Amsterdam is a meet or beat card game. Every turn comes down to one question: can you meet it or beat it? If you can, play. If you can't, you're picking up the whole pile — and everyone at the table knows it.
That's the entire engine of the game. Everything else — the wild cards, the face-down gambles, the tournament scoring — is built on that one decision. You can learn it in five minutes. You'll be arguing about strategy for years.
Here's everything you need to play tonight.
What You Need
- One standard 52-card deck for 2–5 players. Shuffle two decks together for 6–10.
- 2–10 players. The sweet spot is 4–6, where the pile gets dangerous fast.
- Card ranking is standard: 4 is the lowest playable start, Ace is high. The 2, 3, and 10 are wild — more on those below.
The Setup
Deal 9 cards to each player
3 face-down in a row (don't look at them), 3 face-up on top of those, and 3 in your hand. The rest becomes the draw pile in the middle.
Swap (Beginner level only)
New players can swap any face-up cards with hand cards before play starts — stash your strong cards face-up for the endgame. At Intermediate and Expert, you play what you're dealt.
Find the first player
The first player holding a 4 starts by playing it. Nobody has a 4? Ask for a 5, then a 6, and so on until someone opens.
Your Turn: Meet It or Beat It
On your turn, play a card from your hand that meets (equals) or beats (exceeds) the top card of the discard pile. A 9 on a 9? Fine. A Jack on a 9? Fine. A 7 on a 9? That's a pickup.
Three rules govern every turn:
- If you can play, you must. No sandbagging. No "I'll just hold this Ace for later." If a legal play exists in your hand, it hits the table.
- Multiples are fine. Got three 8s? Play all three at once on anything 8 or lower.
- Can't meet or beat it? Pick up the entire discard pile. Those cards are your hand now. The table will enjoy this more than you will.
Draw Up
While the draw pile lasts, keep at least 3 cards in hand — play 1, draw 1; play 2, draw 2. If you picked up the pile, those cards are your hand: no drawing until you're back below 3.
The Wild Cards
Three cards break the meet-or-beat rule, and they're where Amsterdam gets interesting.
2 — Make It Low
Resets the pile. The next player can play ANY card — even the lowest in their hand. One catch: you can never play a 2 on a 3.
3 — Mirror
Becomes whatever card it covers. Play a 3 on a King, and the next player needs a King or better. Pure bluff fuel.
10 — Clear
Wipes the entire discard pile from the game — those cards are gone forever — and you go again immediately. The most powerful card at the table.
★ Natural 4-of-a-Kind: four same-value cards in a row clears the pile, and the player who completed it gets a free turn. Note: a 3 (Mirror) played into someone else's streak does not count toward the four — it breaks the streak.
The Endgame
When the draw pile runs out, the real game begins.
- Empty your hand first. Once it's gone, start playing your 3 face-up cards.
- Face-up cards gone? Flip one face-down card per turn — blind. You don't get to peek first.
- Flipped something unplayable? Pick up everything. Back to square one, and now everyone's watching.
That blind flip on the last three cards is the best moment in the game. You're one card from out, the pile is huge, and you turn over... a 5. Onto a Queen. Brutal. Perfect.
Many Win. One Loses.
Players exit the game as they clear all their cards — hand, face-up, and face-down. There's no single winner. There's a single loser: the last player still holding cards. They lose the round, and they deal the next game. That's the deal — literally.
The Three Play Levels
| Level | The Difference | Best For |
|---|---|---|
| Beginner | Swap face-up cards with hand cards before play | First-timers and kids |
| Intermediate | No swapping — play what you're dealt | Most game nights |
| Expert | No swapping, and face-down cards are played before face-up — three full layers of risk | Tournament play |
Tournament Scoring (Official)
Amsterdam is built for competitive play: 10 games per set, 3 sets, lowest score wins. Your score each game is your finishing position — so being first out is worth protecting.
| Finish | Points | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| 1st out | 0 pts | First to clear — rewarded |
| 2nd out | 2 pts | — |
| 3rd out | 3 pts | — |
| 4th out | 4 pts | — |
| Last place | Position + 1 | Penalty — and deals the next round |
The last-place penalty means every game matters, even the ones you're losing. Fighting your way from last to second-to-last is worth real points across a 10-game set.
Five Pro Tips
- Hoard your 10s. A Clear is wasted on a 3-card pile. Save it for when the pile is a monster.
- 2s are bait. Play them to reset bad streaks — and force opponents into decisions they don't want.
- Never pick up voluntarily. Every card in your hand is a card between you and the exit.
- Know your face-downs. You saw the deal. Memory wins games.
- Clear the pile with a 10 before playing face-downs. A blind flip onto an empty pile always plays.
Played Something Like This Before?
If this sounds familiar, you may have played the folk version — known as Shithead, Palace, Karma, Shed, or Castle, depending on who taught you. Amsterdam is that game with an official ruleset, named wild cards, levels of play, and tournament scoring. Read the full comparison: Amsterdam vs Shithead: What's the Difference?
You Know the Rules. Now Prove It.
Play Amsterdam free in your browser right now — no signup, no deck required. Three levels, real wild cards, instant rematch.
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