What is One card down?
One card down plays War with smaller wars. Everything else stays as in the standard game: the whole deck is dealt out face down, in each battle every player turns up their top card, the highest rank takes the cards (aces are high and suits don't count), and you win by collecting every card.
When the battle cards tie, each player lays one card face down instead of three, then turns one card face up, and the highest face-up card takes everything on the table. Another tie starts another war. A player with too few cards lays down what they can and turns their last card face up, and a player with no cards left loses. Because each war moves fewer cards, leads change hands less suddenly and games tend to run longer; a game still going after 1,000 battles ends in a draw, however many cards each player holds.
Rule changes
| Rule | Standard War | One card down |
|---|---|---|
| Cards face down in a war | Standard WarThree from each player, then one face up. | One card downOne from each player, then one face up. |
| Cards won by a two-player war | Standard WarAt least ten: the two tied cards, three face-down and one face-up card from each player. | One card downAt least six: the two tied cards, one face-down and one face-up card from each player. |
| Very long games | Standard WarNo limit: the game goes on until one player holds every card. | One card downA game still going after 1,000 battles ends in a draw, even if one player holds more cards. More games reach it, because wars move fewer cards at a time. |
| Other options | Standard WarTwo players by default, with the highest card winning each battle. | One card downPlay with 2, 3 or 4 players; with more than two, a tie for the highest card starts a war that every player still in the game fights. Peace can't be combined with it, as a peace always uses five face-down cards. |
History
War is a children's card game played in many parts of the world; in Britain it is called Battle. It has no governing body and is passed on by word of mouth, so its details vary from one family to the next. The basic rule is one card face down and one face up in a war, but many players lay three face-down cards instead, which is how the standard game on this site plays.
The game has relatives in many countries. An 1833 German source describes German games of the same kind played with a 32-card pack, and there are regional versions such as the Russian P'yanitsa (Drunkard), in which a tie can be settled with no face-down card at all.