Card games have been a cornerstone of entertainment for centuries.
While digital games have soared in popularity, there’s still something uniquely satisfying about shuffling a deck of cards and gathering around a table with friends or family for a good old-fashioned card game.
Here is our list of some of the best traditional card games.
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Solitaire
The classic version of Solitaire, which is also known as “Klondike”, is played with a standard 52-card deck.
The objective is to move all the cards onto four foundation piles, sorted by suit in ascending order, starting with the Aces.
The setup involves dealing 28 cards into seven columns, with the first column containing one card and each subsequent column an additional card. Only the top card in each column is face up.
Players then alternate between drawing cards from the remaining deck and moving cards from the columns to the foundations or onto other columns in descending order and alternating colors.
Rummy
Rummy is a traditional card game which has long been a favorite across age groups.
At its core, the game is about forming sets or runs of cards. A “run” comprises consecutive cards of the same suit, while a “set” consists of three or four cards of the same rank. The game starts with the distribution of a certain number of cards to each player, and the rest form the stockpile.
Players take turns drawing and discarding cards, all the while attempting to meld their cards into valid sets or runs. The first player to do so wins the game.
Crazy Eights
At its core, Crazy Eights is a shedding game, where the objective is to be the first to discard all your cards.
The game begins with each player receiving an initial hand, traditionally eight cards.
The remaining cards form the draw pile. The top card is flipped to start the discard pile. Players, in turns, match the discard pile’s top card by number or suit. If unable to play a card, they draw from the pile. The ‘eight’ cards serve as wild cards, allowing players to change the current suit.
The first to discard all cards wins the round!
Go Fish
Go Fish operates with a simple goal: to collect the most sets of four cards of the same rank.
Generally played with a standard 52-card deck, each player starts with a hand of seven cards (or five if playing with four or more players).
In turns, players ask others for cards of a specific rank to form pairs or sets. If the player has the asked card, they hand it over; if not, they say “Go Fish,” prompting the asker to draw a card from the stockpile.
The round continues until all sets are formed or the stockpile is exhausted, with the player holding the most sets wins the game.