How to Play Card Hockey

Copyright 2003 by Catherine C. McGeoch

Card Hockey is a fast-moving card game for two players. It is like War, except it is played in three zones. The object is to move the puck from zone to zone and try to score goals when the puck is in your offensive zone. The player with the most goals after three periods is the winner!

What you need to play:

  1. An opponent.
  2. A standard deck of playing cards. Divide the deck into two piles, one containing all red cards (Redwings) and one containing all black cards (Blackhawks). Each player takes one pile, shuffles it, and hands it to the other player. Put your pile of cards in front of you face down.
  3. A coin or button to serve as the puck.

The game layout:

The game layout is shown in the diagram. Each player has space for three piles of cards, called the Defensive, Neutral, and Offensive zones. The goal areas are at the ends of the playing zones. The puck can be in any one of the three puck areas shown. You want to move the puck to the right, towards your goal, while your opponent wants to move the puck towards his goal.


His O His N His D
His goal (puck) (puck) (puck) Your goal
Your D Your N Your O

How to play:

Neutral zone face off. Start by putting the puck in the center between the neutral zones. Grab the top card from your deck, and begin play ...

Playing a turn. Both at the same time, slap down your cards in the zones where the puck is. Compare the cards and follow the rules below. Aces are highest, deuces are lowest.

  1. If the two cards have the same rank (matching numbers), the puck doesn't move -- just play another turn.

  2. If you have the higher card and the puck is in your Defensive or Neutral zone, move the puck to the next zone to the right, closer to your goal. (If your opponent has the higher card, he moves the puck closer to his goal.)

    Example: 

      0  
      D  
      G  
      G  
      D  
      O
    		-----> 
      O  
     D 
      G  
      G  
      D  
      O
    You are playing Redwings. The puck is in the neutral zone. You turn up a higher card and move the puck to your offensive zone.

  3. If the puck is in your offensive zone and you turn up the higher card, but it is a ten or lower, do not move the puck. Just stay in your offensive zone and play another turn. (If you have the lower card, your opponent will of course move the puck back to the neutral zone. If the cards match, the puck doesn't move.)

    Example: 

      O  
      G  
      G  
      D
    		------> 
      O  
      G  
      G  
      D
    The puck is in your offensive zone. You turn up a higher card, but it is only a ten. Stay in the zone.

  4. Scoring goals. If the puck is in your offensive zone and you turn up an honor card (Jack, Queen, King, or Ace) and your card is higher, then you score a goal! Put the winning card in your goal area to serve as a counter, and start again with a face off in the neutral zone.

    If you turn up an honor card in your offensive zone, but it is not higher than your opponent's card, too bad -- your opponent has blocked your shot. (He can move the card to the neutral zone if his card is higher than yours. If they match, the puck doesn't move.)

    Example: 

      O  
      G  
      G  
      D
    		------> 
      O  
     G 
      D
    The puck is in your offensive zone. You turn up an honor card that is higher than the other card: Goal! Put the card in your goal area as a counter, and move the puck to the neutral zone for the next face off.

  5. Minor Penalties. At any point in the game, if you turn up a deuce, you get a minor penalty. You have to play with this same card for the next two turns (three turns counting the current one), moving it from zone to zone instead of taking the top card from your deck. This is called playing short-handed because you are forced to play three turns with a low card. (It is possible to have overlapping penalties, in which case the puck doesn't move while you count out the shorthanded turns.)

    The penalties are:

    Example: 

      O  
      G  
      D
    		------> 
      O  
      G  
     D
    The puck is in the neutral zone. You turn up a Too many men on the ice penalty. The puck moves to your defensive zone (because your opponent has the higher card) and you must play the deuce for two more turns. 

      G
    First Shorthanded Turn 

           
      G
    Second Shortanded Turn
    First shorthanded turn, the puck doesn't move because your opponent's five is not enough to score a goal. Second shorthanded turn, your opponent scores. Too bad. He should put his King in his goal area and move the puck to the neutral zone for a face off. You can now continue taking cards from your pile.

End of the period. The period is over when you run out of cards. Collect all your cards except the scoring cards you have in the goal area, and hand them over to your opponent to shuffle. You must play the next period without those goal cards in your deck!

If the period ends while one or both of you is playing shorthanded, the penalty must continue into the next period. The shortanded player should hold on to the deuce and play it again the first and (maybe) second turns of the next period, depending on how many turns are left on the penalty.

You can switch goal ends between periods if you like, or keep using the same ones.

Each period starts with a face off in the neutral zone. In the second and third periods, one player may have more cards than the other -- the period ends whenever one of you runs out of cards.

Play card hockey for three periods, then add up your goals. The player with the most goals wins!

Overtime shootout. If the game ends in a tie, you can have a sudden death shootout. Each player shuffles all the opponent's cards (including goal cards) and hands them over face down. Now turn up the cards one by one, both at the same time. The first player to turn up an honor card (Jack, Queen, King, or Ace) wins in overtime. (If you both turn up matching honor cards, keep going.)