Use a standard 52-card deck per player
Deal each player a personal pile of 13 cards face down
Turn the top card of each personal pile face up to start the Nertz pile
Set up four shared foundation piles in the center, one for each suit
Keep the rest of each player’s cards as a stock pile
Play all players at the same time
Move cards from your Nertz pile, stock pile, or tableau to the center foundations when they fit in ascending order by suit
Build tableau piles in descending order with alternating colors if your version uses tableau play
Only the top card of each pile may usually be played
Turn over the next card in your personal pile whenever the top card is removed
Continue playing as fast as possible to clear your cards
Call “Nertz” when your personal pile is empty
End the round when one player empties their Nertz pile and calls “Nertz”
Score points for cards played to the foundations and penalties for cards left in your pile, if using scoring
Shuffle and deal a new round if playing multiple rounds