Egyptian Rat Screw, also known as Slap, is one of the few card games I know and enjoy wholeheartedly. Through a set of simple mechanics, the game manages to create an exciting and tense experience that leaves me wanting to play more. The only actions in the game are: flipping a card, placing a card face up, slapping, and discarding a card when you misslap. The central pile and each player’s pile of cards (all of which are face down) and the penalty for misslaps are essential to facilitate c0mpetition, tension, and time pressure. ERS often starts off slow, but as people begin to slap in order to win cards, the realization that speed is of the essence in scoring affects the turns and gameplay. Turns become faster, and more misslaps happen because players are desperate to be the first to slap and score.
Each action becomes higher stakes because everyone wants to maximize their stack of cards! Flipping your card in a way that lets you see its value before placing it is a definite no no that will most certainly restart the round. The way you place your card down and remove your hand away from it can reveal the smallest peaks of the card’s value and immediately trigger a slap off. Just a simple slap isn’t good enough, you have to make sure to be the first one to slap and make sure your slap actually touches the card or else someone might dispute your slap. But trigger happy with your slaps might lead to your downfall. This dynamic consisting of hyperfocus, scrutiny, speed, and accuracy work together to create challenge, sensation (my hands always hurt after playing ERS), competition, and discovery (with each card, you’re discovering if it’s eligible for slapping & scoring). Even though ERS is stressful and makes my hand hurt, I always want to keep playing!
