To understand how to play 31 online, one has to know what 31 card game is. It is a draw and discard game, played almost everywhere in the world, although different sometimes in names, in rules and in ways of playing. It can be played with 3 to 9 people of all ages and is quite simple to play. Although 31 card game described here is also called Scat, it has nothing whatsoever to do with Scat, the national card game in Germany for which tournaments are organized, and which is more complicated to play.

The aim of 31 online is for each player to get as many points as they can with their three card hand. The maximum number a player can get in order to score is 31, hence the name of the game. This total can be achieved with an ace and two 10 point cards for instance…

Card values

In 31 online or in real, Card values stay the same; the aces count 11, the kings and queens and jacks count 10, and the other cards count their face value. Thus, for example, 31 can be obtained with an ace and two 10 cards.

For the card values to add up, it is important that those cards be in the same suit, if they are not, it is the card with the highest value that would prevail.

There are different ways of playing the real 31 card game and these are the standard rules:

Dealing

The card dealer is chosen by the players at first, then all the players deal clockwise one after the other. After the players have been dealt three cards each, they are also given three tokens each. Then the rest of the cards are placed face down in the middle to make the deck, and the top card is taken from it, and placed face up next to it to make the discard pile.

The game starts with the player at the dealer’s left, who draws a card from the deck, and discards one on the discard pile. The player may also choose to draw a card from the discard pile, but they cannot discard the same card again, the situation has to chance. Whereas if the player chooses to draw and discard the same card into the discard pile, once the situation changes, it is then allowed to do. While playing, the players try their best to collect the highest total or 31 before the others do.

Scoring

There are two ways of scoring in 31

1. Knocking: At any point of the game, the player realizes they have a good hand and are capable of beating at least one opponent, they then may knock to let their opponents play for the last time before comparing their cards. If, in this case, the knocker has indeed the highest total, they are safe and the other players lose a token. If, on the contrary, it is the knocker who has the lowest total, then the knocker loses two tokens. If more players happen to have the highest or lowest total, they can all either be safe or lose a token.
2.  Declaring 31: If at the first round, or right after the game has started, with the cards originally dealt, a player reaches the total of 31 points, they can immediately say so and stop the round to have all the other players lose a token. 31 can be declared and the player can win even after another player has knocked. If more players reach 31 at the same time, they all win and the others lose a token.

Elimination

When players lose the tokens they are given through the rounds, they can still play a last one. If they lose again, they get eliminated. The aim then is to be the only one to not get eliminated, in that case, the “survivor”

is considered as the winner.

Playing 31 online is simpler than in real life, online players just have to log into one of 31 card game websites. After what a screen appears with three or more hands among which only one is shown to them, and in the middle is the deck to draw and the discard pile to draw or discard. All what the player has to do is to click to draw and swap, then click to discard, keeping their hand in sight and watching their score. They even sometimes have the choice to pass their turn if they do not wish to change their hand. They can also knock to score or declare victory after getting 31.

31 online games can also be downloaded and kept in one’s computer to play at any moment, without necessarily needing internet access. And these games are often like the online games.

31 Card game names

As mentioned previously, 31 card game has different names depending on the places it is known and played in.  In the USA, 31 card game is called Scat or Blitz. Ride the Bus in Britain. Schwimmen, Schnautz, Knack and Hosen ‘runter in Germany, where this game seems particularly popular. Whammy! in central Indiana, etc…

Variations

In some variations of playing 31, the player is allowed to passing their turn, or exchanging either one of their cards with the table, or all three of their cards, but not two.

This game can be played with other items instead of tokens, such as chips, pennies or other things to symbolize the lives that players lose through the round.  In some other versions, a player may get eliminated when they have lost the three of their tokens.

31 online is the electronic version of the real 31 card game, available on the internet. It is played almost like in real, except that the opponents it is played against are either robots or virtual opponents, who are playing at the same time from their own computers. 31 online is not only entertaining, but can also help people create relationships.