Card Games Beginning With ‘S’

The tradition of playing card games can be traced back to the tenth century, and likely beyond. These cards can hold the secret to hours of fun, strategy, and challenge. Some popular card games beginning with ‘S’ include Spades, Solitaire, Spit, and Snap‒and these are just a few of the options available.

Whether you want to learn more about the classic Spades card game or are wondering who invented the Solitaire card game, read on for insight into some of the best playing card games beginning with ‘S.’

Spades

The history of the card game Spades dates back to around the 1930s. The game was a popular challenge among students in the United States. During World War II, Spades became a common game for soldiers to play in their downtime, and this may be the reason the game gained popularity in Europe during the 1940s.

The basic premise is simple: win points by successfully bidding on the number of tricks won in each hand. Before each round starts, players place a bid on the number of tricks they expect to win‒if they are right, they get ten points and extra points are added or deducted for over or underbidding. When one team reaches 500 points, they win the game.

Solitaire

Solitaire is a popular, single-player game with the goal to complete four foundation piles of cards in descending order from King to Ace, rotating between black and red cards. The cards are laid out into seven piles, with the pile on the very left having one card, and the number of cards in each pile increasing across the row until the pile on the very right has seven cards. Players turn over one card at a time and attempt to create sequences of numbers.

When a King is played, it moves to one of four ‘foundation spaces,’ and the goal is to build the sequence in each suit by unblocking cards, and building a pile from King to Ace. Solitaire was thought to have started as a divination tool in the Baltics during the eighteenth century; fortune tellers would use the cards to determine whether the player in question would get their heart’s desire.

Spit

Another US invention, Spit is fairly simple but plenty of fun! The goal is to get rid of as many of the cards in your hand as possible. The deck is split in two, and each player divides their hand into five piles, with the top card of each face up. The game starts with players saying “Spit,” and each player takes their top card and places it into the center to form two spit piles.

Players then try to add to this pile by placing their cards in sequential order‒this can be one rank higher or lower than the previous card. When one pile is empty, it can be replaced with the top card from another pile. Once one player has got rid of all their cards, they win!

Snap

Finally, Snap is a simple game that can be played by the whole family. The goal is to find two cards that match, and call “Snap!” before the other player! Snaps can be cards of the same suit or number, depending on the rules of the game.

The Takeaway

There we have it‒a very brief overview of four popular card games beginning with ‘S.’ Why not give one of them a go and challenge yourself to a whole new playing card experience? You can play Spades for free online at Spades.co!