I have been working on a new simple card game for a while, so I thought I’d write down the rules before I forget. You will need:

• 1 deck of playing cards.
• 2 or 3 players.

That’s all. I like simple games.

How to play

First separate the deck into suits (clubs, hearts, spades and diamonds). Now give each player a suit, and set the other aside.

Your suit is like money; you will use it to buy other cards. The cards have a value of the number printed on them (Ace = 1, Jack = 11, Queen = 12, King = 13).

Take one of the spare suits (e.g. diamonds), shuffle it and lay it face down between the players.

Turn over the top card. This is the first card you will bid on (e.g. 7 of diamonds). The highest bidder will win the card. Every player secretly selects the card they wish to bid, and lays it face down in front of them. When everyone has selected a card, all the cards are turned over. The player who placed the highest bid wins the card (in this example the 7 of diamonds). The cards that are won are kept on the table in front of the player who won them. The other cards are discarded until the end of the game. If the two highest bids are the same value then all cards are discarded and no one wins this round.

Play repeats for each of the cards in the suit (in this example diamonds). By the end of the game all players will have spent all of the cards in their suit and will have won (hopefully) some back.

Scoring

The cards are scored according to the same value as the “money” cards; each card is worth their number (Ace = 1, Jack = 11, Queen = 12, King = 13). The player with the highest score wins.

Modifications

You can play with more than three players, you just need another deck of cards. You can also try different rules for what happens when two players lay the same card.

You can also play without the “spare” suit. Instead players take it in turn to offer their own cards up for purchase. When playing like this it’s a good idea to go around the circle in an ABCCBA order, as the first player has a distinct advantage.

You can also play both variations with an open bidding system, which works like a standard auction.

Improvements?

I need an idea for a name! Suggestions in the comments. Also let me know if you play…

June was a very quiet month for new music discoveries, so I’m going to do May and June together:

Mitski – Your Best American Girl – I discovered this on the Song Exploder podcast. It starts off simple enough, but that chorus… makes my head explode…

Young American – The Vaccines – This is a quiet side to the Vaccines I never heard before, and it’s really good. I never got into the Vaccines but I really like a lot of individual songs, so I should give them another shot.

Glimpses – Alex Ebert – This is another project from the frontman of Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeros. The whole album is good but this really stands out.

That’s Me Trying – William Shatner – I don’t know what to make of this. The words are fascinating. Is it ironic? Is it tongue-in-cheek? Does he know that he sounds conceited? It’s like watching a car crash…

Slow Burn – Mountain Man – I’m just so glad they are making music again. Nothing sounds like this.

Rides Through The Morning – Michael Nau – Just wait for the chorus. It sounds like it was made 60 years ago. Great sound, great song,

This Must Be The Place – Imaginary Future – I know this from the Iron and Wine version, not Talking Heads, but this is a lovely addition to the list of covers!

Hide And Seek – Amber Run – Not a patch on the original, but an interesting interpretation. Hide And Seek is the song invented a capella vocoder songs a thing, and Amer Run have their own song in that form (Blue Haze) so it’s interesting hearing their take on this.

This May playlist feels more like a collection of curiosities than something I will return to often, but that’s how it goes sometimes. On to June…

There are only two songs in this playlist but they are both pretty special:

Daily Battles – Thom Yorke, Flea – Thom once again finds those melodies that tear your heart out and leave you standing motionless staring at it.

Once I Was Loved – Melody Gardot – Hauntingly, indescribably beautiful.