Switch Strategy: How to Win More Hands

Switch has plenty of luck in it. Nobody can do much about a hand full of odd picture cards, or a black Jack landing on them when they hold no answer. But over a game of several hands, the player who handles their action cards well wins more than their share. These are the habits that make the difference, whether you are playing at the kitchen table or in our free online game.

1. Think of Your Hand in Two Parts

Split your cards in your head into ordinary cards (the 3s to 7s, 9s, 10s, Queens and Kings) and tools (Aces, 2s, 8s and Jacks). Ordinary cards are the ones you need to get rid of. Tools are what you use to protect yourself and to slow everybody else down.

Early in a hand, play ordinary cards whenever you can, and keep the tools. A player who throws away their only 2 on the first turn has nothing left when the pick-ups start flying later.

2. Keep a 2 for Defense

A 2 in your hand is insurance. When a 2 is played on you, it lets you pass the pick-up along instead of swallowing it. Pick-ups grow quickly: one answered 2 becomes four cards for the next player, and a third 2 makes it six. The player at the end of that chain can lose a whole hand in one turn.

So if you hold a single 2 and other cards that fit, play the other cards first. Use the 2 as an attack only when the next player is close to going out, or when it is your last useful card.

3. Spend Aces Carefully

An Ace goes on anything, so it is your way out of a hand where nothing fits. That makes it valuable, but an Ace still in your hand at the end is also a card you failed to get rid of. A good rule of thumb:

• Hold an Ace while you have other cards that fit.
• Play it when nothing else fits and the alternative is picking up.
• Play it to change the suit on a player who is down to one or two cards, naming a suit they have shown they don't hold.
• When you name a suit, name the one you hold the most of, so you can keep following it.

4. Aim Your Action Cards

Every action card hits the next player, so before you play one, look at who that is. An 8 played on a player with nine cards barely matters. The same 8 played on someone with one card left can save the hand.

The direction arrow matters here. If play is going clockwise, your left-hand neighbor is next; after a Jack it is your right-hand neighbor. A Jack can be a weapon on its own: if the player about to go out is the one who would play next, reversing the direction sends the turn the other way and gives everyone else another chance.

5. Respect the Black Jacks

With the black Jack rule, five cards is a heavy blow. Keep track of which Jacks have been played:

• If you hold a red Jack, you are protected against a black Jack. Don't waste it as a plain reverse unless you need to.
• If both black Jacks have already been played this deal, red Jacks are free to use as ordinary reverses.
• If you hold a black Jack and the next player is nearly out, it is the strongest card you can play on them, unless you saw them keep a red Jack.

6. Stay in Your Long Suit

The player with the most choices on every turn picks up the fewest cards. If you hold four hearts, try to steer the play into hearts and keep it there. Matching by number is the quiet way to change suit: a 9 of hearts played on a 9 of spades moves everyone into hearts without spending an Ace.

The opposite also works: when a player had to pick up instead of following a suit, they probably have none of it. If you can turn the play to that suit just before their turn, they may have to pick up again.

7. Watch the Card Counts

Our game shows how many cards every player holds, and "Last card!" appears beside anyone with one left. Glance at the counts before every play. The questions to ask are simple:

1. Is anyone about to go out?
2. Will my card make them the next player, or skip them?
3. Does my card leave them a suit they might be able to follow?

A hand is often decided not by who has the best cards but by who notices the danger first.

8. Plan Your Last Two Cards

With two cards left, think about the order. If one of them is an Ace, play the other card first if it fits: the Ace will then go out on anything next turn. If one of them is a 2 or an 8, playing it now can stop the next player from blocking you. And if you are playing with the house rule that you must say "Last card", tap the button before you play. Two extra cards is a painful way to learn it.

9. When You Must Pick Up

Sometimes there is nothing to do but take the cards. Don't despair: a bigger hand means more choices, and more chances to hold a 2 or a red Jack for later. Use the next few turns to shed your awkward cards, and keep your new tools for when the table turns against you again.

Practice Makes the Difference

The quickest way to get better is to play a few games on Normal with the Hint button, and to tap Why? beside the computer's moves to see what it was thinking. When you are winning regularly, try Hard: it remembers which suits each player could not follow, just as a sharp player would. And if you enjoy Switch, the simpler Crazy Eights and the matching game Go Fish are good company for it. The full rules are on the rules page.