Easy Card Games to Learn Quickly

Some of the easiest card games to learn are Go Fish, Crazy Eights, and War, but these simple games have a deep history. Card games have been around for centuries, and they’re believed to have originated in China, where paper was invented.

Eventually, the standard deck of fifty-two cards was established, and today, people across the world love to play hundreds of complex games. If you’re looking to work your way up to more complex games like Spades, here are some fun games you can learn quickly:

Go Fish

Each player is dealt seven cards. The remaining cards form the ‘pond.’

The player to the left of the dealer starts. They choose any player and ask them for a specific card number. For example, one player might look at another and say “Give me all your threes.” The player whose turn it is can only ask for a card number they only have some amount of, however. So, in this example, the active player must already have at least one three in their hand.

If the player asked has any cards of the number, they give it to the active player. If they don’t, they tell the asker to “go fish,” and the active player draws a card from the pond.

When a player has all four of a card, they put them on the table in front of them. The game continues until all sets are collected, and the player with the most sets wins.

Crazy Eights

Each player is dealt five cards. The remaining cards form a draw pile, and the top card is turned over next to it to start the discard pile.

The player to the dealer’s left goes first. They place a card from their hand on the discard pile that matches the suite or rank of the top card of the discard pile. For example, if a five of clubs is showing, a player may discard any club card or any five card.

If a player can’t play a card, they draw cards from the deck until they draw a card they can play. If a player draws three cards and still can’t add a card to the discard pile, their turn is over.

Eights are wild and can be played on any card. When a player plays an eight, they choose a new suit for the discard pile. Play continues clockwise until a player runs out of cards in their hand.

If you want to play a longer version of this game, you can score each round. Scoring is done by adding up the points in the remaining players hands. Aces are worth one point, number cards are worth their number value, face cards are worth ten points, and eights are worth fifty points. This way, players can play until one of them reaches one hundred points, or another predetermined number, and the player with the fewest points wins.

War

First, the entire deck is dealt equally among the players. Players don’t look at their hands–they keep them face down on the table in front of them.

Each player flips the top card of their hand face up in the middle of the table. The highest value card wins, and the player who revealed that card takes all revealed cards and puts them on the bottom of their hand. Aces are high.

If two or more players reveal cards of the same value, they ‘go to war.’ Each player in the war places the top three cards of their hand face down in the middle of the table, then they reveal the fourth card. The highest value card wins the pile of cards. If one or more of the revealed cards have the same value, the players go to war again.

The game ends when one player has collected every card in the deck.

Easy to Learn, Easy to Enjoy

Card games offer endless fun and entertaining ways to sharpen your mind. Whether you’re a beginner looking to pass the time or an experienced player seeking out new challenges, the world of card games has something to offer.

When you know how to play the above three games, a simple pack of fifty-two cards can provide hours of enjoyment for all ages, but if you’re interested in testing your abilities further, check out our post on strategy card games for adults.