1: Deal each player seven cards. Set the rest in the middle, face down, as the stock.One regular 52-card deck, for two to four players.
2: Turn four cards face up around the stock: one above it, one below, one on each side.They form a cross. The four corners between them stay empty.
3: The player on the dealer's left goes first, and turns pass to the left.In one turn you may make as many moves as you like, in any order.
4: Play a card from your hand onto a pile: one rank lower and the opposite color.A red 10 goes on a black jack, then a black 9 on the red 10.
5: Put a king from your hand in an empty corner. It starts a new pile.Build down on a king the same way, starting with a queen of the other color.
6: Move a whole pile onto another pile when its bottom card fits that pile's top card.A pile of red 4, black 3 can go onto a pile that ends in a black 5.
7: A side space left empty by a move takes any card from your hand.Only the four spaces of the cross. A corner takes a king and nothing else.
8: End your turn by drawing one card from the stock.No move to make, or none you want? Draw one card, and that is your turn.
9: The first player to play the last card from their hand wins.Play stops there. The winner does not draw.
1: Deal each player seven cards. Set the rest in the middle, face down, as the stock.One regular 52-card deck, for two to four players.
2: Turn four cards face up around the stock: one above it, one below, one on each side.They form a cross. The four corners between them stay empty.
3: The player on the dealer's left goes first, and turns pass to the left.In one turn you may make as many moves as you like, in any order.
4: Play a card from your hand onto a pile: one rank lower and the opposite color.A red 10 goes on a black jack, then a black 9 on the red 10.
5: Put a king from your hand in an empty corner. It starts a new pile.Build down on a king the same way, starting with a queen of the other color.
6: Move a whole pile onto another pile when its bottom card fits that pile's top card.A pile of red 4, black 3 can go onto a pile that ends in a black 5.
7: A side space left empty by a move takes any card from your hand.Only the four spaces of the cross. A corner takes a king and nothing else.
8: End your turn by drawing one card from the stock.No move to make, or none you want? Draw one card, and that is your turn.
9: The first player to play the last card from their hand wins.Play stops there. The winner does not draw.
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The layout, card by card 9
1: The stock sits face down in the center of the table.Every draw comes off its top.
2: North, south, east and west of the stock: one face-up card each.These four piles are open from the first turn.
3: The four corners, between the arms of the cross, start empty.Northeast, southeast, southwest, northwest.
4: Only a king can open a corner, so the table never holds more than eight piles.Four on the cross and four in the corners.
5: Cards rank from king, the highest, down to ace, the lowest.K Q J 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 A.
6: Every pile alternates in color: red on black, black on red.Hearts and diamonds are red. Clubs and spades are black.
7: Overlap the cards of a pile so that every card can be seen.Then anyone can see where a pile starts and where it ends.
8: Nothing can be played on an ace. A pile with an ace on top is finished.It can still be moved, whole, onto a pile that ends in the right card.
9: A corner pile built from king down to ace holds thirteen cards.No card ranks above a king, so a corner pile never moves.
Moving piles and other rulings 9
1: A king turned up on the cross at the deal: the first player moves it to a corner.That player then fills the empty side space from their hand.
2: Two starting cards that fit, such as a red 6 and a black 7: the first player may stack them.The space that opens takes any card from that player's hand.
3: A pile moves whole, never in part.A card once played stays on the table, even if your turn is not over.
4: Do you have to play a card you can play? One source says yes, the other no.Agree before the deal. The standard sheet lets you hold a card back.
5: Stock used up: play goes on, and turns end without a draw.By then every card is in a hand or on the table.
6: Blocked: the stock is gone and nobody can, or will, play. The hand ends there.Count the cards left in each hand to score it.
7: Variation: draw your card at the start of the turn, not the end.Say "pass" when you finish, so the next player knows to draw.
8: Variation: with no card to play, draw until one fits, play it, then draw to end the turn.It makes for bigger hands and longer games.
