For thinkers
The deepest games on the site: bidding, counting and card-reading that reward years of play. Expect to lose a few evenings before it clicks.
- #1 Bridge The king of partnership games – bid what you and your partner can make, then bring it home with half your cards on the table. Bidding as a precise language, then declarer play with half your cards on the table – a lifetime of study.
- #2 Skat Germany's national card game – bid for the right to play alone against the other two and bring home 61 points. Bid your hand's value, choose the game, then count every card: few games reward memory this richly.
- #3 Doppelkopf Germany's favourite four-player game – two against two, but nobody knows who is on which side until the Queens of Clubs show up. Hidden teams, a strange trump order and announcements that raise the stakes – deduction in every trick.
- #4 Ulti Hungary's national game – rob the two spare cards, outbid your friends and win the last trick with the humble 7 of trumps. A menu of contracts you can combine in one bid – Hungary's national game is a heavyweight for three.
- #5 Piquet The grand old game for two – swap cards from the stock, outdeclare your rival and chase the 60-point repique. Every discard shapes both declarations and tricks – two players and little luck to hide behind.
- #6 Preference (Preferans) Bid for tricks, take the widow and watch your pool grow while the mountain stays low – Russia's great game for three. Long pool scoring and exact contracts make every bid a calculated risk over a whole evening.
- #7 Cribbage Count to fifteen, peg your way round the board and race your opponent to 121 – with an extra hand, the crib, for the dealer. Each discard to the crib is a small optimisation puzzle, and pegging rewards counting ahead.
- #8 Guandan Two decks, four jokers and a wild Heart – team up, climb the levels from 2 to Ace and smash your bombs on the table. Partnership climbing across two decks: hand-splitting, bombs and levels make it a real team puzzle.
- #9 Coinche (Belote contrée) Belote with an auction – bid how many points your team will make, and dare the opponents with a "coinche". Belote with an auction: bid your team's points and dare the other side to "coinche" you.
- #10 Tressette No trumps, no bidding – just 3s over 2s over Aces, a partner who knocks on the table, and the race to 21. No trumps and no bidding – just pure card play, memory and a partner who knocks on the table.