Injera Be Wat is a fun Ethiopian card game from the fishing family of card games. Injera Be Wat is named in honor of one of the great meals that is a staple of Ethiopian cuisine. Injera is a spongy flat bread made from teff, which is usually formed in a large circle, and the Wat is a stew or meat served with the slightly sour bread. The game is so named as the layout used during play resembles this Injera and Wat.

Injera Be Wat is usually played using one standard 52 card deck and played by 2 to 6 players. While there is no actual dealer in this game (all players usually assist in creating the Injera layout), players may want to decide which player will have the first turn. This can be determined by having each player draw one card from the shuffled deck, with the player drawing the highest card set to have the first turn. The turn then rotates around the table in a clockwise direction around the table from player to player.

As mentioned previously there is no dealer, but usually some or all of the players assist in creating the initial layout for the game. To start, the entire face-down deck is formed in a ring like layout, around a central space. After this circular or hoop format is created (the Injera), four of the face-down cards are randomly selected from this ring and turned face-up (the Wat) and placed in the center of this outer perimeter ring of cards.

Once the layout has been formed, play can then begin, with the player previously determined as having the first turn. A player's turn consists of first drawing any face down card from the ring of cards and exposing the card drawn to himself and the other players.

The goal of the game is to capture the most cards in a player's home pile. Each player's home pile is empty, but as the game progresses, they will attempt to add cards to this pile. And thus towards that goal, the player will attempt to capture cards based on the card drawn:

• Matching: If the drawn card matches in rank, one or more of the face-up cards currently found in the center of the ring, he may take all these cards, along with the capturing card and place them, face-up in his home pile. It is customary to place the capturing card as the top card of that home pile. In order to be captured this way, the card must match exactly, thus a King can capture a King, a five capture a five, and so on.
• Summation: If two or more of the face-up cards in the center layout sum up to the value of the card drawn, he may capture these summation of cards, along with the capturing cards, adding them to his home pile. It is customary to place the capturing card at the top of these cards, on the player's home pile. Court cards (King, Queen, or Jack) do not have a capture value and may never be used to capture a card and may not capture other cards in this way. An Ace is considered to have a sum value of 1.
• Top card of Home Pile: If the card drawn matches, in exact rank, the top card of the player who draw that card's home pile, he may simply add the card to the top of his home pile.
• Opponent Capture: If the card drawn matches the same rank as the top card of any opponent's home pile, the player may take all cards on the top of that players home pile which are of that same rank. He then places all those similarly ranked cards, as well as the capturing card and places them on the top of his home pile (with the capturing card on top).

It should also be noted that, a player, with a card drawn, if able, can make multiple captures from the center pile. For instance, if there are multiple groups of different cards that sum to the total of the card drawn, he may take all such summations, and may capture summations and matches all in the same play, if the appropriate cards can be summed and matched from the center.

If a player is not able to make a capture based on the card drawn, he simply places the card, face-up in the center of the ring, adding to any cards already found there, ending his turn, which then advances to the next player. If a player is able to make any of the legal captures, he is entitled to take another turn, drawing a new card from the Injera.

The game continues in this manner, with the players taking turns and attempting to create captures until the last turn, after which the last face-down card from the Injera has been drawn. Once that last player has completed their turn, the players each add up the total number of cards they managed to capture during the game, and the player with the most captured cards is declared the winner. Any face-up cards left in the center are remain there and are not awarded to any player.

After each game, the player to the immediate left of the player having the first play on the previous hand should have the first turn on this next game.

Variations and Optional Rules

There are number of rule differences that are sometimes included in playing Injera Be Wat. The following are some of the most commonly encountered:

Jokers: Many players prefer the addition of two or three Jokers to the deck. If a Joker is drawn by a player, that player is entitled to take every card from the exposed center, adding those cards to his home pile, with the Joker on the top of that pile. The next card drawn, then, is simply placed face-up by itself in the center, unless that card is also a Joker in which the player drawing it may add the card to his capture pile.

Reduced Deck: Some player prefer to reduce the deck from the standard 52 cards to a smaller 40 card deck. They do this by removing all the court cards (cards of rank King, Queen or Jack) from the deck before play.

Entire Pile Capture: Another optional rule that is sometimes used during play is the number of cards which can be captured from an opponent's home pile. In the standard rules, a player captures only the top cards on the pile that are of the same denomination as the card drawn. However, some player modify the game, in that if a card drawn matches the top card of another player's home pile, they can take that entire home pile, placing it on top of their home pile, with the capturing card placed at the top.

Porridge: Porridge is a children's card game that has a number of similarities to Injera Be Wat, including the initial layout. Porridge can be played by any number of players from 2 to 10. The game uses one standard 52 card deck.

