Card Games: Rules and Guides for Every Classic Game

Card games are the easiest way to start a game night: one deck of 52 cards fits in a pocket and gives you hundreds of games, from a two-minute round of War with the kids to a long evening of bridge. This page lists every card game rules guide on Party Games World, grouped by type, with the number of players and a short summary so you can pick the right game for your group.

Each link opens a full guide with quick rules, setup, step-by-step play, scoring and variations. If you are new to card games, start with the family section and work your way down. Most games here use a standard deck; a few need two decks, a joker, or a stripped deck, and the rules page tells you exactly what to remove.

Easy card games for kids and families

These games teach matching, counting and taking turns. Most of them can be explained in two minutes, so they are perfect for younger players and mixed-age tables.

• Go Fish (2 to 6 players): Ask other players for ranks you hold and collect sets of four. The player with the most sets when the cards run out wins.
• Old Maid (2 to 8 players): Draw cards from your neighbor, discard pairs and try not to be stuck holding the odd queen at the end.
• War (2 players): Both players flip a card and the higher one takes the pair. Ties start a "war" with face-down cards. Pure luck, great for little ones.
• Crazy Eights (2 to 7 players): Match the top discard by suit or rank and play an eight to change the suit. First to empty their hand wins.
• Slapjack (2 to 8 players): Players flip cards onto a pile and race to slap every jack. Whoever slaps first wins the pile.
• Trash (2 to 4 players): Fill a row of ten face-down cards in order from ace to ten by drawing and swapping. Fewer cards each round as you progress.
• Kings Corner (2 to 4 players): Build down in alternating colors on piles around the deck, with kings going in the corners. First to play every card wins.
• Golf (2 to 6 players): Swap cards into a face-down grid to get the lowest total score. Matching pairs in a column cancel out.

Fast and noisy games for groups

When you want laughter and quick reflexes rather than deep thinking, reach for one of these. They work well at parties because rounds are short and new players pick them up fast.

• Spoons (3 to 13 players): Pass cards around quickly to collect four of a kind, then grab a spoon. The player left without one gets a letter.
• Speed (2 players): Both players race to play cards one higher or lower onto two centre piles. No turns, just speed.
• Spit (2 players): A close cousin of Speed with stockpiles laid out in front of each player. Clear your piles first to win.
• Nertz (2 to 6 players): A team-free racing solitaire where everyone plays on shared foundations at the same time. Each player needs their own deck.
• Screw Your Neighbor (3 or more players): Everyone gets one card and decides whether to keep it or swap with the next player. Lowest card loses a life.
• Bluff (3 to 10 players): Play cards face down and announce what they are, truthfully or not. Anyone can call "bluff", and the loser picks up the pile.
• President (4 to 7 players): A climbing game where players beat the last play with higher cards. Finishing order sets the ranks and card swaps for the next hand.
• Palace (2 to 5 players): Play equal or higher cards onto the pile, using special cards like twos and tens. Get rid of your hand, face-up cards and face-down cards to escape.
• 99 (3 or more players): Add each card to a running total and avoid pushing it past 99. Some cards reverse, hold or reduce the total.
• 31 (Scat) (2 to 9 players): Draw and discard to get three cards of one suit as close to 31 points as possible. Knock when you think you are ahead.

Rummy family

In rummy games you draw and discard to form sets (same rank) and runs (same suit in sequence). Once you know one, the others feel familiar.

• Rummy (2 to 6 players): The classic draw-and-discard game. Meld sets and runs and be first to go out.
• Gin rummy (2 players): A sharp two-player version with ten-card hands, knocking and undercut bonuses. Usually played to 100 points.
• Rummy 500 (2 to 8 players): Score points for every card you meld, including from deep in the discard pile. First to 500 wins.
• Indian rummy (13 card) (2 to 6 players): Thirteen-card rummy with wild jokers and the rule that you need a pure sequence before you can declare.
• Canasta (4 players, 2 to 6 possible): A partnership game with two decks and wild cards where you build melds of seven called canastas.
• Hand and Foot (4 to 6 players): A canasta-style game where each player has two hands, the hand and the foot, played through in turn.

