't use it until they discard it on their turn. Then draw a new card for yourself
- Queen (Q): The shrinking card. Play it to make your hand smaller - you don't draw a new card after playing it, so your hand size goes down by one
-
Ace (A): The wild card. It can be any suit of the
same color:
- Ace of Spades can be either a Spade or a Club (both black)
- Ace of Hearts can be either a Heart or a Diamond (both red)
💡 Tip: Watch what Aces other players discard - it might tell you what suit they're NOT collecting
Running Out of Cards?
If you need to draw a card but there are no cards left in the draw pile:
- Mix up all the cards from the four suit piles
- Make a new draw pile
- Keep playing
Example Games
Squirrel's Stash
This game shows a player focusing on collecting a suit and winning that way.
Setup: Players Owl, Squirrel, and Guppy are playing. Owl is dealer. Squirrel goes first.
Hand 1 (Squirrel): Hand: ♣K, ♦3, ♥8, ♠A, ♣5, ♣9. Discards ♦3 to the Diamonds pile. Draws ♣2.
Hand 1 (Guppy): Hand: ♥2, ♠7, ♦10, ♥Q, ♣J, ♠4. Discards ♠7 to the Spades pile. Draws ♦6.
Hand 1 (Owl): Hand: ♦A, ♥6, ♠8, ♥J, ♣10, ♦5. Discards ♣10 to the Clubs pile. Draws ♥9.
Hand 2 (Squirrel): Hand: ♣K, ♥8, ♠A, ♣5, ♣9, ♣2. Discards ♥8 to the Hearts pile. Draws ♣7.
Hand 2 (Guppy): Hand: ♥2, ♦10, ♥Q, ♣J, ♠4, ♦6. Discards ♥2 to the Hearts pile. Draws ♠K.
Hand 2 (Owl): Hand: ♦A, ♥6, ♠8, ♥J, ♦5, ♥9. Discard ♠8 to the Spades pile. Draws ♦4.
Hand 3 (Squirrel): At the start of Hand 3, Squirrel's hand is: ♣K, ♠A, ♣5, ♣9, ♣2, ♣7. With the ♠A counting as a Club, Squirrel has all Clubs! Squirrel shows their hand and says "I win!". Squirrel wins the game.
The Guess and the Bluff
This game shows how the guessing and tricking mechanics can play out.
Setup: Players Fox and Bear are playing. Fox is dealer. Bear goes first.
Hand 1 (Bear): Hand: ♥4, ♠8, ♣A, ♦J, ♥K, ♠3. Discards ♦J to the Diamonds pile. Draws ♠10.
Hand 1 (Fox):): Hand: ♣2, ♥7, ♠Q, ♦5, ♣9, ♥J. Discards ♦5 to the Diamonds pile. Draws ♠6.
Hand 2 (Bear): Hand: ♥4, ♠8, ♣A, ♥K, ♠3, ♠10. Discards ♥4 to the Hearts pile. Draws ♣K.
Hand 2 (Fox):): Hand: ♣2, ♥7, ♠Q, ♣9, ♥J, ♠6. Discards ♥7 to the Hearts pile. Draws ♣8.
Hand 3 (Bear):): Hand: ♠8, ♣A, ♥K, ♠3, ♠10, ♣K. Discards ♥K to the Hearts pile. Draws ♠2.
Hand 3 (Fox):): Hand: ♣2, ♠Q, ♣9, ♥J, ♠6, ♣8. Discards ♥J to the Hearts pile. Draws ♦9.
Hand 4 (Bear):): Hand: ♠8, ♣A, ♠3, ♠10, ♣K, ♠2. Bear has 4 Spades, 2 Clubs (Ace can be Club). Decides to bluff by discarding ♣K to the Clubs pile. Draws ♠7.
Bear now has ♠8, ♣A, ♠3, ♠10, ♠2, ♠7. With the ♣A counting as a Spade, Bear has all Spades! Bear shows their hand and says "I win!". Bear wins the game.
Note: Fox was about to guess "Clubs" for Bear, but Bear won before Fox could make their guess.
The Tie Breaker
This game shows a player losing by guessing when there is a tie for the majority suit.
Setup: Players Tiger and Zebra are playing. Tiger is dealer. Zebra goes first.
Hand 1 (Zebra): Hand: ♥5, ♠2, ♣8, ♦K, ♥9, ♠Q. Discards ♣8. Draws ♦7.
Hand 1 (Tiger):): Hand: ♣3, ♥A, ♠5, ♦10, ♣6, ♥J. Discards ♠5. Draws ♥4.
Hand 2 (Zebra):): Hand: ♥5, ♠2, ♦K, ♥9, ♠Q, ♦7. Discards ♠2. Draws ♥10.
Hand 2 (Tiger):): Hand: ♣3, ♥A, ♣6, ♥J, ♥4. Discards ♦10. Draws ♣Q.
Hand 3 (Zebra):): Hand: ♥5, ♦K, ♥9, ♠Q, ♦7, ♥10. Discards ♠Q. Draws ♦J.
Hand 3 (Tiger):): Hand: ♣3, ♥A, ♣6, ♥J, ♥4, ♣Q. Tiger has 3 Hearts (counting Ace) and 3 Clubs. Sees Zebra discarding Spades and Diamonds. Says "Guess" and guesses "Hearts" for Zebra.
Zebra reveals hand: ♥5, ♦K, ♥9, ♦7, ♥10, ♦J. Zebra has 3 Hearts and 3 Diamonds. There is a tie for the majority suit. Tiger's guess was incorrect because of the tie. Tiger loses.
The Jack Attack
This game shows how playing a Jack can change the game.
Setup: Players Wolf and Eagle are playing. Wolf is dealer. Eagle goes first.
Hand 1 (Eagle):): Hand: ♣7, ♥3, ♠K, ♦Q, ♣9, ♥A. Discards ♠K. Draws ♦5.
Hand 1 (Wolf):): Hand: ♠4, ♣J, ♥6, ♠10, ♣2. Discards ♦8. Draws ♣5.
Hand 2 (Eagle):): Hand: ♣7, ♥3, ♦Q, ♣9, ♥A, ♦5. Discards ♦Q. Draws ♥7.
Hand 2 (Wolf):): Hand: ♠4, ♣J, ♥6, ♠10, ♣2, ♣5. Wolf has the ♣J and plays it on Eagle. Wolf draws ♠9. Eagle receives the ♣J face-down.
Hand 3 (Eagle):): Hand: ♣7, ♥3, ♣9, ♥A, ♦5, ♥7, ♣J (face-down). Eagle cannot use the ♣J this turn. Discards ♥3. Draws ♠Q.
Hand 3 (Wolf):): Hand: ♠4, ♥6, ♠10, ♣2, ♣5, ♠9. Discards ♥6. Draws ♦A.
Hand 4 (Eagle):): Hand: ♣7, ♣9, ♥A, ♦5, ♥7, ♣J, ♠Q. Eagle can now use the ♣J. Discards ♠Q. Draws ♥K.
Hand 4 (Wolf):): Hand: ♠4, ♠10, ♣2, ♣5, ♠9, ♦A. Wolf has 4 Spades, 1 Club, 1 Diamond (Ace counts as Diamond here for majority). Majority suit is Spades. Eagle guessed Hearts. Eagle is wrong and loses. Wolf wins!