21 Easy Card Games for All Ages

By now, it's no surprise that all people of ages love playing games. If you want to play a new card game without complicated rules, this post introduces easy and fun card games for the whole family that you can get started playing right away.

Whether you want to play alone, entertain a crowd, or teach young kids, we’ve got the lowdown on 21 simple card games for 1 to 13 players.

One-player card games

While you may know Solitaire as the go-to card game for a single player, this section introduces some more of the easiest one-player card games to play by yourself.

1. Solitaire

Objective: Get all of the suits (hearts, diamonds, clubs, and spades) into separate foundation piles in ascending order (from ace to king).

What you need: A regular deck of cards

Players: 1

How to play:

• Deal the tableau (or table) with seven cards in a row from left to right. Place the first card on the left face up and the other six facedown to form your initial seven columns. Continue by dealing a face-up card on the second column followed by facedown cards and repeat until all columns begin with one face-up card.

• Your remaining cards form the stockpile. You can draw from the stockpile or use face-up cards to play onto the tableau or foundation piles.

• Make columns by placing cards of opposite color in descending order on top of other face-up cards. Create foundation piles in ascending order by suit from ace to king.

• Turn over facedown cards, when you move the top cards on the columns and place them onto other columns or the foundation piles.

• You win the game when you play all cards onto the four foundation piles.

2. The Wish Solitaire

Objective: Match cards to remove them from the table with the goal of removing all cards from the table.

What you need: A regular deck of cards with twos through sixes removed to make a 32-card deck

Players: 1

How to play:

• Deal the cards so there are eight columns with four cards each, all face up. Stagger the cards in each column so that you can see a bit of each card underneath and the entire card in the bottom row.

• If a row showing the entire cards contains a pair, such as two kings, match them and remove them from the table.

• Keep matching until you have paired all of the cards. The Wish Solitaire ends when you have removed all of the cards (win) or when you cannot match any more pairs (lose).

• Remember that you can only match cards that are in the row where you can see the full card.

3. Tri Peaks

Objective: Move all of the cards from the Tri Peaks layout to the discard pile.

What you need: A regular deck of cards

Players: 1

How to play:

• Create three pyramids of six facedown cards each, with three cards in the bottom row, two cards in the row above that, and one card at the top of each pyramid. Make one row of 10 face-up cards overlapping the bottom row of the pyramids. Place the remaining cards into your discard pile, flipping the top card face up next to the rest of the deck.

• Play by moving face-up cards from the row onto the discard pile if they are one rank higher or lower than the face-up card in the discard pile. Aces “round the corner,” meaning you can play them between a king and a two.

• As you move face-up cards to the discard pile, you can flip over any facedown cards from the pyramids that no longer have face-up cards overlapping them.

• Continue to play the face-up cards from the layout onto the discard pile. When you have no more moves remaining, flip over the top card from the deck and place it on the discard pile.

• You win the game by moving all of the cards from the layout to the discard pile. If you run out of cards in the deck before you have removed all of the cards from the layout, you lose the game.

Two-plus player card games

Whether you want to play cards with one friend or the entire family, you have plenty of fun two-player card game options available.

4. Gin Rummy

Objective: Score points by making combinations of three or more cards, playing several rounds until one player gets more than 100 points.

What you need: A regular deck of cards

Players: 2

How to play:

• Deal 10 cards to each player making the remaining cards a draw pile. Flip over the top card and place it next to the draw pile.

• The first person plays by taking the face-up card or the top card from the draw pile to make combinations in their hand of three or more cards of the same rank or three or more cards of the same suit, like a set of four aces or a run of the two, three and four of spades.

• The turn ends by always discarding one card and play continues to the next player.

• The simplest version of the game ends a round by a player going “gin” where every card in their hand is a run or set, giving them 25 points plus the total of their opponent’s unmatched cards. Ace through ten equals face value and jacks, kings and queens are worth 10 points.

• Continue to play until one person scores over 100 points.

5. Speed

Objective: Get rid of all of your cards before your opponent.

What you need: A regular deck of cards

Players: 2

How to play:

• Place two piles of five facedown cards each in the middle of the table. Between those piles, place two more piles of one facedown card each.

