A multi-player version of the
patience game
Demon. To play it, you need one pack of
cards per player. All the packs of cards must have different backs, and should be old as this game is generally played at high speed.
Each player shuffles his or her pack, and then someone counts down "Three, two, one, zero!". At "zero", everyone starts playing a game of Demon. The aces all go to the centre, and everyone is allowed to build on everyone else's aces. When someone has used up all the cards in their stock, they should shout "Stop!" and the round will end. In games with a small number of players, rounds may also end when it is clear that no-one is making any progress. Each player scores one point for each card of theirs which they have built on an ace, and the player who got rid of his or her stock scores an additional ten points.
The game generally goes on until the players get bored with it. The task of counting down rotates one place to the left each round, and if the packs of cards are of differing quality, they should also be rotated.