High-Low: Rules and How to Play
High-Low is a card game for 1 to 8 players, about 5 minutes. Guess higher or lower than the card on the table, and bank your streak. Free, in-browser, no account, no real money.
Setup
- One to eight players. The deck holds four suits (♠♥♦♣), 1 through 13, no jokers — 52 cards.
- Shuffle and turn the top card face up. Play starts from there.
- Ace counts as 1 (the lowest card) and King is the highest, by default — a party setting can make Ace the highest instead.
How to play
- On your turn, call whether the next card will be higher or lower than the one on the table.
- Drawing the same value counts as a miss. With a King showing you cannot call higher, and with an Ace you cannot call lower — no card could win.
- Guess right, and you can keep going — your streak is the number of correct guesses in a row.
- Guess wrong, and that turn's streak is lost. Play passes to the next player.
- You may bank at any time: your current streak is added to your total score, and play passes on.
- When the deck runs out, everything already turned over (except the current card) is shuffled back in.
Winning and scoring
- Play continues until everyone has used their allotted turns (3 by default).
- Whoever has the highest total score when that happens wins. Equal scores share a place, and a tie for first is a draw.
- Points only ever exist inside the game — no real money changes hands.
Defaults on this site
| Item | Default on this site |
|---|---|
| Players | 1–8 players (set automatically by the party size) |
| Turn time limit | None by default (the host can set 30 or 60 seconds) |
| If someone drops mid-game | Reopening on the same device returns you to your seat. If you do not return, the CPU plays in your place. |
| Draws | In ranked play, a draw counts as halfway between a win and a loss for your rating. |
| Source of the rules | Based on the standard reference rules |
Rules supervised by Qdan, Inc. (based on the standard reference rules)
House rules
Defaults follow the standard reference rules. The party can change these.
| Name | Description | Default | Changeable |
|---|---|---|---|
| Turns per player | How many turns each player gets. More means a longer game. | 3 | Yes |
| Ace value | Whether Ace beats King as the highest card. | Lowest | Yes |
Terms
- Guess
- Calling whether the next card is higher or lower than the one on the table.
- Streak
- How many correct guesses in a row you have made this turn. Banking turns this into score.
- Bank
- Locking in your streak as score and ending your turn.
- Deck
- The cards not yet turned over. Nobody, including the computer players, can see their order.
FAQ
What happens on a tie?
Drawing the same value counts as a miss. Your streak resets and play passes on.
What does banking do?
It adds your current streak to your total score right away. You cannot go back and keep guessing on that turn.
Is Ace high or low?
Low by default (the weakest card). A party setting can flip it to be the highest instead.
What happens when the deck runs out?
Everything already turned over, except the current card, is shuffled back into a fresh deck.
Play now with these rules
Last updated 2026-09-23 · Run by Qdan, Inc.