The Blood of an Englishman

An asymmetric duel for 2 players. Jack is nimble, darting through the castles and climbing beanstalks in search of treasure. The Giant responds with deliberation and crushing power, invoking ancient spells to trap the intruder.

This is a DIY version of the original game by Dan Cassar.

Setup

Use a standard deck with all Aces removed. Deal the remaining cards face-up into 5 columns, representing 5 castles.

• 2-10 are Beanstalk Cards
• Q and K are Magic Cards
• Red J, Black J, and Joker are Treasures

Gameplay

Players take turns, with Jack going first.

Jack's Turn

Jack takes three actions per turn. Each action start with taking one card from the front or back of any castle column, then choosing one of the following:

• Plant it on a beanstalk in ascending order. A Treasure must be placed as the 7th card before starting a new beanstalk. Magic cards cannot be used.
• Move it to the front of any castle column. If the card is taken from the back, it can only be placed at the front of the same column.

Giant's Turn

The Giant takes one of the following actions per turn:

• Move exactly four cards from the front of one castle to another
• Remove any one Beanstalk Card from the castles (out of the game)
• Do this twice: transfer the front card of a castle to the front of another

Winning

• Jack Wins if he collects all 3 types of treasures: Red J, Black J, and Joker
• The Giant Wins if Jack is unable to complete 3 beanstalks or:
• The front cards of 4 castles are Magic Cards of 4 different suits
• There are 4 consecutive Magic Cards of different suits in one castle