# Pair Pounce

> Tap first when the cards match. The calls get trickier.

Cards flip onto the pile at a steady clip, and the first hand on a match takes the lot. Climb past eight café regulars, each sharper than the last, as new calls join the pairs: sandwiches, tens, suits and runs. Pounce at nothing and it costs you cards. Or put two players on one screen and settle it there.

- Play: https://sidekickarcade.com/play/pair-pounce/ (in the browser, phone or computer, free, no sign-up needed)
- Neighborhood: [Card Café](https://sidekickarcade.com/category/card/index.md)
- Controls: Tap, click, Space or Enter to pounce. Two players: tap your half, or Z and Enter.
- Best on: portrait screens
- Coins for goals: 1 per 1 stars, up to 8 a run

## How to play

1. Cards flip onto the pile in turn. When the top cards make a call, pounce: tap anywhere, click, or press Space.
2. The first pounce takes the whole pile. A pounce at nothing hands two of your cards across the table.
3. Take every card, or hold the most when last call comes, to win the match.
4. Win to open the next regular. New calls join on the way, and a Daily Deck waits each day.

## Tips

- Watch the top two cards, not the whole pile: every call is about the newest cards.
- A false pounce costs two cards, so a half-second look beats a guess.
- Sandwiches hide behind the middle card. Say the rank two back to yourself as each card lands.
- Ahead near last call? Pounce only at what you're sure of: a false pounce hands over two cards.
- Play the Daily Deck to practice new calls before a regular springs them on you.

## Questions

### How do you play Pair Pounce?

Cards flip onto a shared pile one at a time. When the top cards make a call, such as two of the same rank, the first player to pounce takes the whole pile. Take every card, or hold the most at last call, to win.

### What happens if I pounce when nothing matches?

A false pounce hands two of your cards to the other side and locks your pounces for half a second. If you have no cards left, a false pounce ends the match.

### What are sandwiches, tens, suits and runs?

Extra calls that join as you climb. A sandwich matches the rank two cards down, a ten is two cards adding up to 10, suited is three of a suit, and a run is three ranks in a row in any order.

### Can two people play Pair Pounce on one device?

Yes. Pick Two players on the title card. Each player takes half the screen and taps it to pounce; on a keyboard, one presses Z and the other Enter.

### Is Pair Pounce fair on a phone and a laptop?

Every pounce counts the moment a finger, a click or a key goes down, and the cards flip at the same pace on every device.

### Is there a daily Pair Pounce challenge?

The Daily Deck is the same 52 cards and three calls for everyone each day. Find every call without a false pounce for three stars.

## Achievements

- **Pull up a chair** (bronze, 10 coins): Finish your first match or Daily Deck.
- **Pounce!** (bronze, 10 coins): Win a match.
- **Today's deck** (bronze, 10 coins): Play the Daily Deck.
- **Across the table** (bronze, 10 coins): Finish a match with two players on one screen.
- **Faster than Ziggy** (silver, 25 coins): Beat Ziggy, or anyone above him.
- **Steady hands** (silver, 25 coins): Beat Ziggy or anyone above him without a false pounce.
- **Seven decks** (silver, 25 coins): Play seven Daily Decks.
- **Secret achievement** (silver, 25 coins): Keep playing to find it.
- **House rules** (gold, 60 coins): Beat Flo.
- **On a roll** (gold, 60 coins): Win 8 matches in a row against Mei or anyone above her.
- **Secret achievement** (gold, 60 coins): Keep playing to find it.
- **Thirty decks** (gold, 60 coins): Play thirty Daily Decks.
- **House rival** (diamond, 150 coins): Beat Flo 100 times. Earns the title "Quickest in the Café".
- **Five thousand pounces** (diamond, 150 coins): Make 5,000 pounces. Earns the title "Pounce Legend".

## More to play

- [Prize Pile](https://sidekickarcade.com/play/prize-pile/index.md): Bid a card for each prize. Higher takes the pile. (Card Café)
- [Higher or Lower](https://sidekickarcade.com/play/higher-lower/index.md): Call higher or lower, count the deck, and bank before the pot slips. (Card Café)
- [Crazy Eights](https://sidekickarcade.com/play/crazy-eights/index.md): Match the suit or the number, and save your eights. (Card Café)
- [Solitaire](https://sidekickarcade.com/play/solitaire/index.md): The classic one-player card game. (Card Café)