There are already several posts for how to play caravan, but here is a reader's digest version.

Object: Be the first to reach 21 to 26 total card value in each of your 3 caravans.

Cards:
Numbered: 10 - Ace(1)
Queen: Reverse Order of one stack
King: Double value of affected card
Jack: Remove affected card
Joker: Remove all cards of that value, or all cards of suit if played on Ace

Build a deck:
First you have to build a deck every time, or select the last one you used.
For PC, use the arrow keys to scroll though the deck, with your deck on top and available extras on bottom.
You can add or remove cards, but cannot start the game until you have 30 in the deck.
It will skip past duplicate 'illegal' cards.

Play the game:
Place a numeric card at each of the three starting caravan locations.
After the first card, you will have to use the arrow keys (pc) to get to the next slot.
After the first 3 are placed you can modify any card, or place a second numeric card below the first, cannot be the same number,
unless it is the same suit.
If you have a place a third card to get over 20, it must follow the numeric precedent set by the first 2 cards, or be the same suit
as the last card on that stack. ie 5,7,10 or 9, 3, Ace

Tips:
Use arrow keys (NOT wasd) to move cards for PC.
Place face cards to the RIGHT of the card you want to affect, numeric cards BELOW the previous card.
Sometimes card placement is wonky; move the card around a bit to get it where you want it (red = bad, green = good)
You CAN place a face or joker on the opponents cards to make them bust or drop value.
If the computer starts working on a caravan, start working the corresponding caravan below it to beat them to the winning bid.
If the computer (by some stroke of luck) beats you to a bid, get your corresponding caravan to 26 or at least above theirs,
then play a face card on them to make their bid bust.
If you have 26 for all your bids, but still haven't won, try busting the cpu's bids with kings or whatever.
You can win with a random deck, but making a deck with 6,8,10,K,J will win you the game faster.
If you still can't win, borrow Nekhanimal's plasma rifle.

-Shmegger

I think all they really need to do to make Caravan from being such an easy push-over game (once you understand it, that is) would be to make the opponent play against your columns. Thats all they need to do. Even if they had a mindless check where 33% or 50% of the time if he got a [Q,J,K], he played it against you, that'd totally change the game. You wouldnt even have to limit the unlimited draw phase, because building towards patterns of 10-K-6 and 10-9-7 exclusively would screw you because the opponent would be constantly wiping, doubling (busting) or reversing the direction of your caravan. In fact, Queens would be rough against anyone using 7-9-10 and devastating against anyone using 10-9-7. Then you'd want a few small cards in your hand to squeak in a victory when your caravan direction had been reversed.

THIS! Once I finally understood how to play Caravan, I saw potential in it becoming a fun mini-game. Sadly, I'm cynical enough to believe fixing it will go on the back-burner in favor of the devs patching and rebalancing more pressing game issues. But hopefully a modder can come in and save the day.

LMFAO! That made my work afternoon. Thanks.

If you didn't understand caravan after reading the rules and playing your first game, then I have bad new for anyone who wants to learn any college drinking game worth playing..... It's not that difficult to wrap your head around, but unfortunately is just free money if you power-game it.


I'll be extraordinarily happy when someone can get the AI to actually be competitive. I find myself taking a full deck (or at least 3 suits) just to have any sort of a challenge while playing. And with luck affecting the casino games so much, they're also no fun. I didn't expect a full gambling simulator or anything, but how about an option to not include any sort of bonus and just play the cards as they fall?

I'd also be all for this. It's like how whenever you sit down to any card game in real life (Spades, Hearts, Poker, Blackjack) there are always variations to the main rules that are established before the cards are laid on the table. A couple variations I can already think of to make Caravan more interesting would be that you have to play the initial hand you draw - no discarding until you get your first 3 cards out on the table. Another variation would be that you can only construct a deck from a full 54 card deck and no extras. Perhaps there could be incentives for Caravan players to play these harder variations: More money would be ante'd, or imposing these restrictions on yourself while letting the AI play normally would mean you can ante less money while your opponent has to ante more than you.

I'm actually teaching it to the people at work....it's a good game.

It's a lot more fun when the opposition plays the face cards on you...games drag out, and we only use randomised decks....no stacking the odds.

