The Game of Crunch
This a 2 to 4 player speed game in the spirit of
double-solitaire. Each player uses a distinct deck
of cards. For each player there will be a
foundation pile for each of the four suits, but anybody
may play on any foundation. The overall goal is to put as
many of your cards on the foundation piles as
you can.
This results in an occassional scuffle and sometimes
a crunched hand.
The Setup
Each player shuffles his own deck thoroughly and then
counts off 13 cards in a upside down stack called the
crunch-pile. The crunch-pile is placed on the left
side of his space. Four cards are turned face up
beside the crunch-pile, making the four columns.
The remaining cards are left in the turn-over pile
which can be held in one hand or laid at the bottom
of your space.
The players should be facing
each other with enough space in the middle to make four
foundation piles for each player.
The Use of the Areas
The foundation piles will be started as Aces become
available. Cards of the same suit may be added to the
foundation piles in ascending order. There is no
ownership of foundation piles so the cards of all
players will be intermingled in these stacks. When
a foundation pile gets to King, no more cards may be
put on it. In some cases the foundation area gets a
bit messy and a time-out can be called to straighten
out the piles or remove the stacks that are at King.
The foundation piles are the only place where the
players do not keep their cards and hands to themselves.
During play, each player's crunch-pile should always
have its top
card turned right side up. No cards are put on top of
this card. It can be moved to the columns or it can be
played on an appropriate foundation pile. When the
up-turned card is moved off, another card is immediately
turned over. When the last card is moved off of the
crunch-pile the player shouts "Crunch!" and all players
must stop immediately.
Cards in the column are may be played to the foundation
area or moved to another column.
Each player's columns are used to collect cards
that are not yet playable on the foundations. Cards
may be stacked in this area but must alternate in color
and be in descending order. In this area, entire stacks
or partial stacks may be moved at once. Only the smallest
card in a column is available to be played to the
foundations. If a column is cleared of cards, it should
be filled with the upturned card from the crunch-pile.
The turn-over pile is used by counting three cards
upside down and then turning them over into a stack.
When there are no more cards to turn over, you may
pick up the stack and begin again as many times as
necessary.
The cards inside the stack should not normally be visible
but sometimes when you are "stuck" it is useful to
offset each stack of three just so that you can tell
when something becomes available. If you have done
this it is acceptable to jump to the interesting card,
straighten the pile and pick up all the following
cards, and continue from there. The top turned over
card can be moved to the columns or to the foundations.
The Play
When someone says "Go", all players begin at the same
time. Typically the first moves are to turn over the top
card of the crunch-pile and to count off the first three
of the turn-over pile. The main goal is to put as many
of your
cards on the foundation piles as you can. There is no
set order in which cards must be moved or any
synchronization with other players, therefore, it can
be quite entertaining just to watch the ensuing confusion.
Scoring
When one player exhausts his crunch-pile and yells "Crunch!"
all players must stop. Each player should count and remember
the number of cards in his crunch-pile including the
up-turned card. He should collect all his cards that are
not in the foundations and put them aside. The cards from
the foundation-piles are then turned over, seperated by
player (thus the requirement for different card-backs), and
counted.
Each player's score is calculated by subtracting two times
the number of cards left in the crunch-pile from the
number of his cards that were in the foundation piles.
In other words the crunch-pile counts against you twice.
In this way, a perfect "skunk" would cause you to go
back 26 points. Each hands score are accumulated.
Someone who goes below zero can be said
to be "in the hole" and is generally indicated on the
score sheet by circling the score. You can agree to
play to 100 or some other score or you can just play
for a set amount of time.
Paul Chamberlain
tif@tifster.com