• Divide the remaining cards between the players, so that each gets their own 20-card draw pile. Before the game starts, each player takes five cards for their hand.

• Flip over both of the single cards at the same time to start. Both people play the cards in their hands simultaneously as fast as possible onto the face-up piles, one rank higher or lower than the card you’re playing on.

• If neither player can play a card on the two face-up piles, then use the two piles of facedown cards. To continue play, each person turns over a card from one of the facedown piles and places it face up on the middle two piles.

• Each time you play a card, take one from your draw pile to maintain five cards in your hand at all times.

• If you play all of your cards before your opponent, shout “Speed!” to win.

6. Spit

Objective: Get rid of all of your cards before the other player.

What you need: A regular deck of cards

Players: 2

How to play:

• Deal 26 cards to each player, with players setting up five piles from left to right, with one card in the first pile, two in the second, and so on until there are five cards in the last pile. Turn the top card of each pile face up. Place the remaining cards facedown to the left of each player (the spit pile).

• Each player places the top card from their spit pile in the center of the playing area face up and then uses the top cards from their five piles to begin trying to get rid of their cards as fast as possible by placing cards that have a rank one higher or lower than the face-up card.

• You can also move cards among your five piles by placing the top card from a pile to an empty space on another pile. If a facedown card is revealed, flip it face up. You can also stack cards of the same rank on top of each other within your piles.

• If no one can move, each player yells “Spit!” and places a card from the spit deck onto the center piles.

• If a player runs out of cards from their five piles, either player can slap a middle pile to keep that pile. Since you want to get rid of cards, it makes sense to slap the smaller pile. The players shuffle the piles taken with their spit piles and set up a new round. If you don’t have 15 cards, create the five piles until you run out. This means you won’t have a spit pile and there will only be one middle pile.

• The player who runs out of cards first wins.

7. War

Objective: Win all 52 cards by having the highest card each draw.

What you need: A regular deck of cards

Players: 2

How to play:

• Deal each player 26 cards, keeping their pile of cards facedown.

• To start, each player flips over their top card into the center. The player with the higher card wins both cards and places the cards won at the bottom of their pile.

• When the players play cards of the same rank, they go to “war” by drawing three more cards and playing them facedown and a final fourth card played face up. The higher of the face-up cards wins the hand and all the cards played in that round.

• One player wins when they have all the cards and their opponent has none. If a player doesn’t have enough cards to play a war, they also lose the game.

8. Kings in the Corner

Objective: You want to get rid of all your cards first in this multiple-player variation of Solitaire.

What you need: A regular deck of cards

Players: 2 to 4

How to play:

• Deal seven cards facedown to each player, one card at a time. The remaining deck of cards forms a draw pile in the middle of the playing area. Flip up four cards, one on each side of the draw pile in a cross shape.

• The player to the left of the dealer goes first by drawing a card from the facedown draw pile in the center.

• The player can play cards from their hand onto any of the face-up cards on the table.

• To play onto the cards in a cross shape, a card must be one rank lower and the opposite color, as in Solitaire, like a five of clubs onto a six of hearts.

• You can merge piles like in Solitaire to free up a space, and then you can play any card to the empty space and start a new pile.

• Kings are placed into the corners of the “cross” between the four face-up cards, creating foundation piles. You can play cards of the same suit as the king in descending order until an ace is played.

• Every turn begins by drawing one card, and players continue playing until they run out of moves and simply announce that they are done with their turn.

• Play continues clockwise until a player runs out of cards, winning the game.

9. Slapjack

Objective: Win all 52 cards by slapping the jack to take all of the cards that were in the middle.

What you need: A regular deck of cards

Players: 2 to 4

How to play:

• Deal cards facedown one at a time until no cards remain. The player to the left of the dealer begins by flipping one of their cards face up and putting it in the middle of the playing area. The next player does the same, each player flipping as quickly as possible.

• When you see a jack flipped into the middle pile, slap it with your hand.

• If no one slaps the jack before the next card is flipped onto it, then play continues and no one gets the cards in the middle.

