← On a small screen, scroll the diagram horizontally. →
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Players and cards
This selects the Cuckoo profile for 3–10 players with an ordinary 52-card pack and no jokers. Each receives 3 life tokens; there is no money pot. Ranks are K, Q, J, 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, A from high to low. Suits do not matter. Avoid holding the lowest card, so an ace is more dangerous than a king.
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Deal and opening
Choose the first dealer by lot. Each round shuffle all cards and deal each active player 1 face-down card, which its holder may inspect. Leave the rest as a face-down stock. Turns run clockwise from the dealer’s left neighbour, with the dealer last. After the round the deal passes to the next active player on the left. Skip eliminated players.
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Playing a turn
On your single turn, keep your card or request an exchange with the nearest active neighbour on your left. That neighbour must accept unless holding K: show the king and both cards stay with their holders. A blocked request cannot be redirected. A card received during someone else’s turn may be passed onwards on your own later turn: a forced exchange does not use your turn. Q and J have no special powers; an exposed king blocks only that attempt, not the whole round.
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The dealer’s last turn
The dealer keeps the card or attempts to replace it with a card cut from the undealt stock. If that card is not K, it becomes the dealer’s card and the old one goes to a face-down discard. If K is cut, replacement is blocked: the dealer keeps the original card and sets the king aside unused. The dealer never exchanges with the first player and receives no second attempt.
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Scoring
After the dealer’s turn everyone reveals. Every holder of the lowest rank loses 1 life, including all players tied for last. The others lose nothing. Winning a round never adds lives. At 0 lives a player is eliminated until the next complete game. Return everyone’s cards, the stock and the discard to the pack.
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Ending the game
The sole surviving player wins. The chosen final-tie agreement is that if all remaining players on their last life would be eliminated together, they are joint winners. Do not declare a winner before the collective reveal. If a deal is incorrect, collect the cards and repeat it without losing lives.
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History and selected variant
British names include Cuckoo, Chase the Ace and Ranter Go Round. The wider family includes games with special packs, but this version uses ordinary cards. The documented account does not establish an exact author or date. Additional queen and jack powers belong to other variants and are not included here.
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Worked example
In turn order sit A, B, C and dealer D. Their cards are 2♣, 9♥, K♠ and 7♦. A exchanges with B and receives 9♥. Now B, holding the received 2♣, tries to exchange with C. C shows K♠, blocking the exchange. C and D keep their cards. At the reveal B’s 2♣ is lowest: B loses 1 life and the others keep theirs.
← On a small screen, scroll the diagram horizontally. →
Common questions
Is the ace high here?+
No, A is lowest and K highest.
May I refuse a forced exchange?+
Only with K. Any other card must be exchanged.
Two players share the lowest rank?+
Both lose a life. If all remaining players are eliminated together this way, they share victory.