In the playable example, the first tied battle leaves A with seven cards. B wins the next two-card pot. An insufficient-continuation scenario stops with six cards retained in the pot and one in each queue. No winner is invented for an unresolved tie.
Declare the miniature deck and edge policies
Bicycle's rules describe higher-card collection at the bottom of the winner's pile, a tied battle with one face-down and one face-up card per player, and further contested cards when another tie occurs. The small example below specifies its own card IDs, collection order and stopping rules. Bicycle: War
This example has ranks 2, 3, 4 and 5, with two unique IDs per rank: a and b. Higher numeric rank wins. The eight original IDs are 2a, 2b, 3a, 3b, 4a, 4b, 5a and 5b.
| Player | Initial queue; leftmost draws next |
|---|---|
| A | 5a, 2a, 4a, 3a |
| B | 5b, 2b, 3b, 4b |
Press Battle to resolve one comparison and all of its tied continuations. The page then shows whether another battle is possible, someone owns all eight cards, or play has stopped for a stated reason.
Give every drawn card one owner
Queues own cards until drawn. Drawing removes the front ID and transfers it into the pot; the ID cannot remain in both.
Record each contribution with ID, player, face-up/down role and order. For an ordinary comparison, A contributes first, then B. For a tied continuation, record A's face-down, B's face-down, A's face-up and B's face-up.
At every boundary, A queue plus B queue plus pot contains exactly eight distinct original IDs. No card is deleted while the outcome is pending.
Trace the first tied battle
Battle 1 draws 5a and 5b. Both ranks are 5, so the pot contains those two face-up records and no player has collected them.
Each queue still has three cards. Both can contribute two more, so deposit face-down 2a, 2b, then compare face-up 4a, 3b. Rank 4 wins.
| First battle stage | Pot IDs in recorded order |
|---|---|
| Initial tied comparison | 5a, 5b |
| Face-down deposits | 5a, 5b, 2a, 2b |
| Next face-up comparison | 5a, 5b, 2a, 2b, 4a, 3b |
A has 3a left in its queue. Award the six pot IDs to its bottom once: A becomes [3a, 5a, 5b, 2a, 2b, 4a, 3b]. B retains [4b]. The pot is empty and the partition is A 7 + B 1 = 8.
Do not award the initial pair separately from the four later contributions. They form one contested battle.
Keep the next battle separate
Battle 2 compares front 3a against 4b. B wins the two-card pot [3a, 4b].
A's queue becomes [5a, 5b, 2a, 2b, 4a, 3b], six cards. B's becomes [3a, 4b], two cards. The pot is empty again.
After the second Battle, compare the displayed queues with these two lists. Rank comparisons do not make the two copies of a rank interchangeable: 5a and 5b retain different IDs and queue positions.
Each accepted Battle counts once, including all its tied sub-stages. A continuation within one battle does not increment the battle counter again.
Check both queues before a tied continuation
If face-up ranks tie, require at least two remaining cards in each queue before depositing anything further. Validate both requirements together.
If either fails, stop in UnresolvedTie and retain the current pot and remaining queues unchanged. Do not take one player's two cards first, turn the other player's last card into an improvised face-up exception, or award the pot based on queue size.
An original staged variant uses A=[5a, 2a, 4a, 3a] and B=[5b, 2b, 4b, 3b]. Its first comparison ties at 5; after the face-down 2s, the face-up 4s also tie. The pot has six IDs, and each player has one 3 remaining.
Neither can provide two more. Expected result: UnresolvedTie, A=[3a], B=[3b], six retained pot IDs, no winner. Load insufficient-tie scenario starts this alternative order as a separate game. Reset original queues returns to the first arrangement.
This is an eight-card teaching variant. Its rule for insufficient cards is to keep the pot unresolved, so use that rule when predicting the scenario’s outcome.
Follow one battle at a time
Press Battle to resolve the next comparison, including all tied stages in that battle. The contribution history lists each card ID, player and face-up or face-down role before the award. Its partition check confirms that A queue, B queue and pot still contain the eight distinct original IDs.
Use the staged tie-continuation button to inspect the insufficient case, then Reset to restore the original order. Stopped is not the same as won. Repeated full queue states and the 100-battle cap stop play without selecting a winner. Only taking all eight cards wins this variant.
Copy this prompt
Create an eight-card War teaching game in one self-contained HTML file. Show Player A and Player B queues with the next card at the left, a contested pot, a contribution history and a total-card check. Use neutral card styling and large readable IDs.
The unique cards are 2a, 2b, 3a, 3b, 4a, 4b, 5a and 5b. Higher numeric rank wins. Begin with A holding [5a, 2a, 4a, 3a] and B holding [5b, 2b, 3b, 4b]. Battle removes A's front card and then B's front card into the pot. On a tie, first check that both queues contain at least two more cards. Then contribute A face-down, B face-down, A face-up and B face-up. Repeat tied comparisons within that same battle.
Award the entire pot once, in contribution order, to the bottom of the winner's queue. The first battle leaves A [3a, 5a, 5b, 2a, 2b, 4a, 3b] and B [4b]. The second leaves A [5a, 5b, 2a, 2b, 4a, 3b] and B [3a, 4b].
Add Load insufficient-tie scenario, changing B's initial order to [5b, 2b, 4b, 3b]. Its first battle stops with six pot cards and one card per player because neither can continue. Keep the pot and name no winner. Repeated ordered queue states and a hundred-battle limit also stop without a winner. Owning all eight cards wins.
Reset restores the original queues and clears the history. Every displayed state must retain eight distinct card IDs across both queues and the pot. Use click-driven buttons for all actions.
Locate all eight cards
Resolve the first Battle and find A's remaining 3a before the six awarded cards. Then load the insufficient-tie scenario and resolve its first Battle. NOS can render the HTML queues and pot for this card-ownership comparison. Explain why both results retain eight cards while only the first can award the pot.