• If a player slaps a card other than a jack, that player gives a card from their pile to the player who played the slapped card.

• The first player to slap the jack gets to keep the whole pile underneath, shuffling it into their hand and then beginning the new middle pile with one of their cards.

• The game ends when one player has all of the cards.

10. Trash

Objective: The objective of the game Trash is to be the first person to complete your set of cards in sequential order from ace to ten before your opponents.

What you need: Two players need a standard 52-card deck, and you add a deck of cards for each two additional players. You can play with or without jokers.

Players: 2 or more

How to play:

• Deal 10 cards facedown in front of each player, making two rows of five cards. Place the remaining deck of cards in the center for your draw pile.

• To start the game, one player draws a card from the draw pile and flips it over. If the card fits in one of the 10 spots (ace through ten, left to right), the player will swap that card for the facedown card in the appropriate spot. Jokers and kings are wild cards.

• For example, if you draw an ace, swap it with the facedown card in the top left-hand corner of your cards. Then, flip that card over to see if you can play that card somewhere in your rows.

• If you can’t play the newly flipped over card (such as a jack or a queen), or if you already have the matching card in a spot, place the card in the discard pile.

• Continue this way until you can no longer play the card you pick up. After your turn ends, discard your card. Then the next player goes.

• Gameplay continues until one player fills all 10 spots. At that point they say “Trash,” which ends the round. Then the other players get to draw one more card and try to fill all 10 of their spots.

• Players who complete their set of 10 remove one of the facedown cards in the next round so that they only need to fill 9 spots. This continues until one player is down to one starting spot. If that player wins, the game ends.

11. Egyptian Rat Screw

Objective: Win all of the cards before your opponents do.

What you need: A regular deck of cards

Players: 2 or more

How to play:

• Deal all of the cards in the deck one at a time facedown to each player. Some people may have more cards than others. Players should not look at their cards.

• The player to the left of the dealer flips over their top card and places it in the middle. Going clockwise, the players take turns doing the same until someone plays a face card or ace.

• The next player to go must play a face card or ace next.

• Depending on the type of face card, players have a different number of chances to play a face card or ace—aces get four chances, kings get three, queens get two, and jacks get one.

• If the player cannot play a face card, the previous player (who played the face card) wins the entire pile in the middle and adds it to their stack of facedown cards. The player who wins the pile starts the new pile by flipping over a card from their stack.

• Players can also win the pile by slapping it when a certain combination of cards is played. Players should agree on the combinations before they start to play. Combinations can include:

• Double cards (for example, two sevens)

• Sandwiches (matching cards with only one card between them)

• Marriages (when a queen and king are played consecutively)

• Four-card sequences

• Players may still play even if they run out of cards. They can win cards back by slapping combinations. Players who mistakenly slap the cards must add two cards to the bottom of the pile as a penalty.

• Whoever wins all the cards wins the game.

12. Go Fish

Objective: Collect the most groups of four matching cards to win.

What you need: A regular deck of cards

Players: 2 to 6

How to play:

• For groups of two, deal seven cards to each player. For groups of three or more, deal five cards to each. The rest of the cards are placed in the draw pile.

• To start, a player turns to another and asks if they have any cards matching one of the cards in their hand, such as, “Do you have any sevens?”

• If the opponent has that card, they will give as many as they have to the asking player. The asking player can then take another turn, asking any other opponent for a specific card.

• If the opponent doesn’t have the card, they say, “Go fish.”

• If a player gets four of a kind (same rank of card), they must immediately place them face up in front of them.

• When a player runs out of cards, they draw five cards from the draw pile.

• The game continues until no player has cards left over, and whoever has the most groups of matching cards wins.

13. Crazy Eights

Objective: Get rid of all your cards first to win the round and score the fewest points to win the game.

What you need: A regular deck of cards

Players: 2 or more

How to play:

• Deal five cards to each player to hold in their hand. Use the remaining cards as the draw pile, flipping up the top card next to the pile as your discard pile.

• The player to the dealer’s left starts by placing a card on the discard pile that matches the same rank or suit on that face-up card.