Although there is no actual dealer (as players will instead draw card on their turn), the players can still use an initial draw of cards from the shuffled deck to determine which player will have the first turn. Using that method, whichever player were to draw the highest such card would be set as the player to have the first turn during the current game. This player would also thoroughly shuffle the deck and offer it to the player at his right to cut.

To start the game, the deck is spread out, face-down in a circular fashion, with the cards overlapping. Thus, the cards are arranged in a large ring, simulating the bowl of porridge. The player who will have the first turn then randomly selects any one card from this ring and places it face-up in the middle of the circle starting the play pile, before taking his turn. The turn rotates around the table in a clockwise direction.

To start his turn a player draws any card from the surrounding ring. If this card is the same suit as the top card in the play pile he must then "eat" taking the card drawn and all the cards in the play pile, and adding them to his capture pile. If the card drawn is not of the same suit as the top card in the play pile, he simply places his card drawn, face-up on top of the play pile and ends his turn. If the player does capture one or more cards the player ends his turn by drawing any other face-down card from the ring and placing it into the center of the ring to start the next play pile and the next player then takes his turn.

The game continues in this manner until the last card has been drawn from ever-shrinking ring. After this last play, each player totals the number of cards captured during the hand, and the player with the fewest total cards captured is declared the game winner.

Seiska: Seiska is a Finnish game which also shares a number of features of Injera Be Wat. Seiska translates into English as Swine or Pig. Seiska is designed for play by two to eight players. For two, three or four players one standard 52 card deck is used. For five or more players, two standard 52 card decks can be used, with these decks shuffled together.

One of the players should be selected as the first dealer. Any method can be so used to determine this first dealer, with a draw for low cards a common method. Using that method, each player draws one card from a shuffled deck and whichever player draws the lowest card is set as the first dealer.

Once the first dealer is decided that player should then shuffle the cards and offer it to the player at his right to cut. After the cut, the dealer then forms the entire deck into a ring of overlapping face-down cards in the center of the table. Then, the dealer randomly selects one card from the ring and placed face-up in the hollow center of the ring. The player to the left of the dealer has the first turn and the turns rotate around the table in a clockwise direction.

Each player starts their turn by drawing a card randomly from anywhere on the ring of cards, not showing this card to the other players. If this card is not of the same suit as the top card in the play pile (in the center of the ring), he must add the card to his hand, and draw another card, continuing in this way until he manages to draw a card of the same suit as the top card in the play pile. One he draws a card of that same suit, he then places that card on the top of the play pile. After playing that card, he may play any other card, of any suit, from his hand to the top of the pile. If he has no cards in his hand, he simply draws another randomly from the ring and places it on top of the play pile (regardless of it's suit), ending his turn.

Once the last card from the ring has been drawn, the play pile (all except the top card) is turned over to create a draw pile, set next to the play pile. During this phase, players do not start by drawing a card. Instead, if they have a card of the same suit as the top card of the play pile in their hand, they may play it. After playing this card, they may then play any additional card from their hand, which ends their turn. If a player, at the start of his turn does not have a card of the same suit as the top of the play pile, he must draw cards from the stock pile until he draw a card of the appropriate suit, which he may then play, followed by any other card from his hand.

Once a player manages to play his last card from his hand, he drops from the game. This continues until there is only one player remaining with cards in the hand, who is called the pig (or swine) and the loser of the game.

Sika: Sika is another game from Finland which plays much like Seiska. The deal and layout are the same as in the game Seiska. However, there are a few differences in playing this variant:

• On his turn, players can play cards to the center pile if they are of the same suit, or if they are of the exact same rank (i.e. a five on a five or a King on a King).
• All eights are considered wild cards and can be played on any card, regardless of that card's suit or rank.
• Cards that are drawn by a player from the ring and not played are not added to their hand, but instead are placed in a face-down pile in front of that player. Instead, if a player plays a card to the center pile, he randomly selects any other card from the ring and places it on the top of the pile, ending his turn.
• Once the last card from the ring has been drawn, the players then pick up these face-down stacks to form their hand. All cards except the top card from the play pile are also turned over to form a stock pile to start the second phase of the game.
• During this second phase of the game, on his turn, if a player has a card of the same suit or rank (or an eight) he may play it, and then play a second card from his hand. In addition, after playing the first card, the player may play any additional cards from the hand of that same rank to the top of the pile. Similarly, if a player has additional cards that are in direct numerical sequence (and of the same suit) as the last card they played to the play pile, they may continue to play those cards as long as these cares in direct sequence and of the same suit. After making his plays, the player may then play any additional card from his hand to the play pile.
• If, during this second phase of the game, a player is unable to play a card he must draw a card from the stock. If he cannot play this card legally, he must draw a second card. If he cannot play this second card he must draw a third. If he is unable to play this third card, he simply passes his turn. If at any time during his draw, he draws a playable card, he may play it, as well as one additional card to the pile and then end his turn.
• The game continues until one player manages to play his last card, after which that player is declared the game winner.