Playcard gamesGames
All games, in alphabetical order. Pick one to read the rules.
Andar bahar
Pick a side and wait for the matching rank to land on it.
Auction pitch
Bid for the right to name trump, then chase four scoring points.
Baccarat
Bet on player or banker — nine is the best total there is.
Baloot
Saudi Arabia's national card game — sun or hokom, then count the projects.
Beggar-my-neighbour
No decisions at all — the cards play themselves to the end.
Belote
France's partnership game, where the trump jack is king.
Bid whist
Whist with an auction, a kitty, and the choice to play low.
Big two
The whole deck dealt out, and the three of diamonds leads.
Blackjack
Beat the dealer's hand without going past 21.
Bourré
Take tricks or pay the pot — everyone chases the same money.
Briscola
Italy's simplest classic: forty cards, one trump, no need to follow suit.
Buraco
Brazilian canasta with two dead hands waiting on the table.
Call break
Spades are trump, you must beat the trick if you can, and you must make your call.
Canasta
Melds of seven, frozen piles, and a partner you cannot talk to.
Caribbean stud
Five cards against the dealer, who needs a hand to qualify.
Casino war
One card each against the dealer, highest wins.
Cassino
Capture by value, build piles, and fight over the ten of diamonds.
Cheat
Claim the rank you were told to play, whether or not you hold it.
Chinchón
Seven cards, one draw, and a cut that ends the round at once.
Concentration
The whole deck face down. Turn two, remember everything.
Contract bridge
Bid a contract with your partner, then go out and make it.
Contract rummy
Each deal demands a harder combination than the one before.
Court piece
Cards dealt five at a time, and tricks collected in sets of four.
Crazy eights
Match suit or rank, and play an eight to change the suit.
Cribbage
Count fifteens and pairs along a board, and the dealer keeps the crib.
Doppelkopf
Forty-eight doubled cards, and two queens of clubs who are secretly partners.
Dou dizhu
Two peasants against one landlord, with three cards face up as the prize.
Durak
Beat every card thrown at you — the last player holding cards is the fool.
Egyptian ratscrew
Face cards demand payment, and doubles are there to be slapped.
Escoba
Sweep the table by capturing cards that add up to exactly fifteen.
Euchre
Twenty-four cards, five tricks, and a jack that changes suit.
Five hundred
Euchre grown up, with a joker and a kitty to bid for.
FreeCell
Every card face up from the start — almost every deal can be solved.
French tarot
A 78-card pack, permanent trumps, and three oudlers worth chasing.
Garbage
Fill ten numbered slots in order before your opponent does.
Gin rummy
Two players knocking on ten points of deadwood or less.
Go Fish
Collect sets of four by asking the other players.
Golf
Six cards face down, and the lowest score after nine deals wins.
Hand and foot
Two hands each — finish the first before you may pick up the second.
Hearts
Avoid every heart and the queen of spades. Or take them all.
Hokm
Iran's partnership game, where the first to seven tricks takes the hand.
Indian rummy
Thirteen cards, jokers, and two runs you must have before anything else counts.
Kings in the corner
Build descending piles outward, and only a king opens a corner.
Klaberjass
A two-hander of trumps, sequences and the marriage of king and queen.
Klondike
The solitaire everyone means when they say solitaire.
Knockout whist
One card fewer each round until only one player is left holding any.
Koi-koi
Japanese flower cards — match the months and decide whether to press on.
Mariáš
Czech trick-taking with marriages, a declarer, and side bets on the last trick.
Mau-mau
Crazy eights with teeth — sevens stack, eights skip, and you announce your last card.
Mus
Basque bluffing in pairs, with signals across the table.
Napoleon
Declare how many of five tricks you will take, alone against the table.
Nertz
Everyone plays solitaire at once, onto shared piles in the middle.
Newmarket
Stake the boodle cards, then shed your hand to claim them.
Oh hell
Bid your tricks exactly, with a trump suit and a shrinking hand.
Old maid
Pair everything off and make sure the odd queen ends up elsewhere.
Pai gow poker
Split seven cards into two hands and beat the dealer with both.
Pinochle
Score for melds in hand, then again for the tricks you take.
Plump
Predict exactly how many tricks you will take — not one more or less.
Poker
Variants decided by five-card hands.
Pontoon
The British 21, where the banker's seat is worth winning.
Preferans
Thirty-two cards and a bidding ladder played across three columns.
President
Play higher or pass. Finish first and the loser hands you their best cards.
Pyramid
Clear a pyramid of cards by pairing them to thirteen.
Red dog
Bet on whether the third card falls between the first two.
Rummy
Draw, meld sets and runs, discard. The family the rest grew out of.
Rummy 500
Take the whole discard pile if you can use the card at the bottom of it.
Schafkopf
Bavaria's evening game — queens and jacks outrank everything.
Schieber jass
Switzerland's partnership jass, where you can pass the choice across the table.
Scopa
Capture cards from the table, and sweep it clean for a point.
Scopone
Scopa for four with every card dealt out — nothing is left to luck.
Seep
Indian fishing in partnership, where a clean sweep is worth fifty.
Sevens
Build each suit outward from the seven, or pass and hold on.
Sheepshead
Wisconsin's take on Schafkopf, with a picker against the rest.
Shithead
Three face-down cards you never saw decide the end of the game.
Sixty-six
Two players, twenty-four cards, and a race to 66 points.
Skat
Germany's national game: one declarer against two, and a two-card skat.
Slapjack
Every jack that appears belongs to whoever slaps it first.
Snap
Two matching cards land, and the first to shout takes the pile.
Solo whist
Bid alone against the other three, or ally with one of them.
Spades
Spades are always trump, and your bid is a promise.
Speed
No turns at all. Both players empty their hands at once.
Spider solitaire
Two decks, ten columns, and eight suits to build downward.
Spit
Two solitaire layouts racing onto the same two piles.
Spoons
Pass cards until someone has four alike, then grab before the spoons run out.
Sueca
Portugal's partnership game — forty cards and 120 points to split.
Tarneeb
Arabic partnership whist with an auction for trump.
Teen patti
Three cards each, and the nerve to keep betting blind.
Thirty-one
Collect one suit up to 31 and knock before anyone else.
Thousand
Bid, take marriages, and race to a thousand points.
Three-card poker
A poker hand of three against the dealer, decided in one round.
Tiến lên
Vietnam's national game — climb past the others and shed thirteen cards.
Tonk
A fast rummy for money, where a good enough deal wins on the spot.
Tressette
No trumps, strict suit-following, and threes at the top.
Truco
South American bluffing: raise the stakes before the cards decide.
Tute
Spanish trick-taking where four kings or four horses end it outright.
Twenty-nine
Jacks and nines carry the points, and the bid is for 29 of them.
Uno
Its own deck of colours and actions, and one word to say at one card.
War
Highest card takes both. Ties mean war.
Whist
Partnership trick-taking at its plainest — no bidding at all.
Yaniv
Call at five points or less — but a lower hand turns it against you.