• For instance, if you see a seven of hearts on the pile, you can play a two of hearts card (or any hearts card) or any sevens card (regardless of suit).

• If you can’t play a card, you can draw up to three cards from the draw pile.

• If you draw a card you can play, you must play it. If you don’t, your turn ends.

• Eights are wild cards. When you put down an eight, you must specify a suit (such as spades), and the next player must play either that suit or an eight of any suit.

• Continue playing clockwise until one player runs out of cards. When this happens, everyone else must add their cards together and write down the score for that round.

• Aces = 1 point

• Face cards = 10 points

• Eights = 50 points

• All other cards = face value in points

• Play multiple rounds until a player reaches 100-plus points, and whoever has the lowest score wins.

14. Old Maid

Objective: Avoid being the last player holding the odd queen card.

What you need: A regular deck of cards with one queen removed from the deck

Players: 2 or more

How to play:

• Deal all 51 remaining cards to each player one at a time. The players can have a different number of cards.

• All players place each pair they can match from their card in front of them.

• To begin, a player holds out their cards facedown towards their opponent on the left. That player will take one card to see if they can make a pair with any cards from their own hand. If they can’t, the process repeats with the next player drawing from the player behind them.

• Play continues until all cards are matched and one player loses by being left with the odd queen.

15. 31

Objective: Get the value of the cards in your hand to be closest to 31 by the end of the round and be the last player standing at the end of the game.

What you need: A regular deck of cards

Players: 2 or more

How to play:

• Deal three cards to each player one at a time. Place the rest of the cards in the center as a draw pile and flip the top card face up to create a discard pile.

• The player to the left of the dealer begins by drawing a card from the draw pile or taking the face-up card in the discard pile. After drawing a card, the player will discard one of their cards to the face-up discard pile.

• Play continues this way with players trying to get close to 31 points in their hands.

• Aces count for 11 points, face cards count for 10, and everything else counts for face value.

• You can only add up cards of the same suit unless you have three of a kind (such as three sevens).

• If two players have a sequential hand (straight) of the same suit, the player with the highest-ranking card wins. For example, a hand with queen, king, ace will beat a hand with jack, queen, king.

• Players can “knock” or pass if they like their current hand (if it’s close to 31). Once a player knocks, the other players get only one more turn to draw a card.

• You can play using three lives (using tokens), so the player who has the lowest score (furthest from 31) loses a life for that round but continues playing the remaining two rounds.

16. Golf

Objective: Have the lowest total points at the end of nine rounds.

What you need: Two to four players need a standard deck of cards (including two jokers), more players will need a second deck of cards.

Players: 2 or more

How to play:

• Deal six cards facedown to each player, who should place them in two rows of three in front of them facedown. Place the remaining cards in the center, flipping one card face up as the discard pile.

• The first player flips up two of their cards (this is only on a player’s first turn of each round).

• With the goal of having the lowest number of points, the player can choose to switch any one of their cards with the face-up card from the discard pile or with a card taken from the top of the draw pile.

• If the player doesn’t want to use the card drawn from the draw pile, they may put it on the discard pile. If they do choose to keep that card, they must switch it with a face-up or facedown card from their hand and place that switched-out card on the discard pile.

• Play moves clockwise to the next player, who repeats the process.

• When a player has all of their cards flipped over, remaining players get one more turn to switch a card. After the last turn, they must flip up any cards still facedown and add up the score.

• Matching cards in a column equal zero points. A joker is negative two points, king is zero points, ace is one point, numbered cards are face value, and jack and queen are 10 points.

• The player with the lowest score at the end of nine rounds wins.

Three-plus player card games

If you’ve got a bigger group, these three-player card games will get you started in no time at all. Even beginners can get in on the action in these easy options for 3 to 13 players.

17. Bluff or BS

Objective: Get rid of all of your cards first.

What you need: A regular deck of cards

Players: 3 to 10 players

How to play:

• Deal the entire deck of cards out to each player.

• In this game, you can legally cheat by bluffing about what you play. Cards must be played in rank order, facedown in the middle, and you announce what you play. For example, the first player plays two cards and says, “Two aces.” The next player lays down three cards and says, “Three twos,” and so on.

