Kobayakawa

Fifteen cards numbered 1 to 15, a pile of coins, and a lot of staring. Each round you hold one card, and another sits face up in the middle: the Kobayakawa. On your turn you either draw a card and discard one of your two face up, or flip a fresh Kobayakawa over the current one. Then everyone decides whether to bet a coin and fight or sit out. Among the fighters, the lowest card adds the Kobayakawa's value to itself, and the highest total takes the pot plus a bonus coin. That one rule makes the weakest hand a real threat, so a 2 can beat a 14 and a 15 is never quite safe. Seven rounds take about fifteen minutes, the last at double stakes. We reach for it as a five-player opener before a longer game; it is far easier to teach than poker.