Rules of Standard Perpetual Motion, by Mark Masten
Uses one deck of standard playing cards, shuffled thoroughly before starting the game.
Deal four cards at a time, covering the last four cards dealt each time. This will result in four stacks of cards, with no previously dealt cards being visible.
If all four cards dealt are the same rank, discard them (collect these four cards and remove from the game). In this case, the four stacks of cards will remain the same as they were previously, and you can continue to deal the next four cards.
In the event that more than one of the top four cards has the same rank, move the duplicate card(s) to the leftmost stack of the same rank. For example, if the top cards are A 5 A 5, then move the Ace that is on top of the third column on top of the Ace on the first column, and move the five on the rightmost column on top of the five from the second column. If the top cards are 6 8 8 8, then move the eights from the third and fourth columns on top of the eight from the second column.
Frequently after making the moves described above, the uncovered cards will allow more moves to be made. Continue making moves until no more moves may be made.
If a move is available, you must play it.
If a pile becomes empty, you may not play any card to that pile (until the next four cards are dealt).
Once you have dealt the final four cards from the deck and made all possble moves, the round is over. To prepare for the next round, combine the four stacks of cards, while still face up, as follows: put the entire rightmost stack on top of third stack, then put the combined third stack on top of the second stack, and finally, put the entire combined second stack on top of the leftmost stack. Collect and flip over the entire stack to form the deck to use for the next round (no shuffling). It is important to carefully complete this step correctly between each round.
Repeat the above steps indefinitely. If all cards have been discarded, the game has been won. However, you may eventually notice a repeating cycle, in which case the game cannot be won.
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Last modified July 23, 2022
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