Rules · Setup · Strategy

How to Play Trash

Trash—also called Garbage—is a fast family card game where players race to fill numbered positions from Ace through 10.

Play Trash against Finn →

Quick rules

  1. Deal ten cards. Place them face-down in two rows of five, representing positions 1 through 10.
  2. Draw a card. Take the top stock card or a playable card from the discard pile.
  3. Place it. Ace goes in position 1, 2 in position 2, and so on through 10.
  4. Continue the chain. Pick up the displaced face-down card and place it if possible.
  5. End the turn. Discard when the card is a duplicate, outside your current range, or otherwise unusable.

Face-card rules

Kings are wild

Place a King in any unfilled position. If the correct numbered card appears later, it may replace the King.

Jacks are trash

A Jack cannot fill a numbered position and ends the chain.

Queens are trash

A Queen also cannot be played and must be discarded.

Winning and advancing

Complete your layout first

The round winner advances from ten positions to nine, then eight, continuing until only the Ace position remains. The first player to complete the one-card final round wins.

Beginner strategy

  1. Take a discard only when it fills an empty position immediately.
  2. Save wild Kings for positions that are still face-down.
  3. Watch Finn’s progress bar—a nearly complete opponent may justify taking any playable discard.