- Palace setup: three rows of cards in front of you
- How a Palace turn works
- Twos, tens and four of a kind: the special plays
- Playing your table cards once your hand is gone
- Win or lose? The rule that changes the whole game
- Karma, China Hand and other Palace variations
- My take on Palace for a games night
- Frequently asked questions
Palace is a shedding card game for two to five players where you play cards onto a pile, each one equal to or higher than the last, and try to get rid of everything: your hand, your three face up cards and your three face down cards. Two players use one standard 52 card deck, a 2 resets the pile, a 10 burns it, and the first player out of cards wins.
Palace is a card game with a lot of names. Pagat.com lists it as Palace, Karma, China Hand and Ten Two Slide, and files it under a ruder name you've probably heard if you've ever shared a hostel with backpackers. Pagat.com says the game is probably Scandinavian in origin and was spread around the world by young travellers in the late twentieth century.
Palace setup: three rows of cards in front of you
| What you need | Palace (Bicycle rules) |
|---|---|
| Players | 2 to 5, best with at least 3 |
| Deck | One 52 card deck for two players, two decks for three to five |
| Face down cards | 3 each, in a row, never looked at |
| Face up cards | 3 each, placed on top of the face down cards |
| Hand | 3 cards, topped back up from the draw pile |
| Card order | A (high), K, Q, J, 10 down to 3, with the 2 as a special card |
Bicycle's deal is the easy one to remember. Deal three cards face down to each player and lay them in a row without looking. Then deal everyone six cards to hold. You pick three of those six and lay them face up on your face down cards. Most players put their strongest cards face up, because you'll need them later in the game. The rest of the deck goes face down in the middle as the draw pile.
How a Palace turn works
- To start, the first player turns over the top card of the draw pile. Bicycle calls this the start card.
- Play a card equal to or higher than the top card of the pile. You can play several cards at once if they're all the same rank.
- Draw from the draw pile so you're holding three cards again.
- If you can't play, you pick up the whole discard pile and add it to your hand.
- Play passes to the next player, who has to match or beat whatever is now on top.
- Once the draw pile runs out, you simply keep playing from your hand with no topping up.
Twos, tens and four of a kind: the special plays
| Play | What happens |
|---|---|
| A 2 | Can go on any card and resets the pile, so the next player can play anything |
| A 10 | Can go on any card and burns the pile: those cards are out of the game |
| Four of the same rank in a row | Clears the pile out of the game, whether one player or several played them |
| After a 10 or four of a kind | Pagat.com says the same player goes again and starts a new pile |
That last line matters. When you burn the pile with a 10, you don't hand the next player an easy start. You play again, with any card you like. A well timed 10 doesn't just clear the trouble, it gives you a free turn.
Playing your table cards once your hand is gone
This is where Palace gets tense. You can't touch your table cards while you still have cards in your hand. Once your hand is empty and the draw pile is gone, you play from your face up cards, one turn at a time.
When the face up cards are gone too, you play the face down ones blind. Pick one without looking, flip it over and hope. If it equals or beats the top card, it stays. If not, you pick up the whole pile, and you'll have to play all of those cards from your hand before you can go back to your face down row. One bad flip near the end can drag you right back into the game.
Win or lose? The rule that changes the whole game
Here's the catch most people don't know. Bicycle plays Palace to find a winner: the first person to get rid of all their cards wins and the game ends. Pagat.com describes the traditional game the other way round. Players drop out as they go out, everyone else keeps playing, and the last player holding cards is the loser, who has to deal the next hand and make the tea.
Pagat.com also gives a sneaky rule for the endgame. If you're playing from your face up cards and can't beat the pile, you add one of your face up cards to the pile before you pick it all up. Agree before you deal which ending you're playing, and whether that rule's in, because it changes how hard the last few turns feel.
Karma, China Hand and other Palace variations
- Jokers for six players: pagat.com adds two jokers that reverse the direction of play. They aren't wild.
- Ten whenever: some tables let a 10 go down at any time, on any card.
- Sevens: in one version, after a 7 the next player has to play a 7 or lower.
- Eights: in some versions an 8 reverses the direction of play.
- The Karma version from Virginia lets you stack matching face up cards on the same face down card at the start.
- In Finland, pagat.com says, it's usually played with four face down and four face up cards each.
There are a lot of house rules for the special cards, and arguments about them are half the fun. Just write yours down before the first hand.
My take on Palace for a games night
Palace is brilliant for teenagers and adults who like a bit of nerve. It's quick to teach in five minutes, and the blind flip at the end gives every game a jolt of drama. I'd play Bicycle's winner version with a family and pagat.com's loser version with friends, because being the last one holding cards is funnier when the forfeit is making everyone a cup of tea.
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The mistake to avoid is burning your 10s and 2s early just because you can. Save them for when the pile is high and you're stuck. If you enjoy the special card chaos, Uno and its house rules is a natural family cousin, and Speed scratches the same itch when you want something faster.
I keep every related walkthrough in the Free Games to Play Offline and Online: Every Guide in One Place (2026).
Frequently asked questions
How many cards do you get in Palace?
Each player has three face down cards, three face up cards on top of them, and a hand of three cards that you top up from the draw pile.
What does a 10 do in Palace?
A 10 can be played on any card and burns the pile, removing those cards from the game. Pagat.com says the player who burned it then plays again.
What does a 2 do in Palace?
A 2 can go on any card and resets the pile, so the next player can play any card on it.
Is Palace the same as Karma?
Yes. Pagat.com lists Palace, Karma, China Hand and Ten Two Slide as names for the same game, which is also known by a ruder name.
Do you win or lose Palace by going out first?
In Bicycle's rules, the first player out of cards wins. In the traditional game on pagat.com, players drop out safely and the last one holding cards loses.
