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Games for two
Card games that work with two players.
- Mau-Mau Match suit or rank, dodge the sevens and be the first to shout "Mau-Mau!"
- Crazy Eights Match suit or rank, play an 8 to change the suit – and make the others pay for every card they're stuck with.
- Kings in the Corner Solitaire for the whole table – build down in alternating colours, put Kings in the corners and empty your hand first.
- Cambio Remember your hidden cards, swap away the high ones and call "Cambio!" when you think your total is lowest.
- Gin Rummy Build sets and runs, keep your leftover points low and knock before your opponent does.
- Golf Six hidden cards, nine holes – pair up your columns and play the lowest round of the day.
- Casino Capture cards by pairing and adding, build clever combinations and snatch the Big Casino before your opponent does.
- Zwicker Schleswig-Holstein's wild casino cousin – capture by addition and subtraction, tame high-value jokers, and sweep the table for a zwick.
- Bezique Win tricks, lay out marriages and sequences, and hunt for the Queen of Spades and Jack of Diamonds – twice, for a 500-point double bezique.
- Schnapsen Austria's duel for two – race to 66, announce your marriages and know when to close the stock.
- Sixty-Six Swap in the trump 9, marry King and Queen, close the stock and call "out" at 66 – the German parent of Schnapsen.
- Palace Play equal or higher, burn the pile with a 10 and flip your blind cards at the end – and make sure you're not the Palace's last guest.
- Tiến lên Vietnam's favourite card game – beat every play with something higher, and chop the mighty 2s with a bomb.
- Bura Lead up to three cards at once, keep count in your head and stop the game the moment you reach 31 – a fast Russian gambling game.
- Schwimmen (31) Swap with the middle, collect 31 in one suit and knock at the right moment – lose your last life and you have to swim.
- Durak Russia's favourite card game – attack, fight off, throw in more cards, and whatever you do, don't be the last one holding cards.
- Officers' Skat (Offiziersskat) Skat for two – half your cards lie face up, half face down, and every trick reveals something new.
- Rummy (Rommé) Germany's family-table rummy – collect sets and runs, open with 40 points and be the first to get rid of every card.
- Honeymoon Bridge Bridge for just two – draw your hand card by card, keep one and throw one away, then bid and play without a partner.
- 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.
- Big Two Play singles, pairs and poker hands, beat every play with something higher and go out first – where the humble 2 rules.
- Orbit untested Win together or fail together – everyone has a tricky task, and nobody may say a word about their cards.
- Regicide Storm the castle together and defeat twelve corrupted Jacks, Queens and Kings – with nothing but a deck of cards and each suit's power.
- Nova untested Launch a firework show together – you can see everybody's cards except your own.
- Unisono untested Play all your cards in perfect order – without a single word, just by feeling the rhythm of the table.
- Paternoster Two piles go up, two go down, and the whole team must squeeze all 104 cards onto them – without ever saying what you hold.
- Paternoster Duel untested Red against black – each of you builds one pile up and one down, and slips the odd card onto the other's piles. Whoever gets stuck first loses.
- Truco Argentina's loud and lively bluffing game – three cards, three tricks, and a partner winking at you across the table as you shout "Truco!"
- Knockout Whist Seven cards, then six, then five – take at least one trick each hand or you're knocked out.
- German Whist Whist for two – win the card on the stock in the first half, then outplay an opponent whose hand you can work out exactly.
- Hokm The Persian game of command – the Hakem picks trumps after five cards, and the first team to seven tricks takes the hand.
- Piquet The grand old game for two – swap cards from the stock, outdeclare your rival and chase the 60-point repique.
- Écarté The quick French duel of five cards – keep your hand or propose an exchange, and turn up the King for a free point.
- Klaberjass The two-hander where the Jack and Nine of trumps rule – take trumps if you dare, but fall short and your opponent scores everything.
- Gaigel Swabia's pub game with a double deck – race your partner to 101, open with a hidden Ace and call "Aus!" at exactly the right moment.
- Briscola No need to follow suit – just collect the Aces and 3s and reach 61 of the 120 points in Italy's liveliest trick game.
- Forty-Fives Ireland's crazy card order – the 5 of trumps beats everything, the Ace of Hearts is always a trump, and red cards rank high, black ones low.
- Agurk The Nordic "cucumber" game – beat the card on the table or give up your lowest, and don't be the one left holding the high card at the end.
- All Fours (Seven Up) The 350-year-old ancestor of Pitch and Pedro – beg for a new trump, then fight for High, Low, Jack and Game.
- Setback Bid how many of High, Low, Jack and Game your team can take, pitch the first card to set trumps – and get set back if you fall short.
- Rummy The classic draw-and-discard game – collect sets and runs, lay them down and be the first to empty your hand.
- Continental Fifteen cards, runs only, and no melding along the way – lay down your whole hand in one go and collect from everyone.
- Canasta Uruguay's gift to the world – build seven-card canastas with your partner, freeze the pile, take it at the right moment and reach 5000.
- Hand and Foot Canasta with two hands each – play out your hand, pick up your foot and fill the table with seven-card books over four rounds.
