- 2–6 Players
- 25ish Minutes
This ain’t your grandma’s Scat. Gross… sorry.
Scat is a classic card game where you try to make 31 with a hand of 3 cards. You knock if you think your hand is best to end the round and see if you’re right.
This is that game with some fun new bits added in: more suits, fewer junk cards, special hand combos, plus an all new scoring system.
Devil’s Scat is an update of the classic game for 2–6 players.
How to Play
To win, you’ve gotta win the round with enough total points. You score points by creating good hands of cards.
Your Hand
You’ll get a new hand of 3 cards each round. You want to make the best hand as fast as you can, perhaps even a perfect 31 — or “Scat,” as it’s called here — if you can swing it.
Playing the Favored Suit
Each round has a “favored suit.” If your hand scores this round and has a card in the favored suit, it’ll score an extra point.
This game has 5 suits:
hearts,
stars,
gems,
swirls,
and 
skulls.
On Your Turn
You’ve got two options. You can either:
- Improve your hand, drawing a card from either the top of the deck or the discard pile, then discarding a card, or;
- Knock, giving everyone else 1 last turn to improve their hands before ending the round.
When the round ends, everyone compares what their hands are worth.
What’s Your Hand Worth?
Generally, your hand is worth its highest total of cards in the same suit. In this game, aces are worth 11, face cards are 10s, and number cards are their number. This makes a “perfect” hand 31 which, again, is called “Scat.”
But hang on! Some hands are worth special amounts:
3 suited numbers in a row is worth 29½.
(Or, “just under 30.”)
3 of a kind is worth 30½.
(Or, “just over 30.”)
The Devil’s Scat (3 6’s) is worth 30⅔.
(Or, 30.666 — get it? Math! Clever.)
Don’t worry, this game comes with 2 reference cards to help you remember what each special hand is worth.
Winning the Round
If your hand makes Scat (either the 31 kind or the Devil’s Scat), reveal it to win the round instantly. Otherwise, the best hand (with no ties) at the end of the round wins.
If there’s a tie, no one wins the round, and that’s OK because…
Everyone Can Score Every Round
You score points for every item your hand hits on the scoring list:
- Get 1 point for winning the round.
- Get 1 point for a hand worth at least 29.
- Get 1 point for a hand worth the full 31.
- Get 1 point for a hand that scored at least 1 point and contains at least 1 card from the round’s favored suit.
- But also lose 1 point if you knocked and didn’t win the round.
Checking for the Win
If someone won this round and they have enough total points, they win! (The points needed depends on how many people are playing.)
Otherwise, shuffle up and deal another round. Keep playing rounds until someone nabs the victory.
Change It Up
Too good for the core rules? Try one of our suggestions!
Boot a Suit
Go back to the standard 4 suits of cards instead of our 5 for games with 2 or 3 players. Just remove all of a suit’s cards from both decks.
Use Classic Scoring
Maybe you prefer it when players slowly get eliminated! This variant implements the classic Scat scoring with this game’s changes.
Play for Free
You can play Devil’s Scat with a regular deck of cards, too, for free, though you won’t have a fifth suit. Download the rules and the play-for-free guide to spend nothing and have fun!
Quick, Easy & Fun
The Devil’s Scat feels like the original in all the right ways, but brings new ways of scoring high hands quickly.
You’re never more than 2 quick turns away from a great hand, but also, the same goes for everyone else. That’s the fun conundrum. Fun-nundrum? Con-fun-drum? I know there’s something here somewhere.
All this in a handy mint tin!
Free Stuff
Available Now at The Game Crafter
I publish my games on-demand at The Game Crafter. That means no waste, and no boxes sitting in a warehouse somewhere. Perfect for how many games I sell!
But it also means:
- Each copy costs more to produce
- It takes a little time to make your copy
- Shipping isn’t free (though it’s only a couple bucks)
Don’t fret! The quality is great and their service is solid. Still have questions? Hit me up. Otherwise…