How to play 31: the rules
- The aim. Make the best hand of three cards in one suit. An ace counts 11, a king, queen or jack 10, and every other card its number. The most a hand can be worth is 31: an ace and two ten-point cards of the same suit.
- The deal. Everyone gets three cards. The next card goes face up to start the discard pile, and the rest of the deck is the stock. The player to the dealer's left goes first, and the deal moves round one place after every hand.
- Your turn. Take the top card of the stock or the top card of the discard pile. Then throw one card face up on the pile, so you have three cards again. A card you took from the pile can't go straight back on it, but a card you drew from the stock can.
- Knock instead. At the start of your turn, instead of drawing, you may knock. Your hand is then frozen: everyone else has one more turn, and then all the hands are shown. Only one player can knock in a hand.
- Show 31 at once. If you make 31, the hand ends straight away and everyone else loses a life, even after a knock (the knocker loses one life too, not two). A player who is dealt 31 shows it before anyone plays. The game shows a 31 for you the moment you make it.
- Who loses a life. When the hands are shown, the lowest hand loses a life. If the knocker is the lowest of all, alone, the knocker loses two lives. If the knocker ties for the lowest, the other players in the tie lose a life and the knocker loses nothing.
- Coins and the county. Everyone starts with three coins, and pays one for each life lost. A player with no coins left is "on the county" and still plays; losing again puts them out of the game. A player who has one coin and loses two lives is out at once.
- The last one in wins. Hands go on, with the players still in, until only one player is left.
If the stock runs out, play goes on as long as each player takes the top card of the pile, or knocks if nobody has yet. The first player who does neither ends the hand: the hands are shown and the lowest hand loses a life (everyone tied for lowest loses one). In this game, if someone has already knocked, the knock rules apply.
How to count a hand
Only one suit counts: the one that gives you the biggest total. A single card counts on its own when it's worth more than your two cards of another suit together.
| Hand | Worth | Why |
|---|---|---|
| A♠ K♠ Q♠ | 31 | Three spades: 11 + 10 + 10 |
| 10♥ 7♥ 2♥ | 19 | All three hearts |
| K♦ Q♦ 9♣ | 20 | The two diamonds; the club doesn't count |
| A♣ 5♥ 4♥ | 11 | The ace alone beats 5 + 4 = 9 |
| 8♠ 6♥ 3♦ | 8 | Three different suits: the highest card |
Three of a kind counts like any other hand, as in Pagat's main rules: three 7s in different suits are worth 7. Some families count three of a kind as 30, or 30½ so that it beats everything but 31; that's not used here.
Knocking: who loses lives
| When the hands are shown | Who loses |
|---|---|
| Someone other than the knocker has the lowest hand | That player loses one life (all of them, if several tie for lowest) |
| The knocker ties for the lowest hand | The others in the tie lose one life each; the knocker is safe |
| The knocker alone has the lowest hand | The knocker loses two lives |
| Someone makes 31 on their last turn | Everyone else, the knocker too, loses one life |
With two players, the knocker's rival always loses on a tie, so knocking with a total your rival can't beat after one more card is the way to make your rival lose a life.
Controls
- Draw: tap the stock to draw its top card, or tap the pile to take the card on top. Both glow when it's your turn.
- Throw a card away: after drawing, tap one of your four cards. The card you drew from the stock glows blue; a card taken from the pile is marked Keep and can't be thrown back.
- Knock: tap the big Knock button at the start of your turn.
- An empty stock: take the pile card, knock if nobody has yet, or tap Show hands to end the hand.
- Your total is shown above your cards, with its suit. Cards that don't count are a little darker.
- Keyboard: D draws from the stock (or shows hands when the stock is empty), P takes the pile card and K knocks. 1 to 4 throw a card away, counting from the left, and the arrow keys and Enter work too.
With two to four people on one device, a cover screen hides your cards while the device is passed on. When you show your cards, the status line tells you what the others did since your last turn. Playing alone against two or three computer players, once you're out they finish the game at once.
Computer levels
The computer never looks at your cards or the order of the stock. It knows its own cards, the pile, everyone's coins, and what each player did: who drew from the stock, which pile cards they took and which cards they threw away, just as you can see across the table.
| Level | How it plays |
|---|---|
| Easy | Keeps its best suit and takes the pile card only when it raises its total straight away. It knocks only with 27 or more, and about one time in five it draws or throws a card without thinking. |
| Medium | Plays for its total now: it takes the pile card when that beats what the stock is likely to give, and knocks as soon as it has 25 or more. About one time in ten it draws the wrong way or throws a card it should have kept. |
| Hard | Also thinks about which cards could grow into a good hand. It remembers which pile cards each player took and imagines the hands they could hold. With 17 or more it plays the hand out in its head both ways, knocking now and playing on, and does whichever leaves it better off, counting the lives the others lose too, so it sometimes knocks early with a modest hand. About one draw or throw in sixteen, it slips. |
| Expert | Plays like Hard without the slips, and also weighs the hands it imagines by the card each player last threw away, the pile card they last let go, and whether they knocked. It tries not to throw the card the next player wants, and on its last turn after a knock it plays to stay off the bottom rather than for the biggest total. |
Luck plays a big part in 31: even Expert loses more than a third of its games to Hard, and you can beat any level with good cards and good timing.
Tips to win
- Aces are gold. An ace is worth 11 on its own, and an ace with two picture cards (or tens) of its suit is 31.
- Knock early against weak hands. In the first round or two, the others haven't had time to build their hands, so 20 or 21 can be enough. Later you need more.
- Watch the pile. A player who takes a heart from the pile is collecting hearts. Don't throw them another one.
- Think about your last turn. After someone knocks, you have one card to save yourself. If the pile card gives you a total that's unlikely to be the lowest, take it rather than gamble on the stock.
- Mind your last coin. With one coin left, a failed knock costs two lives and puts you straight out, where an ordinary loss would only put you on the county.
Questions
Is 31 the same as Scat?
Yes, they're names for the same draw-and-discard game, and the rules vary a little from family to family. This game follows the main rules on Pagat, the card game rules site.
How many people can play?
Two to four here, on one device, or play alone against one to three computer players.
Can I knock on my first turn?
Yes. Everyone else then has one turn each to beat you. With a good hand straight from the deal, an early knock is often a strong move.
What if two players are dealt 31?
Both show it, and everyone else loses a life. If they're the only two players left in, nobody does.
Can I take back the card I just threw away?
Only in one case: with two players, if your rival knocks straight after your turn, the card on top of the pile is your own, and you may take it on your last turn. Otherwise the top card is always someone else's.
What happens if everyone runs out of lives at once?
It can only happen before anyone knocks, when the stock runs out and every player still in is on the county with the same total. Then the hand doesn't count and is played again.
Is 31 free to play?
Yes, with no download, no sign-up and no ads during a game.
Updated 14 November 2026