Caravan is a lot more entertaining income earner than killing and looting powder gangers and raiders, I have to say.....Short of caps? Go play a couple of hands with Lacey...she might have a smart mouth, but she's got deep pockets, lol....

The strategy I use is this --

My deck equals:

4 x 5's
4 x 6's
4 x 7's
4 x 8's
4 x J's
4 x Q's
4 x K's
2 x Jokers

That's a thirty card deck.

In the opening hand, before I lay a card down, I discard all my queens and jokers until there are no queens and jokers in my opening hand. I like both of those cards, but they're less useful early on, so I discard them.

If I can, I start each pile with an 8 or a 5. Then I place cards in exact sequence on top of one another. 5 + 6 + 7 + 8 = 26 (unbeatable).

Meanwhile, if my opponent starts to accumulate close to or over 20 points on a pile, I Jack his highest card. Also, if my opponent Kings any of his cards, I Jack that card immediately, because it wastes his King.

The secret to this deck is control. You want to control your opponents' play while you slowly work your piles into position to win. If your opponent scores a 20+ on a pile and you don't have a Jack, use a King to double his highest card and bring the pile to a bust. This will force him to use a Jack on his own cards if he wants to salvage that pile, and it will set him back several turns. Use that time to advance your own piles.

If you can keep these pointers in mind, you should be able to rack up caps at an obscene rate. I just restarted the game yesterday on hardcoe Mode, and I've already got over 12,000 caps. That's not an exaggeration. I've played about 70 games of Caravan so far, and I've only lost one match. Once you learn this game, you can pretty much have an endless supply of revenue coming in.

i like the game. i still lose once in awhile. i spent an hour on the game last night just playing against Ringo. 1200 caps

Technically incorrect, as correctly noted above if one of the caravans in won by your opponent you only need the other two to win. This is a large strategy swing, in the beginning of each round you should never "race" your opponent on the same pile. Let them have one and you will actually win faster.

The biggest thing they need to do about making caravan a tad more challenging is to stop allowing people to discard as many cards as they want on the first round and basically start with an unlosable hand.

I don't think this is the problem, as the comp can do the same. The problem is that your opponent will never use a face card against you. I've played dozens of games now where I've watched my opponent Jack his own cards for no logical reason. If your opponent would Jack your cards, this game would actually be challenging.

also the OP says that if he cant place a card he discards a whole stack? you can just discard one card from your available playable cards. You dont have to discard a whole stack. And i agree that it would be better if your oponant placed face cards on your stacks too. Also im stumped about the you having 3 stacks of 26 and not winning part as well . And last i could of swore that festus was cheating at his game . anyone else think this?

murdoc,

I understand your philosophy here, but I disagree. It is true that using this tactic will speed up the hands, but I would never yield a stack to an opponent unless I have a guaranteed win next turn. If you yield a stack to your opponent from the start, then all it takes is for him/her to win one of the remaining two stacks. It's probably faster, but eventually this strat will lose, meaning that it will take two games to regain what you've lost. I'd rather play a wiser, safer game than a faster, riskier one.

This is also why the 5, 6, 7, 8 deck is so powerful. The moment I notice the opponent working one stack, I just work the same stack because I know that I'll get a 26. Worst case scenario, we tie that stack, and I'll Jack or King one of his cards as my last move, and ensure my victory.

The computer can discard as many as he wants at the beginning as well but it more or less just use what they start with. Letting the player basically able to play 7 cards and win nearly 100% of the time is silly.




if the computer has one of its caravan bid at 26 as well, even if all of your stacks are at 26, the game would still continue.

You are incorrect also because there are multiple win conditions. For instance, in the case of tied caravans, you need to break one of their bids to get the win.
However, the point of my post was to explain the game in a simplified manner, not a technically correct way.

The reason you race caravans is that the computer is amazing bad at completing them. My guess is that half the time you finish your other 2 caravans before the computer fumbles through the first one.

get as many 10s, 6s, Kings, 9s, and 7s as you can find.

10 king and six = 26

7 9 and 10 = 26

also carry 3-4 jacks that can be played on your opponents stacks to subtract some of their cards if their stacks start getting too close to 24-26