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the game: "Go!"

Here are the few rules of Snerd: Aces are placed in the center, where anyone can build on them in their suits, from ace to king. These piles are turned over as soon as the king is slapped on top, but play never stops. If two people slap a two of hearts on an ace of hearts at the same time, the lowest card (the one touching the ace) gets to stay, and the other person withdraws his or her two and looks for another ace of hearts to play it on. Cards can be played onto the ace piles either from the lowest exposed card on each player's build cards (the four cards to the right of the Snerd pile, which are built red on black, highest to lowest), or from the deck cards in hand, which are turned up three at a time, as in Solitaire. Only one hand is permitted to move cards; two handed playing is an automatic out.

The craftiest players snag the middle seats, because the position gives command of the most aces in the center of the table. Unfortunate players seated near the end of the table should be good at Frisbee(TM). I have seen a true monarch of Snerd loft a card the length of a banquet table to land accurately on a pile at the other end, beating a nearby player by about three quarters of a second. These are the great moments of Snerd.

Snerd is a game that doesn't pall quickly, either. It moves fast; the first person to play his or her final Snerd pile card shouts "Snerd!" and the round is over. The remaining Snerd piles are counted against the rest of the players, and are offset by the cards they played during the round. As soon as "Snerd!" is called, each player sets aside their Snerd cards and grabs a nearby ace pile, sorting them by cardback. This is why each person must have a different cardback design; if everyone had Bicycles, there would be no way to know who played each card. Players receive their ace pile cards back. Some of the cards offset the Snerd cards, and the remainder are tallied. Highest points win. Most games are played to 100, the first person reaching 100 being the winner.

It's a simple game, easily learned, playable for hours. My husband and I once played Snerd for about 6 hours with another couple on a cruise ship, after we had been turned out of our cabins and were returning to port. But the best Snerd memories are from holidays, when old and young played together, elbowing each other out of the way and laughing so hard we fell out of our chairs.

Learn more about this author, Tamara Raetz.
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