Crazy Eights
What you'll need
A standard deck of cards (no Jokers)
For
Two to five players can play with one deck (add a second deck for more players)
How to play the game
Deal five cards to each player. If there are only two players, deal seven cards to each player.
Place the remaining cards facedown in the center of the table. Turn the top card face-up next to the stack.
The player to the dealer's left will then play a card that matches either the rank or suit of the face-up card. For example, if the face-up card is four of hearts, then the player can play any four or any heart. If a player cannot play on the face-up card, then he draws facedown cards from the pile until he finds a playable card. Whenever the stockpile runs out, the top card is removed from the face-up pile and the cards are reshuffled.
All eights are wild and players can use them when they don't have another card to play or at other strategic times. The person who plays the eight calls out what suit they want it to represent and the next player must play a card of that suit.
The first player who runs out of cards wins the game.
Go Fish
What you'll need
A standard deck of cards (no Jokers)
For
Two to six players
How to play the game
If there are three or more players,each player is dealt five cards.
If there are only two players, deal seven cards to each player. The remaining cards are placed in a pile between the players.
Starting with the player to the left of the dealer, each person takes a turn asking another player if they have a certain rank of card For example, a player can ask the other person if he/she has any sevens. If the person asked has that, then he must hand over all the cards of that rank. The asker then gets to take another turn.
If a player has no cards of the requested rank, he needs to say "Go fish" and the asker will draw a card from the pile. If he happens to draw the card he was requesting for, the asker shows the card to the group as proof and takes another turn.
Players have to try forming sets of four-of-a-kind. When they do, the four cards need to be placed immediately on the table face up.
Play continues until all sets have been made. The player who makes the most sets wins.
Old Maid
What you'll need
A standard deck of cards (with a single Joker)
For
Two to eight players
How to play the game
Shuffle, and deal all the cards. Players sort through their cards and make as many pairs as possible. Then place these pairs face-up on the table for the other players to see.
Starting with the dealer, each player then takes a turn fanning out their hands so that the player to their left can draw a card. The player must not be allowed to see the player's hand from which they are drawing.
The game continues till all pairs are made and laid out on the table.
The player left holding the unmatched card, the Old Maid, loses.
Concentration
What you'll need
A standard deck of cards (no jokers)
For
Two players
How to play the game
Make sure the deck is well shuffled before laying out the cards, facedown, in four rows of 13 cards.
Each player takes turns flipping two cards face-up — if they are of the same number and color, then that player wins the pair and gets another turn. If the cards are not of the same number and color, they are turned back facedown and it becomes the next player's turn to pick two cards.
The game continues until players have picked up all the pairs.
The winner is the player with the most pairs.
It's War
What you'll need
A standard deck of cards (with or without Jokers)
For
Two players
How to play the game
Each player starts with half of the shuffled deck. Players may not look at the cards in their hands.
Each player pulls one card from the deck and puts it on the table. The higher card wins; the player who played it takes both cards and places them on the bottom of his stack.
Aces are always higher than Kings in this game, but they are lower than Jokers (if used).
A war occurs when the two players play the same rank (two 4s, for example), making a tie. Each player then deals three cards facedown and a face-up card. The player with the higher face-up card takes all the cards into his stack.
The player who accumulates all the cards wins the game.
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