- Samba Canasta with three decks and runs – draw two cards a turn, build seven-card sambas and take your partnership to 10,000.
- Indian Rummy India's 13-card rummy – build a pure sequence, use the cut joker as a wild card and declare before the others can.
- Rummy 500 Every card you lay down scores – dig deep into the discard pile for the one you need, and be first to 500.
- Kalooki Open with 40 points, build on everyone's melds and stay under 150 – or lay down all 13 cards at once for a kalookie.
- Tonk Five cards, fast hands – lay down spreads, hit everyone's melds and drop when you think your hand is lowest.
- Burraco Canasta's Italian cousin – meld runs and sets, pick up your pozzetto as a second hand and close with a clean burraco.
- Conquian The Mexican grandfather of rummy – 40 cards, no hand-keeping from the pile, and the first to meld eleven cards wins.
- Chinchón Spain's seven-card rummy – match your hand, close before the others and dream of the seven-card run that wins the whole game.
- Panguingue The old gambling rummy of the American West – eight decks, melds that pay chips on the spot, and eleven cards down to win.
- Five-Card Stud The original stud poker – one card hidden, four for all to see, and a bet after every card.
- Texas Hold'em (No Limit) Two secret cards, five shared ones and a pile of chips – bet it all when you dare and make the best five-card hand of seven.
- Five-Card Draw Five secret cards, one chance to swap – the poker everyone learns first, all about nerve and reading your opponents.
- Seven-Card Stud Three cards hidden, four for all to see – five betting rounds in which you read the table card by card.
- Omaha (Pot Limit) Hold'em with four hole cards – use exactly two of them, bet up to the size of the pot, and watch the monster hands collide.
- Chinese Poker Thirteen cards, three poker hands, no betting – sort your cards cleverly and beat every opponent row by row.
- Short Deck Hold'em Hold'em without the 2s to 5s – big hands every deal, a flush that beats a full house, and antes that make every pot worth a fight.
- Razz Seven-Card Stud turned upside down – the lowest hand wins, Aces are small and the dream hand is 5-4-3-2-A.
- 2-7 Triple Draw Three chances to swap your way down to the lowest hand – where Aces are high, straights hurt and 7-5-4-3-2 is perfection.
- Badugi Four cards, three draws, and the lowest hand wins – but only cards of four different suits and ranks count.
- Indian Poker Hold your card to your forehead – everyone sees it except you. Read their faces and bet on a card you can't see.
- Chicago (Chicago Poker) Sweden’s favourite pub game – trade cards for the best poker hand, play for the all-important last trick, or boldly call "Chicago!" for the sweep.
- Pişti Match the top card or slap down a Jack to take the whole pile – and snap up a lone card for a 10-point pişti.
- Scopa Sweep the table clean – capture by matching and adding, and fight for the precious 7♦, the settebello.
- Escoba Spain's adding game – play a card that makes 15 with the table, sweep it clean for an escoba and grab the 7♦.
- Cuarenta Ecuador's loud and cheeky national game – snap a match onto your opponent's card for a caída, sweep the table and race to 40.
- Ninety-Nine Add up the pile, call out the total – and don't be the one who can't keep it under 99.
- War Flip your top card – the higher one takes both, and when two cards match, it's war!
- Beggar-My-Neighbour Turn up an Ace or a face card and your neighbour has to pay – with luck, you'll beggar them of every card.
- Blackjack (Twenty-One) Get closer to 21 than the dealer without going over – hit, or stand?
- Old Maid Pair up your cards, draw blind from your neighbour – and pray you're not the one left holding the odd Queen.
- Go Fish "Got any sevens?" – ask the others for cards, collect all four of a rank, and when they say "Go fish!", try your luck in the pond.
- Speed No turns, no waiting – slap your cards onto the centre one higher or one lower, faster than your opponent.
- Russian Bank Patience for two – race your rival to the empty table, share the foundations and load your spare cards onto their piles.
- Concentration (Memory) All cards face down, two turned up at a time – remember where everything is and collect the most pairs.
- Snap Turn your cards one by one – and when two match, shout "Snap!" faster than anyone else.
- Slapjack Cards go down one by one – when a Jack appears, slap it first and the whole pile is yours.
- Egyptian Ratscrew Beggar-My-Neighbour with a slap – spot a double or a sandwich first and the whole pile is yours.
- Goofspiel (GOPS) Both players hold the same thirteen cards – outguess your opponent and win the diamonds with a bid just one higher.
- Cuttle Race to 21 points while your opponent blows up, steals and scuttles your cards – every card is a weapon.
- Spite and Malice Build up from Ace to Queen, clear your pay-off pile first – and never feed your opponent the card they need.
- Nertz Everyone plays their own patience at once – onto the same foundations. Empty your Nertz pile and shout "Nertz!"
- Busfahrer (Ride the Bus) Red or black, higher or lower – guess right, survive the pyramid, or you're the one who has to drive the bus.
- In-Between (Acey-Deucey) Two cards face up – will the third land in between? Bet as much of the pot as you dare.
