I play different card games with my four friends. The games we play are Killer, War, and SlapJack.  SlapJack becomes a very active and playful game.  We play cards in the morning before classes and in between each of our classes, if we are let out a few minutes early.

This is how we play Slapjack. The person who deals the deck, deals all the cards to each player until there are no more cards left.  Every player flips a card until there is a Jack.  In our group we formed our own rules on how to play the game and we stick to those rules.  Once there is a Jack, we all try to slap that card before anyone else.  We then decide who slapped the Jack first and then continue flipping the cards.   All of the other cards in the deck are useless in this game. The jack is the ultimate card in this game that everyone wants.  Once all four Jacks are gone, we gather all the cards and re-shuffle the cards.  Then we deal the cards again and continue playing.  The person who slaps all four jacks by the end of the game wins.

Sometimes we play Killer where the person who deals the card puts all the cards down in front of each player until there are no more cards left.   Each player organizes their hand of cards in their own way.   I like to take all of my number cards in the front and my higher cards like the Ace and King in the back.  Whoever has the lowest three card which is a club, puts the card down by itself, or with another three, or with as many as they have of that number.   The next person puts down the next biggest number, or they can pass.   We play until someone plays their last card.   The goal of the game is to play all your cards first, claiming you as winner.

The next game we play is War.   The person who deals the cards deals a card to each player until there are no cards left.  Everyone takes a turn flipping their cards over at the same time.  Ace is the highest card.  If I have an Ace and someone has a two and another person has a five, I win the pile because Ace is the highest card.  There can be about four wars when we play.  Wars are where two players or more have the same card flipped.  Each player deals three cards face down in front of them and then one card face up.  Whoever has the highest card out of all of the cards flipped face up wins the whole pile of cards.  The version we play is that we continue flipping our cards until someone has no more cards and that means they win.

My favorite part of the day at Longview is when we sit down and play cards.  Playing  cards gives all of us time to bond.  Some of us have classes together and then the others don’t.   All of us have different classes, so we don’t spend a lot of time together.   We can’t talk and be loud during class, so the time in between classes or at break gives us time to be loud and build our friendships more. Playing cards with each other gives a chance to interact outside of class and show our personalities off.