Palace was the most popular study hall / cafeteria card game in my high school growing up in the 90's. According to Wikipedia it's also popular amongst backpackers, and as a result is widespread. This version of palace is two player, you versus computer. Palace Card Game Designed to be played in short bursts, Palace is quick to set up and to-the-point. Two 52-card decks are shuffled, and each player is dealt 3 cards face-down. Palace is a “shedding” game in which players are racing to be the first one with no cards left. Each player is dealt three cards face down and a hand of six cards, of which they choose three.

Every turn, players play one or more cards of the same value into a pile beside the center, draw cards if possible until 3 on hand. On the first turn, players can swap out their Upper Palace cards with cards they have in their hand. From weakest to strongest.

Palace is a fun and fast-moving card game for 2 to 5 players. It is a favorite among travelers and backpackers, particularly across Europe, and, as a result, is known and played in many countries throughout the world. Due to the games International audience, this game is also known by a wide variety of other names such as Shed, China Hand and Ten-Two Slide.
The game is played using one standard 52 card deck. The ranking of the cards in this deck are as follows (from high to low); 2, Ace, King, Queen, Jack, 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3. Two's are considered special cards in this game and thus can really be considered to be high or low.
A number of methods can be used to determine seating positions and first dealer, with drawing for high card a common method. The player drawing the highest card would take the first choice of seats at the table and become the first dealer. The player drawing the next highest takes any of the remaining seats and so on until each player is seated at the table.

Sample initial game layout for the playing of Palace with four participants.

Once the first dealer is determined he would then shuffle and offer the player to his immediate right to cut. After the cut, he then starts the deal. Cards are dealt in a clockwise direction around the table. The dealer would first deal three face down cards in a row in front of each player, one by one. After each player has these first three cards, the dealer would then deal three more cards to each player, placing these cards face-up and directly on top of the first row of three cards in front of the players. The dealer concludes by dealing three more face down cards to each player as his starting hand. He then places the remainder of the pack face down at the center of the table as a draw pile.
The players then pick up their three card hand for examination. After doing this, the players may then exchange cards between the cards in their hand and the face-up cards dealt in front of themselves. They may exchange any of these cards but need not exchange any if they do not want to. They may never exchange any of the originally dealt face-down cards, which remain face down until later in the game.
Once this is completed, play begins. The first player to have a face-up three (in a clockwise direction from the dealer) takes the first turn. If no player shows a three, the first player with a four exposed as one of his face-up cards has the first turn. If no player has a four showing face up, it continues with five and so on until the lowest card is determined, with that player taking the first turn.
The first player may select any card from his hand cards to play. If he has two or three of the same rank he may play all such cards. He places his card or cards to start a pile in the center of the table called the pick up pile. After making his play he draws one or more cards from the stock pile to replenish his hand to three cards. Play then proceeds in a clockwise rotation. Each player in turn, then attempts to play a card or cards to the table that beats the current top card of the pick-up pile. If a player has multiple cards, all of the same denomination, that beat the card, he may play all of them. After a player plays his card (or cards), he draws from the stock pile to replenish his hand to three cards (unless he already has three or more cards in his hand or the discard pile has been depleted in which case he just ends his turn). If a player on his turn is unable to beat the last play to the pick-up pile, he must take the entire pick-up pile into his own hand, which also ends his turn. When this occurs, the next player in a clockwise rotation then starts play again, selecting any denomination card (or cards) of his choice.
During this phase of the game, the players may only play cards from their hand. However, once the draw pile has been depleted and a player has no remaining cards in his hand, that player may begin playing cards from his three face-up cards. These cards are played in the same way as if they were in the player's hand. If the player is forced to take the pick-up pile due to an inability to make a legal play on his turn, he must add the cards to his hand and must again play only from his hand until he again runs out of cards in his hand and may then resume play from his face up cards.
Similarly, once a player has played all three of his face up cards, he may then begin playing with his last three face-down cards. However, these cards are played blind and may not be looked at by the player before playing them. Thus, on his turn, he would simply flip any one of his face down cards. If the card is equal to or higher than the last card played to the pick-up pile, he adds that card to the pick-up pile and the turn moves to the next player. However, if the card is lower than the last play, he must take the face-up card and the rest of the pick-up pile into his hand. He must then resume playing with this hand until he depletes his hand, at which time he may again play any remaining of his face-down cards on his turn.
In addition, there are several special cards or situations that can be played on a player's turn:

• All Four:
If a player on his turn is able to legally play all four of a particular rank of card on his turn. This is called 'burn the pack'. When this occurs all the cards that currently make up the pick-up pile are set aside and discarded, not to be used again during the current hand. The same player may then start a new pick-up pile with a card of cards of his choice.
• Completing a Four:
If a player completes a four of a kind on his turn, by playing enough cards to the pick-up pile such that there are four cards currently on top of the pile of the exact same rank, this also 'burns the pack'. The entire pick-up pile is removed and the player who completed the four of a kind begins a new pick-up pile with a play of his choice.
• Tens:
A player, on his turn, may play a Ten at any time. This also has the effect to 'burn the pack', removing the current pick-up pile from play of the current hand. The player who played the ten may then start a new pick-up pile with a play of their choice.
• Redraws:
If a player, after playing one or more cards to the pick-up pile, when drawing, obtains cards of the same rank as the card he just played, he may immediately also add these to the pick-up pile, if he can play them before the next player has yet made his own play to the pick up pile.
• Twos:
A Two may always be played to the pick-up pile by a player on his turn. This then resets the pile, which allows the next player in turn to make any play on top of the two.

Palace Card Game Rules

Once a player completely runs out of cards (from his hand and his cards on the table), he is considered one of the game winners and drops out of the game. The game then continues until all players but one are completely out of cards, with that last player being declared the loser of the game. The loser is usually required to take the role of the dealer on the next game.

How To Play Palace Card Game: Palace Card Game Rules ...