Trick-taking games

In a trick, each player plays one card and the highest card of the suit led (or the highest trump) wins. These games reward memory and partnership, and many families play them for years.

• Spades (4 players in partnerships): Bid how many tricks you will take, with spades always trump. Hitting your bid exactly is the key to winning.
• Hearts (4 players, 3 to 6 possible): Avoid taking hearts and the queen of spades, unless you can take every one of them and "shoot the moon".
• Euchre (4 players in partnerships): A quick 24-card game with bowers (jacks) as the top trumps. First team to 10 points wins.
• Contract bridge (4 players in partnerships): The deepest partnership game: an auction to set the contract, then 13 tricks of careful play.
• Pinochle (4 players in partnerships, also 2 or 3): Played with a 48-card deck. Score for melds such as marriages, then for counters won in tricks.
• 500 (4 players, 2 to 6 possible): Bid for tricks with a joker and bowers in a 43-card deck, racing to 500 points.
• Pitch (4 players, 2 to 7 possible): Bid for points such as high, low, jack and game, then pitch the first card to name trumps.
• Oh Hell (3 to 7 players): Hand sizes change each round and you must take exactly the number of tricks you bid.
• Whist (4 players, German whist for 2): The classic trick-taking game that bridge grew from. Simple, with no bidding.
• 29 (4 players in partnerships): A popular Indian game with a 32-card deck where jacks and nines are the highest cards and teams bid for the 28 card points in the deck.
• Sixty-six (2 players): A fast two-player game with a 24-card deck. Score 66 card points first, with bonuses for marriages.

Solitaire and patience games

Play alone with one deck when the house is quiet. These are also handy for teaching kids about suits and sequences.

• Solitaire (Klondike) (1 player): The classic seven-column layout. Move every card to four foundation piles from ace to king.
• Spider solitaire (1 player): Two decks, ten columns, and the goal of building full king-to-ace runs in one suit.
• FreeCell (1 player): All cards are dealt face up and four free cells help you move them. Almost every deal can be solved.

Poker family and banking games for home play

These games are fun at home with chips, matchsticks or points, never money. Learn the hand rankings first, then try a variant.

• Poker (2 to 10 players): The basics shared by most poker games: hands, betting rounds with chips, and the showdown.
• Poker hand rankings (reference chart): The order of hands from royal flush down to high card, with a simple chart for beginners.
• Texas hold'em (2 to 10 players): Two private cards and five shared cards. Make the best five-card hand from any seven.
• Blackjack (1 dealer plus up to 7 players): Get closer to 21 than the dealer without going over. Easy to learn for a family games night.
• Teen Patti (3 to 7 players): The Indian three-card game, played at home with chips or points. Learn the hand rankings and how blind and seen play work.
• Casino (2 to 4 players): Despite the name, a fishing game: capture cards from the table by pairing and building. Great for kids learning addition.

Counting and pegging games

• Cribbage (2 players, also 3 or 4): Score fifteens, pairs and runs while pegging around a board to 121 points. A favorite two-player game.

How to pick a card game

• Count your players first. Two players suit gin rummy, cribbage, Speed or Sixty-six. Four players are perfect for spades, euchre, hearts or 29. Big groups of six or more do best with Spoons, Bluff, Old Maid or 31.
• Match the game to the youngest player. Children of five or six can play War, Go Fish and Slapjack. From about eight, add Crazy Eights, Kings Corner and Trash. Trick-taking games usually click from ten or eleven.
• Think about the mood. For a lively party, choose a racing or bluffing game. For a calm evening with conversation, a rummy game or cribbage keeps hands busy without demanding silence.
• Check how many decks you need. Canasta, Hand and Foot and Spider solitaire use two or more decks, and Nertz needs one deck per player.
• Agree on house rules before the first deal. Many classic games have regional differences. Settle questions like "can you go out on a discard" up front and everyone has more fun.
• Keep score the easy way. Use our free game scorekeeper instead of hunting for a pencil.

Card games for every occasion

Looking for ideas by age or group size instead of by game type? See our picks of card games for kids, card games for adults and card games for two. For a mix of cards, dice and boards, browse our board games and dice games pages.