Palace
Also known as: Shithead, Shed
Quick Rules
- Each player gets 3 face-down, 3 face-up, and 3 hand cards; hand cards are played first, face-up cards second, face-down cards last (played blind).
- Play a card equal to or higher than the top of the discard pile, or a special card (2, 10, or same-rank chain) that breaks the normal rule.
- A 2 resets the pile to accept anything next; a 10 (or four of the same rank in a row) burns the whole pile out of the game.
- Can't play anything? Pick up the entire discard pile into your hand instead.
- First to play all 3 of your face-down cards and empty your hand wins; last player left with cards is the Palace's loser.
How to Play (Quick Overview)
- 1
Deal 3 cards face down to each player (left untouched and unseen for now), then 3 cards face up on top of those, then 3 more cards to each player's hand; place the remaining deck face down as the draw pile with the top card turned up to start the discard pile.
- 2
Before play starts, each player may swap any card from their hand with any of their own face-up cards, to arrange the strongest possible face-up set.
- 3
On your turn, play a card from your hand (drawing back up to 3 hand cards from the draw pile after, as long as the draw pile lasts) that's equal to or higher in rank than the top discard card, or play a special card that overrides the normal rule.
- 4
A 2 can be played on anything and resets the pile, meaning the next player can play any card at all; a 10 can be played on anything and immediately burns the entire discard pile out of the game, and the same player goes again.
- 5
If you can't legally play any card from your hand, pick up the whole discard pile into your hand instead, ending your turn.
- 6
Once your hand and the draw pile are both empty, start playing your face-up cards instead (no drawing back up), and once those are gone, play your face-down cards blind, one at a time, without seeing them until they're played - if a face-down card you flip isn't legal to play, you pick up the entire discard pile plus that card.
Objective
Be the first player to get rid of every card you have - hand, face-up, and face-down - leaving someone else as the last one still holding cards.
Setup
Shuffle a standard 52-card deck (add a second deck for groups larger than about 5). Deal each player 3 cards face down in a row (left alone for now), then 3 more cards face up on top of those same 3 spots, and finally 3 cards to their hand. Place the remaining deck face down as the draw pile, and turn its top card face up to start the discard pile.
Before play begins, each player may swap any number of cards between their hand and their own face-up cards, to set themselves up with the strongest possible face-up set for later in the game.
How to Play
On your turn, play one card from your hand onto the discard pile - it must be equal to or higher in rank than the current top card, or be one of the special override cards below. After playing, draw back up to 3 cards in hand from the draw pile, for as long as the draw pile still has cards.
Special cards:
- 2: playable on anything, regardless of the current top card, and resets the pile - the next player may play any card they like.
- 10: playable on anything, and immediately “burns” the entire discard pile out of the game completely; the same player who played the 10 takes another turn right after.
- Four of a kind in a row: if the last four cards played on the pile (from any combination of players) are all the same rank, the pile burns the same way a 10 does.
If you cannot legally play any card from your hand, you must pick up the entire discard pile, adding it all to your hand, which ends your turn without playing anything.
Once your hand is empty and the draw pile has run out, you switch to playing your face-up cards instead, following the same rules but with no more drawing back up. Once those are gone too, you move to your 3 face-down cards: play them one at a time, completely blind, flipping each one only as you play it. If a face-down card turns out not to be legal against the current pile, you must pick up the whole discard pile, including that just-flipped card, and continue from your hand again next time.
Scoring
Palace has no point score - it’s decided purely by finishing order.
Winning
The first player to get rid of their hand, face-up cards, and face-down cards entirely wins the round. Play often continues to determine the rest of the finishing order, with the last player still holding any cards taking on the group’s chosen name for the loser.
Variations
- Same-rank chains needed to burn: some groups require the four matching cards to be played consecutively with no other rank in between; others allow any four total on the pile.
- No face-up swap phase: simpler house rules skip the initial hand/face-up swapping step entirely, dealing the three tiers exactly as drawn.
- Suits matter: an uncommon house rule variant that adds suit-based restrictions on top of the standard rank rules above.
History
Palace (widely known by a cruder name, and sometimes as Shed) is a modern folk card game without a clearly documented single inventor, believed to have developed among British and Commonwealth card players sometime in the latter half of the 20th century. It builds on the same broader shedding-game tradition as Crazy Eights, but adds the distinctive three-tier (face-down, face-up, hand) card structure that gives it a notably different endgame.
Fun Fact
Palace’s blind, face-down final phase - where you play cards you can’t see until the moment you flip them - is a relatively unusual mechanic among card games generally, since almost all other trick and shedding games are built entirely around information you already have.