Card games
Rules in plain words for card games played with a standard deck and with their own cards or tiles. Each game has a printable rule sheet and a scorekeeper.
Standard-deck card games
Euchre
A quick trick-taking card game for four players in two teams.
Spades
A trick-taking card game for four players in two teams.
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Go Fish
A simple card game for 2 to 6 players that young children often play.
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Canasta
A rummy game for 4 players in 2 teams, played with two decks and four jokers.
Hand and Foot
A rummy game for partners, played with several decks and plenty of wild cards.
Pinochle
A trick-taking card game for four players in two teams.
Crazy Eights
A card game for 2 to 8 players with a standard deck.
Kings in the Corner
A card game for 2 to 4 players who all play onto the same piles in the middle of the table.
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War
A card game for 2 players that takes no skill, so young children can play it.
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Old Maid
A card game for 2 or more players that young children can play.
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Slapjack
A card game for 2 or more players that young children can play.
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BS (Cheat)
A bluffing card game for 2 to 10 players, also called Cheat and I Doubt It.
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31
A quick draw-and-discard card game for 2 or more players.
Card games with their own cards or tiles
Uno
A fast card game for 2 to 10 players with its own deck of colored number cards, action cards and wild cards.
Phase 10
A rummy-style card game for 2 to 6 players with its own 108-card deck.
Skip-Bo
A card game for 2 to 6 players with its own deck of cards numbered 1 to 12 and wild SKIP-BO cards.
Rummikub
A rummy game played with numbered tiles for 2 to 4 players.
What you need to play
- Most of these games use one standard 52-card deck, such as Rummy, Go Fish, Hearts, Spades, War and Solitaire. Many want paper and a pencil too.
- A few ask for more. Canasta uses 2 decks and 4 jokers. Hand and Foot uses 5 decks. Pinochle uses a 48-card deck. Euchre uses 24 cards from a standard deck, the 9 through the ace of each suit.
- Uno, Uno No Mercy, Phase 10 and Skip-Bo use their own decks of 112 (or 108), 168, 108 and 162 cards. Rummikub uses 106 tiles and 4 racks.
Find a card game by number of players
Deck and poker reference
Questions
What do you need to play card games?
Most games here need one standard 52-card deck and, for scoring, paper and a pencil. Some use more decks, a 48-card pinochle deck, or 24 cards taken from a standard deck for Euchre. Uno, Phase 10, Skip-Bo and Rummikub come with their own cards or tiles.
Which card games use their own cards?
Uno, Uno No Mercy, Phase 10 and Skip-Bo use their own decks. Rummikub uses tiles instead of cards. Uno takes 2 to 10 players, and the others take 2 to 6.
What card games can one person play?
Solitaire is the card game for 1 player. Its page covers Klondike, Spider, FreeCell, Pyramid and Clock, and also Double Solitaire for 2 or more players.
Which card games are played in partnerships?
Euchre, Spades, Pinochle, Canasta and Hand and Foot are written for 4 players in 2 teams of 2, with partners sitting across from each other. Several other games have a partners version.
What card games work for a big group?
Old Maid takes 2 or more players and Spoons 3 to 12 with one deck. BS (Cheat), Hearts and Uno take up to 10, and Slapjack takes 2 or more. Several others use two decks for bigger groups.
What is the quickest card game here?
By stated playing time, Speed takes about 5 minutes a game and Crazy Eights 5 to 10 minutes a hand. Old Maid takes about 10 minutes, and Uno about 10 minutes a round.