9: Variation: a king must be played at the first chance.Hard to check, since nobody sees your hand. The 10-point penalty does the same job.
Scoring over several hands 9
1: One hand can be the whole game: the first player out of cards wins.For a longer game, keep a running score on paper.
2: When a player goes out, the others count the cards left in their hands.The same count settles a blocked hand.
3: A king left in a hand costs 10 points. Every other card costs 1.Another common count puts the other picture cards at 2.
4: Add each hand's points to a running total. The deal passes to the left.The player who went out adds nothing.
5: Agree on a target before the first deal: 25 or 50 points.A lower target makes a shorter evening.
6: When any total reaches the target, the player with the lowest total wins.Another way: a player who reaches the target is out, and the last one in wins.
7: A worked hand (ours): a king, a queen and two small cards left in a hand cost 13.10 and 1 and 1 and 1.
8: A heavier count: aces 25, picture cards 10, the rest their number.With that count, set the target at 100 or 250.
9: Corners version: keep each corner pile you finish. Most corners wins.A corner is finished when its ace goes on.
How this list was compiled: Written for this site on 2026-10-09, in our own words. Kings in the Corner, also called Kings Corner or Kings Corners, is a traditional card game with no governing body. The standard sheet was checked on 2026-10-09 against English Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0, Kings in the Corner: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kings_in_the_Corner, and against the card game rules site Pagat: https://www.pagat.com/domino/kingscorners.html. Both give a regular 52-card deck, seven cards each, four cards face up north, south, east and west of the stock, cards played one rank lower and of the opposite color, a king started in an empty corner, a whole pile moved onto another, any card played to an emptied side space, one card drawn to end the turn and the first empty hand winning. Wikipedia names two to four players; Pagat says two or more and that four is a good number. The cards overlapped, the ace that ends a pile, the king or the fitting card dealt to the cross, the blocked hand, the draw at the start of a turn, kings that must be played, the penalty of 10 for a king and 1 for any other card, the lowest total winning at 25 or 50 and the count with aces at 25 are as Pagat gives them. The rule that a card which can be played must be played, drawing until a card fits, the player put out at the target, picture cards at 2 points and the corners version are as Wikipedia gives them. Pagat also describes a version scored with chips; this page scores points only. A boxed set is sold under the same name; this page is the folk game for a regular deck and has no tie to that set. Rows marked ours are this site's own and are not official; sums were worked out from the card values above. Licence: own work
How it works
Kings in the Corner, also called Kings Corner, is a card game for two to four players and a regular deck. It plays like solitaire with company: everyone builds on the same eight piles, and the first empty hand wins.
Read the full guide
Directions to play the Kings Corner card game: one turn, card by card
Say the cross shows a black jack, a red 6 and a black 5, and you hold a red 10, a king and a red 4. The red 10 goes on the jack and the king opens a corner. The red 4 goes on the black 5, that pile moves onto the red 6, and any card from your hand fills the space. Draw one card to finish.
Which piles can move?
Only the four piles of the cross, onto each other or onto a corner pile. A corner pile starts with a king and never moves. Moving piles and other rulings covers a king dealt to the cross and a blocked hand. The layout, card by card places every pile.
A king left in your hand costs 10 points when someone else goes out, so put it in a corner as soon as you can.
Questions and answers
How do you play the card game Kings Corner?
Deal seven cards each and lay four face up around the stock. In turn, play cards onto the piles in descending order and alternating colors, put kings in the empty corners, and draw one card to end your turn. First out of cards wins.
How many cards do you deal in Kings in the Corner?
Seven to each player, whatever the head count. Four more are turned face up around the stock to start the piles, and the rest are drawn one at a time.
Can you move piles in Kings in the Corner?
Yes, a whole pile at a time. Its bottom card must be one rank lower than the top card of the pile it joins, and the opposite color. The space it leaves takes any card from your hand.
What happens when the stock runs out in Kings in the Corner?
Play goes on without drawing. If nobody can or will play a card, the hand is blocked and ends there, and each player counts the cards left in their hand.