2, the reset.
Goes on anything. Anything goes on it. The pile starts again, grudges intact.
The rules of
Shithead. Settled.
The card game you learned off a mate in the pub, who learned it off a mate in a pub. Somewhere along the way the rules went funny. These are the originals.
The game in 30 seconds
Three cards face down, three face up on top of those, three in your hand. Play equal or higher on the pile, and pick the whole thing up if you can't. Twos reset it, eights are invisible, tens burn it, and a nine sends the next player low. When your hand and the deck are done you pick up your face-up cards, then it's the blind cards, one by one, no peeking. First out wins. Last one holding cards is the shithead, and the shithead deals.
Your mates play it wrong
Of course they do. Everyone's house rules are sacred and everyone else's are nonsense. The settler lets you pick your table's rules, one toggle at a time, and turn them into a rules card you can send to the group chat. Laminate it. We would.
Know your magic cards
Suits never matter in Shithead. Any 2 is the 2. It's the numbers that have the personalities.
8, the invisible.
Goes on anything, counts as nothing. The next player answers whatever is hiding underneath.
9, the descent.
Plays by the normal rules, then drags the next player down to nine or lower.
10, the burn.
Goes on anything, torches the pile, and you go again. The most satisfying card in the game.
What the table usually argues about
2 on 2?
Yes. A two resets the pile no matter what landed last. The stack is clean, the slander remains.
Can an 8 hide a burn?
Yes. The eight counts as nothing, so the next player still has to answer whatever sits underneath it.
Lowest card opens?
Some tables do it. Some tables treat it as a custom opener. This site keeps the ruling explicit.
Go deeper
The variants.
Sevens that go lower, jokers that reverse, burns that end your turn. Every house rule we've ever heard, ruled on.
The strategy.
Which cards to put face up, when to spend your twos, and why the smug player hoarding tens always gets what's coming.
The arguments.
Can you put a 2 on anything? What if your last blind card loses? The frequently argued questions, answered.