Berkeley War

Berkeley War (April 2023) is a variant of Egyptian War with extra rules, mostly based on arithmetic. The full list of rules is available on a live Notion page. The game was invented by the CS184 Final Project (Spring 2023) group while procrastinating in the UPE Office.

Because Berkeley War is derived from Egyptian War, the rules of Egyptian War apply. Egyptian War is an out-of-turn trick-taking game in which cards are shed in turn. The first person to “slap” the pile in a valid “slappable” state “collects” the entire pile. Invalid slaps require the player to discard a card to the bottom of the pile. Players play cards in a first-in-first-out fashion and are not allowed to view the cards before shedding. Typically, once a player sheds a card, the next person is in turn to shed a card. However, if the player sheds a face card, then the next player is considered “trapped” and must shed cards according to the table:

• J - 1
• Q - 2
• K - 3
• A - 4

If the trapped player finishes shedding cards without any player correctly slapping, then the player that played the last face card collects the pile. However, if the trapped player plays a face card, then a new trapped player emerges, and this cycle restarts.

The pile of cards is considered to be in a valid slappable state when the last few cards satisfy one of the “rules”. The base rules are the following:

• Pairs, meaning the last two cards are the same rank
• Sandwiches, meaning the last and the third-to-last cards are the same rank

These two rules are always applicable, including when the newly shed card is a face card.

The Sum 2 = 11 rule means that the ranks of the last 2 cards add to 11. Face card values are assigned by extrapolating:

• J = 11
• Q = 12
• K = 13
• A = 1

The Mul 2 = 24 rule means that the product of the ranks of the last 2 cards is 24.

The basic ops & mod & exp 3 has valid Eq rule means that the ranks of the last 3 cards can be manipulated to form an equation of the form $$X (op) Y = Z$$, where $$(op)$$ can be any of the four basic arithmetic operations, the modulo (remainder) operator, or exponentiation.

The basic ops & mod & exp 3 = 24 rule is similar to the basic ops & mod & exp 3 has valid Eq but satisfies an equation of the form $$X (op) Y (op) Z = 24$$.

The flush 3 rule means that the suits of the last 3 cards are the same. The name is derived from a hand of the same name in poker.

The floopa 3 rule means that the ranks of the last 3 cards can form an arithmetic sequence.

The sum 3 = today's DATE rule (June 2023) means that the sum of the ranks of the last 3 cards is the date of the day this game is played. For example, on October 31st, this rule makes a pile where the ranks of the last 3 cards are 9, 10, Q slappable.

This (March 30, 2024) is the first rule which removes valid slaps from the game. The rule requires the slapping player to always vocalize the rule under which the slap applies. Two consecutive slaps are disallowed to be under the same rule.

The rule was motivated by the frequent valid slaps that the previous rules afford and the minimal number of activities available on the Zephyr.

The gloopa 3 rule (July 13, 2025) is similar to the floopa 3 rule. If the ranks of the last 3 cards form a geometric sequence, the pile may be slapped. This rule deprecates the A39 in any order rule, as any pile slappable by the old rule is covered by gloopa 3. This rule was added because the motivation behind the A39 in any order rule is suspect; the cards A, 2, and 4 is a geometric sequence which does not appear to be covered by any other rule.

These rules are no longer part of the game (and thus cannot be used as justification for slapping for the purposes of the can’t slap the same rule as the last slap rule).

The A39 in any order rule (December 14, 2023) applied when the last 3 cards are A, 3, or 9 in any order. This was the only geometric sequence which was thought to not have been covered by any of the previous rules. Although all of the rules so far did not have a fixed ordering of the cards, this rule was clarified to apply “in any order” due to the name “A39” implying otherwise. However, this rule is no longer part of the game; it has been replaced by gloopa 3.