Caravan is an in-game card game you can play against NPCs in Fallout: New Vegas. It is a great way to earn Caps to build your stash, and has two achievements/trophies connected with it for players who are trying to earn them all. However, the game can be confusing at first, and you may lose all your hard-earned Caps if you don't understand the rules and different strategies that will give you an advantage over the NPCs you are playing against.

Don't let that dissuade you, though, because Caravan is an entertaining card game that adds extra flavor to New Vegas. Here's how to play Caravan and win in Fallout: New Vegas.

How to Obtain Your First Caravan Deck in Fallout: New Vegas

You will get your first Caravan Deck in Goodsprings from Ringo. While this standard 54-card deck could be better, it does a great job of teaching you the game's mechanics. First, you must understand how each card in the deck works for its initial value and what happens when you play it on another card. Here's what each card in a Caravan deck does:

• Ace: Has a value of 1.
• 2 through 10: Each card is worth its numeric value.
• Jack: A Jack played on an Ace, or 2 through 10, immediately removes that card, plus any face cards attached to it.
• Queen: A Queen played on an Ace, or 2 through 10, will reverse the direction in which you can play cards. It will also change the suit of the card you play it on. You can play multiple Queens on the same card if needed.
• King: A King played on an Ace, or 2 through 10, will add the exact value of the card you played it on. For example, playing a King on a 7 will add 7 more to the caravan's value, for a total of 14. You can play multiple Kings on the same card, increasing the card's total.
• Joker: The Joker card has different effects depending on whether it is played on an Ace, or a 2 through 10 card.
  • Ace: The Joker will remove all non-face cards of the same suit of the Ace you played it on. You can play multiple Jokers on the same card if you want.
  • 2 through 10: The Joker will remove all cards with the same value as the card you played the Joker on, regardless of the suit.

How to Play Caravan in Fallout: New Vegas

Once you understand how the card values work, how to find new cards, and how to customize your deck, we can discuss how to play and win Caravan. Caravan is played by two players, each of whom builds three opposing piles, or Caravans, of numbered cards. The objective is to outbid your opponent's Caravan with the highest value of numbered cards, without going under 21 or over 26.

The NPC will bid a certain amount of Caps at the game's start. You then have the choice to either match that bid or raise it. However, you can only raise the amount that the NPC has in their stash.

After completing the bids, each player draws eight cards from their deck. From there, each player will play one Ace or one 2 through 10 card to start each one of their three caravans. Remember that you cannot discard during this phase of the game. Once both players have started their three caravans, each will take a turn completing one of three actions.

On your turn, you can take one of the following actions:

• Play one card and draw a card from your deck to replace it.
• Discard one card and draw a card from your deck to replace it.
• Discard one of your caravans entirely by removing all cards from it.

Caravan piles must be built in a specific direction, meaning you must play cards in ascending or descending order numerically. They must also follow a particular suit, which is determined by the first card you place on a Caravan. The direction of a Caravan is then determined by the second card played in that Caravan. You must then play cards in the correct order numerically, or match the suit of the previous card played. However, you cannot play a card of the same value, even if it matches the suit of the last card. Finally, you can play face cards on any numeric cards in any Caravan pile on the board.

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How to Win Caravan in Fallout: New Vegas

When a player's Caravan has a total card value between 21 and 26, it is considered sold. Another player can still outbid this Caravan pile by increasing the value of their own Caravan pile within the same range. The game will end when all three competing Caravan piles have been sold. If there is a tie, the two players will continue until all Caravan piles are sold. You must sell two of the three Caravan piles to win the pot of Caps you both bid on earlier.

The Best Caravan Decks in Fallout: New Vegas

Two decks work the best against all but one Caravan player in New Vegas. That player is Johnson Nash, who will constantly place face cards on you. The first deck below is more effective with him than the second.

The first deck will only contain as many 6, 8, 10, and King cards as possible. However, you'll want to keep the deck size at 30 for this strategy to work correctly. During the game, play a 10, 8 or 10, 6 combo on your Caravan stacks. Then, play a King card on the 8 for the first combo, or a King card on the 10 for the second combo. The king will add the value of the card it is played on, adding up to 26. Keep discarding cards to get the ones you need to make it work.

The second deck is built with as many 7, 9, and 10 cards as possible while using Jack, Queen, and King cards to fill the gap. This deck is powerful because any combo of 7, 9, and 10 will equal 26, the highest amount a caravan can have without going over. Use the three face cards to disrupt the other player's caravans. If, for some reason, you can't use a 7, 9, or 10 on a lane, then place a face card on a 7 to get back on track.

How to Get More Caravan Cards in Fallout: New Vegas

The initial starter deck comes with the standard cards that make up a 54-card deck, except for the King of Clubs. Instead, you'll have two Kings of Diamonds. This deck is great initially, but you can find other cards throughout the Mojave to customize it as you see fit. In addition, you don't have to make a deck containing 54 cards. You can use as many or as few as you want.

Places to get more cards include:

• Corpses: You will find cards on corpses of Dead Prospectors that you can loot throughout the Mojave, so keep an eye out for them.
• Festus: You will get more cards by winning at Lucky Horseshoes against Festus.
• Vendors: You can buy additional cards from Vendors spread throughout the Mojave.
• Sierra Madre: You will find more cards scattered around this location.

In the base game, you can get five sets of Caravan Cards, one for each of the casinos on the New Vegas Strip. In addition, if you own the Dead Money add-on, then there is a sixth deck for the Sierra Madre for you to collect.

All Caravan Player Locations in Fallout: New Vegas

You can play Caravan against 14 players in Fallout: New Vegas. The table below shows their names, locations, the number of caps they have in their stash, and game limits (if any).

Fallout: New Vegas

Franchise

Fallout

Platform(s)

PS3 , Xbox 360 , PC

Released

October 19, 2010

Developer(s)

Obsidian Entertainment

Publisher(s)

Bethesda

Genre(s)

RPG

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