Kings in the Corner is an American shedding game for two to four players with a solitaire-style layout. Seven cards each are dealt around a central draw pile, and four cards are flipped face up to the North, East, South and West. On your turn you may play cards from your hand onto the layout in descending, alternating-color order, start new piles in the corners with kings, and move entire stacks to open things up — then you draw one card. First player to empty their hand wins; everyone else scores penalty points (kings 10, other cards 1 each).
Play now — it's freeThe game is best with four players and works with two or three as well. Use a standard 52-card pack; cards rank K-Q-J-10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-A, so the Ace is low and nothing can ever be played on it.
Deal seven cards to each player. The rest goes face down in the centre as the stock. Flip four cards face up from the stock and place them North, East, South and West of it — these are the four starting piles. The four diagonal corner spaces begin empty.
Be the first player to play every card from your hand onto the layout. The moment your last card lands, you win and the round ends immediately.
If the stock runs out and everyone is stuck, the round ends anyway and the player with the fewest penalty points wins.
A card played from your hand onto a pile must be exactly one rank lower than that pile's top card and the opposite color — a red 10 (hearts or diamonds) goes on a black Jack (spades or clubs), and so on.
Because the Ace is the lowest card, a pile topped by an Ace is closed: nothing can be played on it until the Ace moves away as part of a whole-stack move.
| Situation | Allowed? |
|---|---|
| Red 10 on a black Jack | Yes |
| Black 10 on a red Jack | Yes |
| Red 10 on a red Jack (same color) | No |
| Red 10 on a black Queen (rank not directly lower) | No |
| Anything on an Ace | No — the Ace is low and closes the pile |
The four diagonal spaces are reserved for kings. If you hold a king, you may place it in an empty corner; that corner immediately becomes a live pile that builds exactly like the original four.
Kings cannot be played anywhere else — a king is the highest card, so nothing higher can anchor it. Plant your kings early: each one is 10 penalty points if you are caught holding it at the end.
Any entire pile may be lifted and moved onto another pile when its bottom card is one rank lower and opposite in color to the other pile's top card. Example: a stack of red 4 - black 3 may move onto a stack of black 7 - red 6 - black 5.
Moving stacks is the heart of the game: it merges piles, buries closed Aces, and — most importantly — opens spaces.
When a pile is moved away from one of the original North/East/South/West positions, the space stays open: you may play ANY card from your hand into it, no matching required.
A corner behaves differently: if a corner stack is moved away, the corner can only be restarted with another king.
Play proceeds clockwise. On your turn you may make any number of the moves above, in any order. Cards you play stay on the table — you cannot take them back during the same turn.
To end your turn you must draw one card from the stock (if you cannot or do not want to play, you simply draw). When the stock is exhausted, play continues with no drawing.
The round ends the instant a player sheds their last card. It also ends at an impasse: the stock is empty and every player in turn has nothing to do.
At an impasse everyone counts penalty points: a king in hand costs 10 points and every other card costs 1. The lowest total wins. Across rounds, points accumulate; this site flags a "big loser" banner at 50 accumulated points.
| Card left in hand | Penalty points |
|---|---|
| King | 10 |
| Every other card (Ace to Queen) | 1 each |
Plant kings the moment you draw one — corners are extra piles, and a king in hand is the most expensive card you can be caught with.
Build long runs before you commit: Q-J-10 in alternating colors can all go in one turn, but only if the colors line up.
Move a small stack off a big one to empty a North/East/South/West space — then dump any awkward card into it.
Watch the Aces: a pile topped by an Ace is frozen until its Ace is carried away inside a moved stack.
Dump high penalty cards (kings first) early, and keep flexible mid-range cards to hop between piles.
Two to four at one table. Quick matches seat four; empty seats are filled by AI. The game is said to be best with four.
Seven cards to each player from a 52-card deck; four more cards are flipped face up to start the North, East, South and West piles around the central stock.
Only a king may be placed in one of the four diagonal corner spaces. Once planted, the corner builds like any other pile, starting with a queen of the opposite color.
Cards build down in rank and alternating colors: a red 10 on a black Jack, then a black 9, and so on. The Ace is the lowest card, so nothing can be played on an Ace.
You may move an entire pile onto another pile when the moving stack's bottom card is one rank lower and opposite in color to the target pile's top card — for example red 4 - black 3 onto black 7 - red 6 - black 5.
If one of the original four positions is emptied by a move, you may play any card from your hand into it. An emptied corner can only be restarted with another king.
Yes — drawing one card from the stock is how a turn ends, whether you played cards or not. When the stock is empty, play simply continues without drawing.
At the end of a round every card left in hand costs 1 penalty point, except kings which cost 10. Points accumulate across rounds; this site shows a "big loser" banner at 50 points.
Yes — play free at kingscorner.yeeqia.com directly in your browser, no download or sign-up required.
Yes, the site is mobile-first and runs in any modern Android or iOS browser.