Can you stack a +2 on a +4? Every version of stacking

The official rule: no chains

Here's the long version of the short answer. Under the official rules a penalty is never passed on: a +2 makes the next player draw two and skip their turn, and a Wild +4 makes them draw four and lose their turn too. So no +2 on a +2, and no +2 on a +4 either. That's why Masabaşı's Classic preset ships with stacking off.

Stacking is a house rule, and not one rule but a whole family. What goes on top of what, where the chain stops, how you wriggle out of it: all of it changes from table to table. That's exactly where the arguments start. Below is every version, one by one, and each of them is a setting at Masabaşı.

Off, same type, mixed

The Penalty stacking setting has three positions:

• Off. Everyone draws their own penalty, just like the official rules.
• Same type. Only matching penalty cards stack: +2 on +2, +4 on +4. This is the textbook version of stacking; it never mixes a +2 with a +4.
• Mixed. +2s and +4s add up together, so a chain can climb 2, 6, 8.

In mixed mode each direction switches on and off separately: +4 allowed on a +2 and +2 allowed on a +4. The question in the title is answered by the second one. Switch it off and when a +4 lands on you, only another +4 can answer it; a +2 can't join the chain. As long as the other direction stays on, adding a +4 to a +2 chain is still fine.

At Masabaşı, two details settle most arguments before they start, though other tables may play either one differently. First, colour doesn't matter in a chain: you can put a green +2 on a blue +2, and a +2 on a +4 whatever colour the +4 picked. Second, joining the chain is never compulsory: even holding a +2, you can choose to take the penalty. Whoever doesn't answer the chain draws what's piled up.

What happens to whoever draws?

When the chain closes, the pile gets drawn. Who draws it, how, and what happens next is down to two settings:

• Drawing the stack loses your turn. When on, whoever draws the pile also loses their turn and play moves on to the next player; when off, they can still play a card afterwards. It applies with stacking off too: a single +2 costs you your turn as well. On by default, off in the Plain Street preset.
• Split the penalty. When on, the penalty isn't dumped on one player: it's dealt out one card at a time to everyone still in, starting with whoever accepted it. Off by default, and no preset turns it on.

The stack ceiling

Set a Stack ceiling and the chain locks once the penalty reaches it: nobody can add another penalty card, and the next player draws. It's a threshold, not a cut-off, so the last card can overshoot it. With a ceiling of 10, a +4 on an 8-card chain makes it 12, and that's where it locks.

The ceiling can go up to 30 cards; the default is unlimited. Presets with a ceiling: Team Battle (8 cards). The other presets with stacking on have none.

Escape cards

You can also get out of a chain without making it bigger. Each way out is its own setting:

• Reverse bounces the stack back. Play a Reverse in the current colour; the direction flips and the penalty goes back the way it came, no bigger than before. Off by default, on in the Street Rules preset.
• Skip shifts the stack along. Play a Skip in the current colour; the penalty moves on to the next player untouched and you're off the hook. Off by default, and no preset turns it on.
• Wild clears the stack. Play a plain Wild and the whole pile is wiped. Off by default, and no preset turns it on.
• Shield. A chaos pack card: it soaks up the pile and nobody draws. Off by default, on in the Full Chaos preset.
• Deflect. A chaos pack card: whoever started the chain draws the pile. Off by default, on in the Full Chaos preset.

None of these is stopped by the ceiling: even once the chain is locked, you can still answer with one.

The +4 challenge: what a bluff costs

Under the official rules a Wild +4 isn't a free play: you may only throw it when you hold no card of the current colour. If the next player smells a bluff, they challenge. Caught bluffing, the thrower draws 4 and play carries on from the challenger; if the +4 was legal, the challenger draws 6 and loses their turn.

At Masabaşı these are two settings. +4 legality is free by default, so you can throw a +4 whenever you like. Set it to the official rule with challenges off and the server enforces it: you can't throw a +4 while you hold the current colour. That restriction only applies outside a chain; answer a penalty chain with a +4 and nobody looks at whether you hold the current colour. Switch on +4 challenges and the server no longer stops a bluff; the players keep the rule honest by challenging. Both penalties are adjustable, 4 and 6 cards by default. The official restriction is on in the Classic and Hardcore presets, challenges in the Hardcore preset.

If stacking is on at the same table, you can only challenge the +4 on top; once a +2 lands on it, the challenge is gone. So whoever gets the +4 either challenges or keeps the chain going with a +2, never both.

Where each preset stands

When you set up a table, Street Rules is already picked; open the table as it is and that's the row you're playing. Once a preset is picked, you can still change any setting one by one.

Which setup for which table?

• New players: off or same type. Everyone sees their penalty coming, and nobody ends up holding half the deck in one go.
• Street table: mixed, no ceiling. Every +2 you hold becomes your defence, and this is where the biggest blow-ups happen.
• Somewhere in between: mixed, with a ceiling. The chain keeps its thrill, but no hand collapses in a single move.
• Bluffers: the official +4 restriction plus challenges. With stacking off, throwing a +4 becomes a real decision again.