Who Wants to Play Cards? A Brief Card Game Discussion

Does anyone else still play cards?

No, not that game of Solitaire you have on your phone. I’m talking actual physical cards, all 52 of them.

On our date nights in, my husband and I often pull out a deck of cards and our Cribbage board. We can spend anywhere from fifteen minutes to hours playing Cribbage. The conversation flows from discussing our cards to remembering previous games we’ve played, to just catching up. It’s quality, technology-free time together.

Like me, my husband grew up playing cards. While my family loves Cribbage, his family is heavily invested in the art of Sheepshead. From the moment we started dating, it was a topic of conversation. It’s a way to draw people to the table, to draw out the discussion. Honestly, Sheepshead is not the game for me, but there are many other card games to check out.

Here are some of the basics on my favorite card games:

• Hearts: Good for three or more players. The goal of this game is to have the lowest score at the end, which is dependent on the cards you have. Hearts and queens result in points.
• Kings Corner: Good for two to four players. The first player to use their cards up wins. This game has rules similar to solitaire.
• Royal Rummy (aka Michigan Rummy or Tripoly): Good for three to six players. Royal Rummy is a great game to play with poker chips (or coins). The goal is to have and play cards to win chips from around the game board. Not all cards may be played in a round, which can result in the chips/winnings growing over several rounds.
• Cribbage: Good for two to four players. (With four, there are partners). There is an element of luck to this game as the cards in your hard can directly impact your counting score (pairs, runs, cards totaling 15, etc.). There is also an element of skill, knowing which cards have been played, holding some cards back until the end of a round, etc. Points lead you around the cribbage board, and the first one to point around the board twice, wins.

While my children are too young to play my favorite card games, I look forward to passing down the tradition of playing cards to them as they grow up. Until then, it’s Go Fish and 52 Pick UP.

What’s your favorite card game?