Overview
This fast-paced action game is played with four card decks, each deck having 40 cards. Typically the game is played by a minimum of 2 players and a maximum of 4. However, with a special expansion pack, you can have up to 8 players play the game. The game is fun to play and quite easy to learn. Each player selects a deck to play with, with cards of the same deck bearing similar pictures to enable score tracking at the end of each round.
The goal of the game is to exhaust all the cards in your Blitz Pile which consists of 10 cards. Once a player achieves this, they have to shout “Blitz’ to notify the other players that the round is won. Scores are tracked and recorded at the end of each round. An overall winner is declared when a player achieves a certain score or an agreed number of rounds is completed.
Objective
The objective of the game is to get rid of all the cards in your Blitz Pile in each round and score the highest total point of every player at the end of the game. The game ends when a player achieves a certain score or a set number of rounds is completed.
Dutch Blitz Rules
A player is not allowed to pick up more than one card from any of their piles during the game.
Players are not allowed to throw cards to the Dutch Pile. Cards must be placed on the Dutch Pile.
You can only play with one hand, and no alternating between hands. However, in some variations of the game, players can use both hands to play.
Only a Number 1 card can start a Dutch Pile and there is no limit to the number of Dutch Piles that can be made during a round.
Blitz Pile can only be played from the top card.
If an illegal play is made and a player notices, they will shout “Dutch” and all play is suspended immediately without disturbing the cards. The cards played incorrectly must be removed and returned to their original positions before play can resume.
Post Pile can only be stacked in decreasing order while also alternating between boy faced and girl faced cards.
Wood Pile can only be formed by picking the top 3 cards from your spare cards and the spare cards cannot be shuffled.
Players can only play the top card of their Wood Pile and the pile cannot be shuffled.
Number of Players Needed
Minimum of 2 players and a maximum of 4 if playing with the standard deck. However, up to 8 players can be accommodated if playing with a special expansion deck.
Equipment
4 card decks made up of 40 cards each are needed to play the game in its standard version. The expanded version of the game will require a special expansion pack to accommodate 8 players.
Setting Up
First, a designated scorekeeper is selected to keep track of the player’s scores per round. The game typically involves lots of quick rounds and tracking player scores is important. Each player then selects a deck of cards and shuffles it. The cards have different images at their back with cards of the same deck spotting the same image. This is for identifying each player’s cards and keeping track of scores.
Players must stick to their selected deck for every round of the game till an eventual winner emerges. If there are only 2 players, only two card decks will be used and the remaining two decks discarded. If 3, then three decks will be used. After shuffling their deck of cards, each player will select the first 3 cards at the top of their deck and lay them down face up. These cards form the Post Pile from which players can draw when playing a round of the game. The Post Pile is similar to “hand’’ when playing card games like solitaire.
Note that if only two players are playing a game of Dutch Blitz, then each player must pick the top 5 cards from their deck to form a Post Pile of 5. Next, every player counts 10 cards from their deck and lays them down face-up to form the Blitz Pile. The Blitz Pile is placed to the right of the Post Pile and is used to replenish the Post Pile as the game progresses.
The players each keep the rest of their cards aside but a player is allowed to form a Wood Pile from their spare cards during a round. If a player is unable to play any of their exposed cards, then they are allowed to pull 3 cards from their spare card to form a Wood Pile which gives them more chances of playing. The Wood Pile is placed face down until required and payers are not allowed to look at the cards.
The Dutch Pile is usually at the centre of the playing surface, within the reach of all the players. Cards played by the players form the Dutch Pile.
How to Play Dutch Blitz Game
Once the game is set up, it is time to play. Playing a game of Dutch Blitz is fast, fun and easy. There are a lot of rounds involved and players are scored at the end of every round. The game ends when a player achieves a set total score or an agreed number of rounds is completed. A description of how a round of Dutch Blitz is played is given below.
A round is started once the scorekeeper signals it. To begin with, there are no turns in Dutch Blitz so all the players are playing their cards at the same time. To form a Dutch Pile and begin a round, players check their exposed cards in the Post Pile or Blitz Pile for Number 1 cards. Any Number 1 card found is moved to the centre of the playing surface and laid face-up to form a Dutch Pile. As many Dutch Piles as possible can be formed starting with a Number 1 card.
Dutch Piles can be formed at any point in the game once a Number 1 card turns up and there is no limit to the number of Dutch Piles that can be formed. Once a Dutch Pile is formed, any player can add to it by placing the next higher card for the same colour. For example, a once a Dutch Pile is formed with a red colour Number 1 card, any player with a red colour Number 2 card can add it, followed by a player with a red colour Number 3 card and so on.
The concept is simple, cards of the same colour stacked on top of each other in ascending order. Once again, there are no turns in Dutch Blitz so once you spot a legal play, don’t hesitate. Players can add to a Dutch Pile using cards from the Post Pile or the top card of the Blitz Pile. A Dutch Pile is finished once it gets up to 10 and may be moved to the side so it doesn’t disturb play. When a player plays a card from their Post Pile, they must replace that card with the card at the top of their Blitz Pile. Players must always maintain 3 cards in their Post Pile.
The corners of the face of the cards for Dutch Blitz have face drawings of either a boy or a girl. This forms part of the gameplay and affects how players stack their Post Pile. When adding cards to their Post Piles, players must alternate between boy and girl cards. Also, the cards must be stacked in descending order. For example, if you have a green 7 card with a boy’s face in its corner, a blue 6 card with a girl face in its corner can go beneath it. If a player is unable to play from their Post Pile or Blitz Pile, they can take the first 3 cards from their spare cards to form a Wood Pile.
The cards of the Wood Pile are laid stacked and laid face up with only the top card revealed. This gives the player more chance of playing as they can now draw from the Post Pile, Blitz Pile, or Wood Pile and play. Anytime a player runs out of cards in their Wood Pile, they can draw 3 more cards from their spare cards. A round is concluded when a player depletes their Blitz Pile and shouts ‘’Blitz’’ to notify the other players.
Winning the Game
Players are scored at the end of each round as the game is played in several quick rounds. The scores per round are added progressively until a player attains an agreed score or a set number of rounds is completed. If two players achieve the agreed score at the same time, the player with the higher score is declared the winner.
To score a round of Dutch Blitz, here is the scoring system. Other players apart from the one that won the round must count the number of cards left in their Blitz Pile at the end of the round. The number on each card is not important, only the number of cards left in the Blitz Pile is relevant.
For every card left in their Blitz Pile, a player receives a score of -2. After that, cards in the Dutch Piles are gathered and sorted. A player receives a score of +1 for every of their card that is in the Dutch Pile. Once again, the number on the cards do not matter only the total number of cards does.