Their layout will now be one card smaller. If the card does indeed match, they may discard the matching card. Matching cardsĪt any time, even if it’s not their turn, if a player believes a card in their layout matches the top card of the discard pile, they may turn the card face up. On this and all subsequent turns, a player may choose to draw the top card of the discard pile rather than from the stock. Instead, they must remember which card is which for the rest of the game!Īfter the non-dealer has discarded, the dealer plays. Once a card has been placed on the layout, a player cannot look at it again. The card drawn is placed face down in the vacant spot in the layout.

The player then turns the card they wish to remove face up and places it next to the stock, forming the discard pile. The player may not look at the face-down cards before deciding which to swap. They may then swap it with any of the face-down cards in front of them. They draw a card from the stock and look at it, keeping it hidden from the dealer. Game play in Cactus revolves around players trying to reduce the total point value of the cards in their hands. Place the stub face down in the center of the table, forming the stock. Each player arranges their cards in a two-by-two grid in front of them, making sure to keep them face down. Shuffle and deal four cards to each player. To make sure that your cards are always durable enough to stand up to your game, always use Denexa 100% Plastic Playing Cards. To play Cactus, you’ll need a standard 52-card deck of playing cards. Players try to reduce their point total by selectively discarding and drawing cards. The object of Cactus is to end the game with the lowest point total. Cactus is a Golf variant hailing from Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. They carry this name because, like in the sport of golf, the goal is to end with the lowest score. They still can’t look at the cards, though-so they have to remember which card is which to make sure they don’t accidentally discard or reveal the wrong card!Ĭactus is part of a small family of games collectively referred to as “Golf” (distinct from the better-known Golf solitaire game). However, as the game continues, the initial, unknown cards will be replaced with cards the player does know the identity of.

Initially, all of a player’s cards are face down, so they will have no knowledge of the value of their hand. Cactus is a card game for two players where memory plays a crucial role.

Card game of golf with 8 cards