Last week, when my aunt was in town, we gathered for a game night and all I planned on doing was visiting - but they talked me into playing Hand and Foot with them. And I had fun, which is saying quite a lot coming from me. I'm going to attempt to share the rules with you here, but if there's something you don't understand, please ask and I'll try to clarify or just come on over and we'll play a game together.
Hand and Foot Card Game:
Needed:
One full card deck (including Jokers) per person plus one extra
Object:
To accumulate books (at least one clean and one dirty), and to go out first with the most number of points.
How To Play:
Each Player deals the cards for the person on their left. If you happen to grab the right amount of cards (11 each to make up one hand and one foot) you get a 100 point bonus. Deal them face up, players can choose which stack to play first and turn the other face down, place to the side (this is the player's foot).
Once all the cards are dealt, place the remaining cards in the center. This is the Draw pile. In turn each person will draw two cards and discard one. The Discard pile should be next to the Draw pile. A player can draw from the Discard pile, if they happen to have two of the top card already in their hand and have already laid down cards in a previous turn (for example, if the top of the Discard pile is showing a Queen and the player has two queens already in their hand, they may draw from the Discard pile). To draw from the Discard pile, you have to take the top five cards and also have to play the top card in the turn in which you draw it. Clear as mud?
To lay down you must have:
At least 3 of a kind or more in any number (colors do not matter). You can use wild cards to start as long as they give you enough points to start, but no more than 3 wilds per book. Wilds make the book Dirty, Clean books have no wilds.
First Hand - 60 points to start
1 Clean book and 1 Dirty book to close
Second Hand - 90 points to start
2 Clean books and 1 Dirty book to close
Third Hand - 120 points to start
2 Clean books and 2 Dirty books to close
Fourth Hand - 150 points to start
3 Clean books and 2 Dirty books to close
Points:
Jokers = 50 points (are wild)
Ace = 20 points
2 = 20 points (are wild)
King - 8 = 10 points each
7-3 = 5 points each
Red 3 = 150 points against you (discard fast, you don't want any books of red 3s)
For counting exactly 11 cards per dealt pile = 100 point bonus
For going out first = 100 point bonus
7 cards make a book:
Clean book = 500 points (when you have 7 of any one number, you have a book. If it's Clean, mark it by placing a red card on top and collapse the book)
Dirty book = 300 points (mark these by placing a black card on top and collapse the book)
You can add more cards to a book and they'll count as extra points in the end, but a Dirty book may have no more than 3 wilds.
In case you're a visual learner (like me), here's a link to a video demonstration. Some of the details are different than I've described, but it will give you a good general idea of how to play. remember that a player cannot go out until they have gone through the cards in their hand and their foot and they have at least one clean and one dirty book. In the end, you total up your points for the number of books completed, and then all of your cards' point values (including any still in your hand at the time the first player went out). Competition for the higher cards will likely be stiff since that's where the most points are to be had. Even younger kids pick up on this game pretty quickly.
Have fun!
