The table is a mess. Cards are flying. Someone is screaming. If you have a whistle, you should probably have it ready now.
This is Demon. It is not a quiet afternoon activity. It is a cross between Racing Demon (also known as Nerts) and Klondike Solitaire. You play it with two to eight people. Everyone uses their own standard 52-card deck. Make sure the backs are different so you don’t accidentally steal someone else’s ace.
The goal is simple: clear your hand faster than anyone else. The first person to get all their cards into the center piles wins. They yell “Demon!” and the frenzy stops.
Setting Up the Table
Each player gets a full Klondike layout. If you don’t know Klondike rules, look them up. You deal out the cards. Turn over three cards from the stock pile to start your waste heap. Then go.
You are racing against time and against the players sitting next to you. The noise level will spike. Keep your wits about you.
The Rules of Play
You have several moves available to you. Prioritize your aces. Get them into the center of the table as fast as you can. These go onto foundation piles. Any player can build on these central piles. You build up in sequence, same suit, ending with the king.
But here is the catch. You can only build on your own layout.
On your personal tableau, you build downward. Alternating colors only. Red on black. Black on red. So the 10 goes on the Jack. Not the other way around.
If you have a card in your waste heap, it is available to play. Any single face-up card on your piles is available. The top card of a sequence is also fair game.
When you move a card away, flip the one beneath it. Sometimes a whole pile empties. That creates a vacancy. You can only fill a hole with a king or a sequence headed by a king. Just like in standard Klondike.
The Center Foundation Piles
This is where the chaos happens.
“Everyone can play onto each foundation pile, but each player can build only onto his own layout.”
This sentence is the key to understanding Demon. The central piles are shared. The local piles are private.
If you have an ace, put it in the middle. Start building up. If you have a 10, and there is a Jack in the middle, you can play it.
Watch out for conflicts. Two players might try to put the same card on the same foundation pile. Who gets it? The one whose card was at the bottom of their hand. They arrived first.
Managing Your Stock
Go through your stock three cards at a time. When you are done, flip your waste heap over. It becomes your new stock. You can do this as many times as you like.
You might run out of moves. Your cards might be stuck. That is okay. As other players move cards into the center, your previously useless cards might suddenly become playable. Wait for the shift.
When the Game Ends
The game ends when one player has played all their cards into the middle foundation piles.
They shout “Demon!”
All other play stops immediately.
If no one can go out, and no moves are possible, the game is also complete.
Sort out the foundation piles. Return the cards to the players who originally dealt them.
Scoring the Chaos
Who wins? The player who goes out scores 52 points. Plus a 10-point bonus. Total 62.
Everyone else gets one point per card in the foundation piles at that moment.
One person keeps the score for the group. Play a set number of deals. The highest total wins.
It is fast. It is loud. It is a mess. And you will want to play it again immediately.
