How to play Ninety-Nine

Ninety-Nine is a card game for several players built around one simple number. Everyone takes turns adding a card to a running total, and the total must never go above 99. Most cards just add their value, but a handful of special cards hold the total still, reverse the direction of play, take ten away or jump the total straight to 99. Whoever cannot play without going over loses a life.

It is a game of skill because your hand is small and every card matters. With only three cards at a time, you have to decide when to spend a special card and when to save it, and how to leave the total so that the next player, not you, is the one who runs out of safe moves. On skill.games you play against three computer opponents, Lily on your left, Max at the top and Zoe on your right, each with three lives.

How to play on skill.games

When the game opens, the settings appear first: choose a difficulty and tap PLAY. The running total is shown on a dial in the middle of the table, which turns from green to amber to red as it climbs and starts to shake from 90. Arrows show the direction of play, and name tags show each player's lives as hearts.

• Your turn: your three cards lie at the bottom. Tap a card to play it, or drag it onto the table. A new card is drawn for you automatically.
• Unsafe cards: a card that would take the total over 99 is dimmed, and the game refuses it if you try.
• Tens: when a 10 could go either way, two buttons ask whether it is +10 or −10. Tap the one you want.
• Menu: the button in the top-left corner pauses the game. From there you can resume, start a new game or turn the sound on or off.
• Saving: an unfinished match is saved. Next time, tap CONTINUE to carry on where you left off.
• Results: the match ends as soon as you win or lose your last life. You see your place and the rounds played, plus your wins, losses, win rate and streaks at that difficulty.

Rules

Setup. One standard 52-card deck is used. Each player starts the match with three lives. At the start of every round all the cards are gathered and shuffled, each player still in the match is dealt three cards, the total is set to 0 and play goes clockwise. You start the first round.

A turn. On your turn you play one card from your hand onto the pile, the total changes by that card's value, and you draw a replacement from the stock. The new total must be 99 or less.

Card values:

• Ace: 1
• 2, 3, 5, 6, 7, 8: their face value
• Jack and Queen: 10 each
• 4: adds nothing and reverses the direction of play. When only two players are left, it simply passes the turn.
• 9: adds nothing; the turn just passes on.
• 10: either plus 10 or minus 10, your choice. Minus 10 never takes the total below 0. If +10 would go over 99, the 10 can only be played as minus.
• King: the total becomes exactly 99, whatever it was before.

Because 4s, 9s, minus-tens and Kings can never push the total over 99, a player holding any of them always has a safe play.

Losing a life. You may not deliberately go over 99. A player loses a life only when every card in their hand would take the total past 99. That ends the round. The next round starts with the player after the one who lost the life, in the direction play was going at that moment.

The stock. If the stock runs out, the played cards under the top card of the pile are shuffled to form a new stock.

Winning. A player with no lives left is out. The last player with lives remaining wins. If you lose your last life, your match ends there and you are placed by how many players were still in.

Strategy tips

• Spend ordinary cards early. While the total is low, play your high ordinary cards (8s, Jacks, Queens). They are the cards that become unplayable later.
• Save your specials. 4s, 9s, 10s and Kings are your safety net. Try to keep at least one in your hand once the total climbs past the 70s.
• Use the King as a weapon. A King sets the total to 99, so the next player must hold a special card or lose a life. It is strongest when you suspect they are short of specials.
• Reverse to change the victim. A 4 sends the turn back the other way. Use it when the player who would be next looks safe and the one behind you does not.
• Minus ten buys room. Playing a 10 as minus at a high total gives you breathing space, but it also gives the next player room. Weigh who benefits more.
• Watch the pile. Every played card is public. Count the Kings, 4s, 9s and 10s that have gone; when most are out, a high total is dangerous for everyone.

Difficulty levels

All three opponents play at the level you choose.

• Easy: the computer plays any safe card at random, with no plan behind it.
• Normal: the computer plays its lowest ordinary safe card and keeps its specials until nothing else fits. It then uses a 9 first, then a 4, then a 10 (as minus when the total is 50 or more), and a King last.
• Hard: the computer weighs every safe move: how likely it is to leave the next player stuck, how risky its own next turn will be, and how much it costs to spend a special card.
• Crazy: plays like Hard but aims at you. It pushes much harder when you are the next player, and goes easier on the others.