Setup

Deal the deck evenly face-down. Players do not look at their cards.

How to Play

1. Players flip cards into a shared pile.
2. A jack, queen, king, or ace makes the next player pay 1, 2, 3, or 4 cards.
3. If payment reveals another face card, the duty passes on.
4. If payment has no face card, the player who played the face card takes the pile.

How to Win

Win all cards.

Is Beggar My Neighbour Right for You?

Beggar My Neighbour (also called Beat Your Neighbour Out of Doors) is a no-decision two-player game where face cards and Aces force the opponent to pay penalty cards, and the pile swings back and forth until one player runs out. It is a quaint, old-fashioned game best for young kids learning card ranks.

Maybe skip it if: It is entirely deterministic once the deck is shuffled, so adults will find it has zero meaningful choices.

Common Mistakes to Avoid

• Getting the payment counts wrong; an Ace demands four cards, a King three, a Queen two, and a Jack one from the opponent.
• Forgetting that if a penalty payment itself contains a face card or Ace, the obligation immediately flips back to the other player.

Strategy Tips

• There is no decision-making at all, so use the game to drill a child on which cards outrank others and on counting payments.
• Set a time limit, since famously long games of Beggar My Neighbour can run for hundreds of turns.

Popular Variations

Our Take

We keep Beggar My Neighbour purely as a teaching tool for small children; the penalty-card swings are mildly exciting and reinforce card ranks. As a game for anyone older it is pure mechanical luck with no choices, so we never pick it for ourselves.

Frequently Asked Questions