How to Play Peanut

Full rules for the multiplayer solitaire card game — also called Nerts, Racing Demon, and Pounce

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The short version

Peanut is a real-time multiplayer solitaire game. Every player has their own deck. Everyone plays at the same time, building their own tableau and racing to play cards onto shared foundation piles in the middle. The first player to empty their 10-card pile calls "Peanut!" (or Nerts, or Racing Demon, depending on what your family calls it), play stops, and points are scored.

Also known as Nerts, Nertz, Racing Demon, and Pounce.

Setup

Each player, per round

  • Peanut pile. 10 cards face down with the top card flipped face up. This is the pile you're trying to empty.
  • Work piles (tableau). 5 columns dealt Klondike-style: the first column gets 1 card, the second 2, and so on up to 5. Only the top card of each column is face up.
  • Stock. The remaining cards, held face down in hand.
  • Your own deck. Each player needs their own deck with a distinct back design so cards can be sorted out after the round.

Shared area

In the middle of the table are Foundation piles. These start empty. Any player can start a foundation by playing an Ace; foundations then build up in suit from Ace to King.

Gameplay

There are no turns

Everyone plays simultaneously, as fast as they can. Moves you can make:

  • Play to a foundation. Any card from your Nerts pile, the top of a work pile, or your flipped stock, as long as it matches the top of a foundation. If two players go for the same card slot, the fastest to the pile wins.
  • Build a work pile. Put a card onto another work pile, building down in alternating colors (red on black, black on red).
  • Play from the Nerts pile. The top card of your Nerts pile can go to a work pile or a foundation. Flip the next card automatically when you do.
  • Move work piles. You can move an entire sequence from one work pile onto another if the colors and ranks line up.
  • Flip stock. Flip cards from your stock (by 1 or by 3, depending on house rules) to find playable cards. When you run out of stock, flip the pile and go again.

Ending a round

The moment one player empties their Nerts pile, they call "Nerts!" (or Peanut, or Racing Demon, or whatever name you use). All play stops immediately, even mid-move.

Scoring

  • +1 point for each card you played onto a foundation pile. Players sort out their own cards from each foundation by the back design.
  • -2 points for each card remaining in your Nerts pile at the moment the round ended.

Games are typically played to a target score, often 100 points. The first player to reach the target wins.

Common house rules