• If you think someone is bluffing about what was played, you can call, “BS.”

• Then flip over the card to check. The player caught lying has to take all of the cards in the center of the playing area.

• If the original player told the truth, then the player who called the bluff must take all of the cards in the center.

• Play continues clockwise until one person gets rid of all their cards and wins the game.

18. Spoons

Objective: Similar to musical chairs (but with spoons), you don’t want to be the last player without a spoon.

What you need: A regular deck of cards and one less spoon than the number of players

Players: 3 to 10

How to play:

• Set spoons in the center of the table. Deal four cards one at a time to each player and place the rest of the deck next to the dealer.

• The dealer draws from the draw pile and then either swaps that card with an existing card in their hand or passes that card clockwise (facedown) to the next player. That player can then either switch that card with one in their hand or pass it to the next player. Players can pass cards as quickly as they want, but players can only look at one card at a time.

• Each player wants to get four of a kind so they can grab a spoon first. Once one player grabs a spoon, the rest of the players must grab spoons. One player will be left without a spoon at the end of the round.

• The player without the spoon in the first round gets the letter “S” on their score sheet. This continues round to round until one player has the entire word “SPOONS,” at which point they are eliminated. The last player left wins the game.

19. Play or Pay

Objective: Get rid of your cards first to win the game.

What you need: A regular deck of cards (without jokers), plus 15 tokens per player

Players: 3 or more

How to play:

• Deal the same number of cards to each player (it doesn’t matter how many) and each player keeps their tokens in front of them.

• The first player plays a card of a certain suit, let’s say the three of hearts. The next player can either play the next card in sequence (in this case, the four of hearts) on top of that stack or they can begin a new suit stack (such as the five of spades).

• Players continue by either playing onto the already existing suit stacks, or starting their own up to a total of four (spades, diamonds, hearts, and clubs).

• As the game progresses, if a player can’t play onto the stacks, they will throw a token into the pot.

• The first player to get rid of their cards wins the pot.

Four-Player Card Games

Unlike trick-taking games where you need to learn strategy, these games are easy to pick up and play. With simple instructions and rules, below we cover card games that work with four to eight players.

20. My Ship Sails

Objective: Get seven cards of the same suit in your hand before your opponents.

What you need: A regular deck of cards

Players: 4 to 7

How to play:

• Deal seven cards one at a time to each player. Set the remaining cards aside as you will not need them.

• To start the game, all of the players place a card from their hand facedown into the center at the same time. Each player then takes the facedown card to their right into their hand.

• This process repeats until one player gets seven cards of the same suit in their hand, at which point they will announce, “My ship sails,” and put all of their cards face up on the table. If two players complete their hand at the same time, the player with the highest card in their hand wins.

21. Snip, Snap, Snorem

Objective: Get rid of your cards and win the tokens in the middle before your opponents.

What you need: A regular deck of cards and tokens

Players: 4 to 8

How to play:

• Deal cards to each player one at a time until no cards remain in the deck. Some players may have more cards than others.

• The first player chooses a card from their hand to play into the middle, which leads the rank. The next players must play a matching card in rank (for example, a five of spades onto a five of clubs) or they can pass.

• The number of matching cards played in the middle determines how many tokens a player must give up—depending on if they get snipped, snapped, or snored.

• For example, if the first player leads with a four of clubs, and the second player plays a matching rank card, such as the four of spades, the first player is “snipped” and has to place one token in the middle.

• If the third player plays a four of diamonds next, the second player is “snapped” and has to place two tokens in the middle.

• If the fourth player plays a four of hearts next, the third player is “snored” and has to place three tokens in the middle. The player of the fourth card of a rank gets to play a new card to the middle to lead the rank for the next round.

• If players pass during a round, the player before them stays safe from getting snipped, snapped, or snored.

• Play continues until a player gets rid of all their cards to end the round. At the end of the round, players must pay a token to the middle for each card left in their hand. The player with no cards collects all the chips in the middle.

From the classic card games to some you may not have heard of, now you’ve got all the rules in one place. If you’re looking for online card games, come visit us at Solitaired, where you can play over 500 fun games for free.