How To Play Dutch Blitz With Regular Cards [Guide]

Dutch Blitz is a recent addition to my family’s repertoire of card games, but we’re obsessed with it now. 

Since our friends introduced it to us, we’ve played it with all of our other friends and family, and now dozens of us have the game. 

But if you don’t have the official deck, is it still possible to play it? 

Yes! 

This article will cover how to play Dutch Blitz with regular cards. 

In a nutshell, you need a standard for each player playing Dutch Blitz, and each deck needs a different backing. Remove the face cards and play it just like normal at this point (Aces are the 1s!).

If you want more details, check out the rest of the article. 

How To Play Dutch Blitz With A Regular Deck Of Cards

Gather The Decks

First, you need to decide how many people you want to play Dutch Blitz. 

For every person who plays, you need a deck of cards. 

So if you have 5 players, you need 5 decks of cards. 

Here’s the kicker, though: 

Every deck of cards needs to have a different design on the back. 

This probably won’t be a big deal if you’re a collector of cards or just pick them up over time. 

But if you don’t have more than one deck, you’ll need to head to a store. 

Fortunately, most dollar stores sell them for cheap! 

Take Out The Face Cards

Next, from each deck, you need to remove the face cards: 

• Jack
• Queen
• King
• Jokers
• Directions

Leave in the Aces. In this version of Dutch Blitz, we’ll use them as the 1 card. 

Give each player a deck, and make a note of what back they have. 

Note: Most decks use the standard suits anyway (hearts, diamonds, spades, and clubs), but this works best if the suit is indicated clearly. 

Set Up Dutch Blitz Like Normal

Each player should shuffle the deck and set up their cards like normal. 

Ten cards go into your Blitz Pile face down. 

Put three cards next to this pile face up. This is your Post Pile. 

Note: If you’re playing with only two players, you get Post Piles. 

The rest of the cards stay in your hand or Wood Pile.

When all players are ready, flip over the top card on your Blitz Pile and start!  

Recognize Key Differences In Dutch Blitz With Regular Cards

At this point, all other aspects of the game are exactly the same. 

This being said, there are a few things that may trip you up, but they are pretty obvious once you’re used to them. 

All cards in the center or Dutch Piles must match suit.

This is the same as standard Dutch Blitz, but instead of colors, you match suits. 

Ascending order in the Dutch Piles starts with an Ace instead of the number 1. 

Regular Blitz has 1s, but since we don’t, we’ll use the Ace instead. 

The different backs of the deck will be used at the end of the hand to separate into original decks and count points. 

Descending cards in the Post Piles alternate red-black instead of boy-girl. 

I find this easier to see myself. 

In the heat of the moment, the boy-girl drawings are tough to read clearly, but red and black are clearly different. 

This also brings it even closer to Solitaire. 

In fact, when my wife and I teach the game, we like to describe it as Solitaire meets Slap Jack. 

Check out what happens if no one can go in Dutch Blitz.

Play Like Normal Dutch Blitz

Once all this is done and realized, it’s time to play. 

You still play to empty out your Blitz Pile by playing the cards either in to the Dutch Piles or moved over onto the Post Piles. 

When you’re stuck, flip over three cards at a time from your Wood Pile. You must play the top card on this pile before getting to the ones underneath. 

When you reach the end of the Wood Pile, flip it over without shuffling and keep going. 

Wood Pile cards may be played ascending in the Dutch Piles or descending (alternating colors) in the Post Piles. 

Post Pile cards may be played in the Dutch Piles or moved over to stack on another Post Pile. 

Once you’re out of Blitz cards, the player yells “Blitz” or “Nertz,” and play stops. 

Every card left in someone’s Blitz Pile counts as -2. 

Separate and count the cards in the Dutch Piles by player. Each card is worth a positive 1 point. 

Play over and over until someone reaches 75 points total and wins the game! 

How Do You Play Dutch Blitz With Uno Cards?

Uno cards work well as a substitute too. They already have the colors, so you only need to remove Skips, Reverses, Draw Two, Wilds, and Draw Four Wilds. 

However, you still have the same issue you do with regular decks of cards: You need different-styled backs to the cards. 

This means you’ll need more Uno decks.

You’re more likely to have more regular decks than Uno decks. 

Need help scoring in Dutch Blitz? Check out our how-to guide with a free score card.

Where To Buy Dutch Blitz

If you don’t want to buy Dutch Blitz, that’s perfectly fine, though it’s pretty cheap, to be honest. 

There are several places to buy this game, and the standard pack comes with four decks for four players. 

An expansion pack is also available to take the game up to 8 players. 

If you only find the expansion pack, you can play it with just this. You don’t actually need the original.