Kings in the Corner

How to play Kings in the Corner online

1. Choose Players in the toolbar: you plus 1, 2 or 3 computers. Changing it starts a new game at once.
2. Choose the Computer speed, Normal or Fast. Press Rules at any time for a short summary.
3. Your turn starts with a card drawn for you. The status line names it, and it has a gold outline in your hand.
4. Click or tap a card in your hand. Dim cards have no place to go. The piles where the card can go pulse with a gold outline.
5. Click or tap one of those piles to play the card there. You can play as many cards as you like.
6. To move a whole pile, click the cross pile first and then the pile it should go on. A pile that starts with a king can also go to an empty corner.
7. Press End turn (or the E key) when you have no more plays. The computers then take their turns, and the status line says what each one did.
8. Press Hint to see a move the computer would make, shown with a gold outline for 5 seconds. If there is no move it says so.

Keyboard: arrow keys move over your hand, Enter or Space picks a card, Tab moves over the piles, Enter plays, E ends your turn, H gives a hint, N starts a new game and F toggles fullscreen. There is no Undo, so check the pile before you click.

What are the Kings in the Corner rules?

The game uses one standard 52-card deck with no jokers, and aces are low. Each player is dealt 7 cards, and the rest forms the face-down stock. Four stock cards are turned up in a cross (north, east, south and west) to form the foundation piles. Each turn you draw one card, play as many cards as you can, and pass. A card goes on a pile when it is one rank lower than the top card and the opposite colour, such as a red 9 on a black 10. These base rules follow the Bicycle Cards rules for Kings Corner, checked on 17 October 2026.

Only a king can start a corner pile, and corner piles are built down in the same way. Any card can go on an empty north, east, south or west space. You can move a whole cross pile onto another pile when its first, highest card fits on the other pile’s top card. Moving a pile leaves an empty space, which you can fill with any card from your hand.

How do you win Kings in the Corner?

You win by being the first player to play every card in your hand. This page adds two choices that the Bicycle page does not spell out. If a king turns up among the four cross cards, it is placed in a corner and another card replaces it. If the stock is empty and every player has ended a turn without playing, nobody can move again, so the game ends and the player with the fewest cards left wins.

What is a good strategy?

Start with the plays that cost nothing: kings go to corners as soon as you can, and a pile move that frees a space is worth making if you have a card to put there. Play high cards before low ones, because a queen or jack is hard to place later, while a low card fits on many piles. Think before you empty a cross space: the card you put there starts a run that other players can add to. The computer players use these ideas in the same order, so the hint tells you what they would do.

A worked example

In the 2-player game with seed 12, the cross shows 9♠ north, 9♦ east, 2♠ south and 4♣ west, and two kings (K♥ and K♦) have moved to the north-west and north-east corners. Your hand is Q♠, 8♥, 5♣, 5♦, 2♥, 2♦ and A♣, and you draw the 2♣. The queen of spades can go on either red king, and the 8♥ can go on the black 9♠. The hint suggests the queen of spades on the north-west corner.

Frequently asked questions

Is Kings in the Corner free to play, and do I need an account?

Yes, it is free. There is no account or sign-up, and nothing is uploaded. Your game, settings and win count are saved in your browser.

How many players can play?

It is a game for 2 to 4 players. Here you are one player and the computers fill the other seats, so you can play against 1, 2 or 3 computer players.

Is Kings Corner the same game?

Yes. Kings Corner and Kings in the Corner are two names for the same card game, which is played with one 52-card deck and a cross of four piles.

Can I move a whole pile?

Yes. Click the cross pile, then the pile it should go on. The first, highest card of the moved pile must be one rank lower and the opposite colour of the other pile’s top card. A pile that starts with a king can go to an empty corner. Corner piles themselves never move.

What happens when the stock runs out?

You keep playing without drawing. If nobody can play for a full round, the game ends and the player with the fewest cards left wins. A tie is a draw.

Can I play Kings in the Corner on my phone?

Yes. It works on phones, tablets and computers. Tap a card, then tap the pile. The cards and piles scale to the screen width, and the whole table fits without sideways scrolling.

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