Looking for a new card game to play? There are hundreds of potential card games to choose from. These games can be a fun way to pass the time while often encouraging socialisation and building strategizing skills. In this post, we’ll take a look at 8 classic card games that could be worth adding to your collection. Have you tried them all?
Rummy
First up is Rummy. The aim of this game is to get rid of all the cards in your hand by laying down sets (cards of the same number) and runs (sequences of numbers in the same suit). This game combines a mixture of luck and strategy, and is suitable for players of all ages. There are a few variations like Gin Rummy and Indian Rummy, which can be worth exploring if you want to spice things up.
Hearts
Hearts is a trick-taking game usually played with four players. The goal of hearts is to achieve the lowest score at the end by trying not to collect hearts (worth 1 point each) or the Queen of Spades (worth 13 penalty points). This is a fun game of deflection that requires players to try to anticipate what their opponent will do. You can try out Hearts online.
Go Fish
This game is ideal for young kids and is one of the first card games (beyond ‘snap’) that most people learn. Players must collect pairs of cards by asking opponents for cards from their hand – if an opponent doesn’t have that card, you must ‘go fish’ from the deck. It’s a game of strategy that also tests players’ memory by trying to remember what cards players have been asking for.
Cribbage
Cribbage is a 2-player game with a distinctive scoring method. The aim is to reach a score of 121 points by playing different valued combinations of cards. It requires a bit more research and tactics than some other games featured on this list, but is very thrilling once you get the hang of it. This guide to Cribbage provides more detailed instructions on how to play this game so that you can learn all of its niche rules.
Crazy Eights
Crazy Eights is a fast-paced and simple game in which players must discard one card each round by matching the suit or rank of the previously laid down card – with eights serving as wild cards that you can play at any point in the game. The winner is the player that gets rid of all their cards the fastest. Crazy Eights is a great card game to learn because it is the basis for many other more complicated card games, while also being the inspiration behind Uno.
War
This is perhaps the simplest game out there and it is pretty much a game of pure chance. It is typically played with two players – each player must flip over the first card from their deck and the player with the higher card takes both cards. If you both draw the same card, this triggers a ‘war’ – each player must play three cards with one face up, and the player with the highest face up cards wins.
Memory
As the name suggests, memory is a game of memory. Every card in the deck is placed face down on a table. The aim is to flip over two cards that match. When you do this, you win a pair and can have another turn. If you turn over two cards that don’t match, you place the cards back face down where they were, and the next player has their turn. By remembering which cards have been turned over and where they are on the table, you can score the most pairs.
Solitaire
Solitaire is unique in the fact that it is a solo game. There are actually a range of different types of solitaire that you can play – the most famous being the ‘Klondike’ variation, which is the one traditionally found on Windows computers. There are many other versions of Solitaire that you can explore online. These are a great way to occupy yourself when alone and are a great test of patience (the game of solitaire is sometimes referred to as ‘patience’).
These are just a few popular games worth trying – there are so many others you can check out too, including games that don’t use traditional playing cards. By learning a variety of card games, you can make game nights more exciting and you can develop different skills.
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