Card Games


family playiing cards

Card games provide a great way to connect with family and friends. Set up a family card night and spend some screen free time together!







Blackjack

The goal of blackjack is to get the cards to add up to 21 without going over. Each player is dealt two cards. One card is face down and one card is face up. All players see the face up cards and each player can look at their own face down card. Each player then gets the chance to get another card or stay with what they have, trying to reach 21.

Crazy Eights

The goal of the game is to get rid of all the cards in your hand. Each player starts with 7 cards. Keep the rest of the deck is in a pile with the first card flipped over face up. Each player must discard a card on the face up pile by trying to match his card to the face up card by either number or suit. If a player has no matching card, he must draw from the face down pile until he gets a match. An 8 card is wild and can represent any number!

Go Boom

This game is best with 2-6 players. The goal is to be the first player to get rid of all your cards. The dealer deals seven cards to each player and the rest are placed face down in the center of the table. Play proceeds clockwise with the player to the left of the dealer going first.

The first player places a card from his hand down on the table. The next players must play cards that follow suit or is of the same rank. For instance, if the first player lays down a 10 of diamonds, each player much lay down a 10 or a diamond. If a player can't follow suit or rank, he must draw from the draw pile until he can. If the draw pile is empty and a player can't play a card, he skips the turn.

Once each player has played a card, the highest card of the suit led wins each round. The winner of the round leads the next round. The first player to get rid of all his cards wins the game!

I Doubt It

Best with three or more people. These rules are for 3 or four players. The goal of the game is to be the first player to get rid of your cards. Start by choosing a dealer. The dealer will will deal the whole deck out as evenly as possible. Play begins to the left.

The first player starts by laying down any Aces he has in his hand. As cards are laid face down, he tells the other players how many he is laying down and what their status is. First player plays Aces, the next player has 2's, the next lays down 3's, etc. When the last player of that round lays down Kings, it is time to start over with Aces being played by the next player.

If it is a player’s turn and she needs to lay down, for example 2's, but do not have any in her hand, she will have to bluff. She needs to take one or two cards out of her hand, lay them face down on the table and call, "Two 2's".

When you call a bluff, you shout, "I Doubt It".

If you are the one that doubts, you need to be sure. If you doubt what another player lays down, and you see the cards are truly what the other player said they would be; you are the one that picks up the whole discard pile and has to get rid of it.

If you lay down cards and someone calls your bluff; and you were indeed bluffing, the discard pile is yours to get rid of. Don't lay down too many if you are bluffing, but at the same time, you'll have to think about getting rid of the cards in your hand. If someone calls a bluff, the dealer is the one who picks up the cards that were just laid down to show everyone the outcome. Now, if the person who dealt is the bluff caller or the possible bluffer, someone else needs to show the last cards to the players.

My Ship Sails

Deal seven cards to each player, one at a time and face-down. The rest of the deck is not needed.

Players must try and collect seven cards from the same suit (i.e. seven spades). Keeping the cards hidden, the players sort their cards by suits and decide which suit to collect (although they may change their mind as play progresses).

Then, each player puts a card face down on the table and slides it to the player on the right, who picks it up. All players will be passing and picking up at the same time. Continue until one player’s hand is all one suit. That player shouts “My ship sails” and wins the game.

Old Maid

This game can be played by two or more players. From a standard 52 card pack remove one queen leaving 51 cards. Deal and play are clockwise.

Have one player deal out all the cards to the players. Some players will have one more card than others - this does not matter. The players all look at their cards and discard any pairs.

The dealer begins. To play, offer your cards spread face down to the player to your left. That player selects a card from your hand without seeing it, and adds it to her hand. If it makes a pair in her hand she discards the pair. The player who just took a card then offers her hand to the next player to her left, and so on.

If you get rid of all your cards you are safe - the turn passes to the next player. Eventually all the cards will have been discarded except one queen (the old maid) and the holder of this queen loses.

Slap the Deck

Jack's and 10's - Slap the deck, 2's - Reverse Play, 5's - Skip a player, Aces -Wild's, King's - Choose a person to pick up one card

Begin by dealing out 8 cards to each person playing, and the remaining cards will be placed in a pile in the center. The player to the left of the dealer will start by laying down any card (forming a discard pile). Play continues around the circle to the left. For example, if a 3 of Hearts is laid first, the next player can lay any Heart card, a 3 of another suit, or an Ace (which is wild). If a player cannot play a card into the middle, she will draw a card from the middle pile, and her turn is over.

Players continue to lay their cards, and try to become the first to get rid of all the cards in their hand. When a 2 is played, the direction of play is reversed; when a 5 is played, that player can choose one person to skip for the next turn; all Aces act as wild's (they can be used as any card, or to completely change suits); and a person who plays a King can choose any player to pick up one card. However, whenever a Jack or a 10 of any suit is played, it is a race to "Slap the Deck." The player who lays the Jack or 10 will lay the card, and then they will actually slap the deck while saying "Slap the Deck." Once this is said, everyone else will race to slap the deck also, and the last person to slap the deck will have to pick up all the cards in the discard pile and add them to their hand.

Play continues until one person gets rid of all their cards, for which they will get one point.

Snap

The dealer deals cards to all the players as evenly as possible. Each player places his cards in a pile, face down, in front of him. Play moves clockwise with the player to the left of the dealer beginning play. On his turn, each player turns over the top card from his pile. When someone turns over a card that matches a card already face up on another player's pile, players race to be the first to call "Snap!. The player who calls "Snap!" first wins both piles and adds them to the bottom of his pile.

If two players call “Snap” at the same time, the two piles are combined and placed in a face up pile, called the “Jackpot”, with one of the two matching cards on top. Play then continues.

When someone turns over a card that matches the card on top of the “Jackpot”, players race to be the first to call "Jackpot". The player who calls "Jackpot!" first wins the Jackpot and the matching pile. If there's another tie, the matching pile is added to the Jackpot

When a player calls "Snap!" or "Jackpot" at the wrong time, she must give her top card to the player who just played. If a player makes a mistake on her own turn, she must give his top card to the player on his right. The winner is the player who collects all the cards!

Spoons

The game can be played with 3 to 13 players. Use a standard card deck and spoons that number one less than the number of players. For example, with 6 players you would need 5 spoons. The goal is to collect four cards of the same rank. To start, deal four cards to each player and put the spoons in the center of the table so all can reach them. Players must choose one card from their hands, pass that card to the opponent on their left, and pick up the card they've received from the opponent on their right. Each player can never have more than four cards in his hand, so it's illegal for a player to pick up a new card before passing one to the left. When a player collects four of a kind, she discreetly picks up a spoon and places it before her on the table. The other players must then pick up the remaining spoons. The last player to pick up a spoon is the loser. Eliminate that player from the game and take out a set of four cards from the deck. Continue play until two people are the final winners.

War

Two Players. Count out 26 cards for each player. The object is to win all of the cards.

Each player puts his stack of cards face down in front of him and turns up the top card at the same time. The top cards start a new pile in front of the player. The player who has the higher of the two turned-up cards wins both of them and puts them face down at the bottom of his own stack. The King is the highest card, and the Ace is the lowest. The order of the cards is:

K-Q-J-10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-A

If the two turned-up cards are of the same (2 queens, for example), the players have a "war".

Each turns one card face down and then one card face up. The higher of the two new face-up cards takes both piles (a total of 6 cards).