If you’re planning a family game night and have played all of your board games 95 times while staying at home during quarantine, try some card games. One of the great things about a standard card deck is that you can play tons of great card games with a single 52-card deck. Games like Uno or decks made to play classic card games like Old Maid are fun, but sometimes you just want to switch things up without having to put one game away before you can set up the next one.

Regardless of the number of players, you’ll be able to find a fun game for the whole family and kids of all ages. Or, if you’re looking for something to keep the kids busy, you can find kid-friendly games they can play on their own once you get them started. Either way, we’ve got some classic card games for you to consider.

SNACK ALERT: Before you get too deep into a War tournament, make sure you have all of the great snacks and drinks to make it an epic session.

And now, check out 5 easy card games for the kids and the whole family.

Go Fish!

Number of players: 2+

Ages: 4+

How to play: 

Choose the first dealer. This can be decided by having each player draw a card from the deck and show the other players. The player who draws the highest card deals first.

If there are only two players, deal 7 cards to each player.

If there are 3 or more players, deal 5 cards to each player.

Place the remaining cards face down in the middle of the table.

It helps to arrange your cards into groups of the same number (Aces, 2s, 3s, 4s, etc.) and face cards (Jack, Queen, King).

The person to the left of the dealer takes the first turn.

On their turn, each player asks any other player if they have a specific card number or face card. For example, “Do you have any Kings?” To ask for a card number or face card, the player must already have some of those in their hand.

If the player asked has any of the requested number or face cards, they must give all of those to the player who asked.

If the player is successful and receives one or more cards, they get another turn.

When the player asked does not have any of the requested number or face card, they say, “Go fish.”

Then the requesting player draws the top card from the pile in the middle of the table. If the player draws a card matching the number or face card they requested, they show the other players and then take another turn. Otherwise, the player who drew their card places it in their hand and the next player takes their turn.

When a player collects a complete set of four cards in any number or face card, they show the other players and place the set of four cards face down in front of them.

The game continues until either the draw pile runs out or a player has no cards left.

The player with the most sets of four wins. Alternate versions allow for sets of two to count as a match, making the game more exciting for younger kids as well as keeping the game moving.

Crazy Eights

Number of players: 2-4

Ages: 5+

How to play:

Deal each player 7 cards. Place the rest of the cards face down in the middle of the table. That is the draw pile.

Turn the top card of the draw pile face-up and start the discard pile beside the draw pile.

Eights are the wild card and can be played on any card on top of the discard pile.

The first player (to the dealer’s left) lays down a card on the face-up pile that either matches the face value or suit of the top card. And then it is the next player’s turn.

Players who have to draw cards must continue doing so until they draw a card that can be played on the discard pile. Once the draw pile is gone, players who cannot play a card must pass their turn.

When playing an 8, that player decides which suit will be in play. The next player plays either another 8 or a card matching the suit that was called.

The first player to discard all their cards wins.

Rummy

Number of players: 2-6

Ages: 7+

How to play:

The dealer shuffles the deck and deals cards one at a time to each player. The number of cards dealt to each player depends on the number of players:

• 2 players: 10 cards each

• 3 or 4 players: 7 cards each

• 5 or 6 players: 6 cards each

After dealing, place the remaining cards face down in the middle of the table as the stockpile.

Turn the top card face up and place it beside the stockpile. This begins the discard pile.

Each player should sort and group the matching cards in their hand into melds: sets of 3 or 4 of a kind or a run of three or more cards in order and of the same suit. For example, the 7, 8 and 9 of diamonds. Players should not be able to see each other’s cards.

The player to the left of the dealer takes the first turn, taking either the top card from the discard pile or the stockpile.

If the player has any melds, they can lay them down face up so that all of the players can see them. The player then discards a card face up on the discard pile.

Once any melds have been laid down, players can also add matching cards they have or draw from the stockpile.

The first player to get rid of their cards wins the round. The player to the dealer’s left becomes the dealer for the next round. The first person to win five rounds wins the game.

War

Number of players: 2-4

Ages: 5+

How to play:

Deal the entire deck of 52 cards out among the players. Players do not look at their cards. The cards remain face down in a pile in front of the player.

Aces are high and 2s are low.

Players flip one card face up in front of them at the same time. Whoever has the highest card takes both cards and places them at the bottom of their face-down pile.

The object is to win all of the cards.

If each player flips a card of the same rank, then a war must break the tie. Each player will flip another card face up beside the previous face-up card. The player with the highest card wins all four cards played. In the event of another tie, the same process is repeated until one player wins the war. If one player runs out of cards during the tie-breaker war, the other player wins.

Memory

Number of players: 2+

Ages: 3+

How to play:

The object of the game is to find as many matching pairs as possible.

Shuffle the deck of cards and arrange the cards face down into a grid of rows and columns.

Players take turns flipping two cards face up. If the cards do not match number or character, the cards are flipped back over so they are face down. The next player takes their turn.

When a match is found, the player removes those two cards from play and creates a pile in front of them. Then the player goes again until they do not find a match and the next player takes their turn.

This continues until all matches are found and the player with the most matches wins.

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