The next time your favorite kid wants to play War, suggest a game of Battles instead. Unlike War, Battles will be over in 10 minutes and actually presents simple but meaningful choices for the players.

Battles is a 2 player game played with a standard deck of cards. The game consists of 7 battles, each of which has 3 skirmishes. Whoever wins 4 battles wins the game.

SET UP
Shuffle the deck of cards. Deal 21 cards to each player. Set the remaining 10 cards aside.

HOW TO PLAY
The game consists of 7 battles, each consisting of 3 skirmishes. To play a battle, each player draws the top 3 cards from their deck. Both players simultaneously choose one of their cards and presents it face down. After both have chosen a card, they turn it face up. The player who played the highest card (aces are high) wins the skirmish, and moves the 2 cards to their side. If the cards are of equal denomination (a tie) then the 2 cards are set aside in the middle. After all 3 skirmishes are played in this fashion, the winner of the battle is determined. The player who won the most skirmishes (typically 2 or 3) wins the battle and takes all 6 cards and stacks them in a set. Players then draw the next 3 cards from their deck to begin another battle.

RESOLVING TIES
Typically winning 2 or more skirmishes will win a battle. However, if 2 skirmishes end in a tie, then only 1 skirmish is needed to win the battle. However, if both players each win 1 skirmish, and the other is a tie (or if all 3 skirmishes are tied) then the battle is unresolved. In this case, a 4th skirmish is needed and both players draw 1 card from the set of ten set aside at the beginning of the game. Whoever draws the highest card wins the battle. If the 4th skirmish is also a tie, the youngest player wins the battle.

HOW TO WIN
After all 7 battles have been played, the winner of the most battles (4 or more) wins the game (and the war!)

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