The Four Kings: a rule for every card
52 cards, 13 rules, one circle. Draw a card, do what it says, and hope you are not the one holding the fourth King.
How to play
- Sit in a circle.
- Open The Four Kings in Antics, which deals all 52 cards for you. Or spread a real pack face down in the middle and keep this page open as the rule sheet.
- Take turns drawing one card.
- Every card has a rule. Do what it says.
- Keep going to the last of the 52 cards. The fourth King can turn up anywhere in the deck.
No app to hand? Play The Four Kings online, free in your browser, with the same deck and the same rules on one phone.
The rule for every card
| A | The Wave Everyone holds a squat together. You can stand whenever you like. Everyone else can only stand when the person on their right stands. |
| 2 | You Point at a player. They take a forfeit. |
| 3 | Me Unlucky, that one’s on you. Take a forfeit. |
| 4 | Ladies Ladies, that’s you, every girl takes a forfeit. |
| 5 | Thumbmaster You’re the Thumbmaster until the next 5. Sneak your thumb onto the table at any moment, last player to copy you takes a forfeit. |
| 6 | Gents Gents, that’s you, every guy takes a forfeit. |
| 7 | Heaven Reach for the sky! Last player to raise a hand takes a forfeit. |
| 8 | Mate Choose a mate. Until the next 8 is drawn, whenever one of you gets a forfeit, you both do it. |
| 9 | Rhyme Say a word. Go around the circle rhyming with it. First to hesitate or repeat takes a forfeit. |
| 10 | Categories Pick a category: cereals, footballers, things in a pencil case. Go around naming them. First to blank takes a forfeit. |
| J | Rule Maker Invent a rule (no first names, no saying “yes”…). It stands until the next Jack. Rule-breakers take a forfeit. |
| Q | Question Master You’re the Question Master until the next Queen. Anyone who answers a question you ask takes a forfeit. |
| K | The Fourth King Add one move to the group dance routine. Whoever draws the FOURTH King performs the whole routine, start to finish. |
The cards that stick
Four cards give someone a job that lasts until the same card is drawn again: the Thumbmaster (5), the Mate (8), the Rule Maker (Jack) and the Question Master (Queen). These are where the grudges start.
The fourth King
Each King adds one move to a group dance routine. Nobody minds the first three. Whoever draws the fourth performs the lot, start to finish, with the whole room watching.
Need forfeits?
The app deals one whenever a card calls for it. Playing with a real pack? Borrow from our forfeit ideas.
Questions people ask
Do we need a pack of cards?
No. The app deals all 52. A real pack works too.
Is The Four Kings free?
Yes. The whole game is free in Antics.
Is it a drinking game?
Not this version. Every rule ends in a forfeit.
What happens when a rule card comes up twice?
The job passes on. A new Thumbmaster, Mate, Rule Maker or Question Master takes over from the old one.
Skip the shuffling
The Four Kings is free in the Antics app for iPhone and Android. One phone. Everyone’s problem.
On a laptop? anticsapp.com/get sends the right store to your phone.