- Baccarat (Punto Banco) Bet on Player or Banker – whose two or three cards come closest to 9?
- Faro Bet on a rank and let each pair of cards from the box decide – the banking game of the Wild West's saloons.
- Secret Letter untested Sixteen cards, one card in your hand – guess, peek and duel your way to the end of the round, and never let go of the letter.
- Intrigue untested Two hidden cards, a handful of coins and a straight face – claim any role you like, but if someone calls your bluff, it costs you dearly.
- Liar's Post untested Slide a card across the table, tell everyone what it is – and hope they don't believe you, or that they do.
- Sixth Card untested Everybody plays at once, the cards line up by themselves – and whoever lays the sixth card in a row swallows the other five.
- Woodland Tricks untested A trick-taking duel with special cards and a twist – win a few tricks or most of them, but never too many.
- Expeditions untested Four expeditions, one question – is it worth starting? Every venture costs 20 points before it earns a single one.
- Border Stones untested Nine stones between you and your rival – build the better three-card hand at each one, and win five of them, or three in a row.
- Ten Phases untested Ten tasks, one after another – collect sets, runs and suits, wave your wild Kings and make your rivals skip a turn.
- On the Scale untested Somewhere between freezing and boiling sits a cup of tea – but where exactly? Read your friend's mind and find the spot.
- Scoundrel for Two untested Two heroes, one dungeon, 52 cards – share weapons and potions, and get out alive together.
- Team Klondike untested One Klondike layout, two or three secret hands and no talking – sort the whole deck together before time runs out.
- Defuse! untested One of you knows the code, the rest hold the pliers – and the expert may not say a single word.
- Island Escape untested The island is sinking under your feet – grab the four treasures and run for the helicopter.
- Cell Mates untested One of you may only move red cards, the other only black ones – solve a FreeCell deal together without saying a word.
- Summit Rush untested TriPeaks for two, both at once – grab, shout and clear all three peaks before the sand runs out.
- Number Crunchers untested Calculation for two: count up in ones, twos, threes and fours on shared foundations – but each of you fills only your own waste piles, in silence.
- Square Deal untested One five-by-five grid, two secret hands of three – build ten poker hands together without a word and beat the target.
- Rope Team untested Two climbers on one rope – win tricks to pull the rope your way and uncover the ridge, but pull too hard and you both fall.
- Common Cause untested Rummy for two against the stock – every meld needs cards from both of you, and you may not say which ones you hold.
- Undercover untested Klondike for two in which each of you peeks under different face-down cards – and may only hint at what lies there.
- Cross Sums untested Choose cards together, reassign targets and build your way through fifty number puzzles.
- Pot Luck untested Everyone brings a card to the pot – land three shared pots on exactly 21 as a team, never on your own card and without a word.
- Euler's Officers untested A 300-year-old card puzzle for a silent team – square the 16 officers so that no row or column repeats a rank or a suit.
- Mind the Gap untested Build a pyramid in which every card is the difference of the two below it – from secret hands, without a word, up to the target at the top.
- Spot On untested Plus, minus, times or divided by – one card each in turn, until the total lands exactly on a target from 100 to 999. Five times, without a word.
- Balancing Act untested Two pans, one shaky scale and not a word about your cards – add weights in turn and bring the scale to rest with the last card of every round.
- Final Approach untested Land an airliner together without a word – level the wings, set the speed and clear the traffic with four secret cards a round.
- Marriage Nepal's festival rummy with three decks and 21 cards – lay down three pure melds to see the hidden joker, then finish with wild cards.
- Hand Rummy A rummy hit from Jordan to the Gulf – open with 51 points, win wild Aces back from the table, or meld all 14 cards at once for a "hand".
- Andar Bahar One card in the middle, two piles growing beside it – bet on inside or outside and watch where its twin turns up.
- Seka Three cards, count one suit as in 31, bet until only two are left – and hope the Seven of Clubs is in your hand.
- Blef Is there a full house somewhere among everyone's cards? Bid higher or call the bluff – and every mistake costs you another card.
- Ellibir (51) Turkey's two-deck rummy – open with 51 points or with five pairs, lay off everywhere and go out to score minus 100.
- Koum Kan Greece's family rummy – ten cards, two decks, jokers you can steal back, and a second life when you go over 100.
- Pinnacola Italy's other two-deck rummy – take any card from the open row of discards, swap out jokers and hunt for the full suit from Ace to Ace.
- Pife (Pif-Paf, Cacheta) Brazil's quick rummy – nine cards, two decks, and all your sets stay hidden until you slam them down at once.
- Burro Follow suit or dig through the stock until you can – everyone races to empty their hand, and the last one holding cards is the donkey.
- Dummy (Thai Rummy) Thailand's rummy – dig into the discard pile for the head card, guard the 50-point Queen of Spades and 2 of Clubs, and knock to finish.
- Pok Deng Thailand's two-card banking game – show a Pok 8 or 9 at once, take a third card or stand, and hope for a flush that pays double.
- Phỏm (Tá lả) North Vietnam's rummy – snap up your neighbour's discard, meld in four quick rounds and keep your leftover points lower than everyone else's.
- Wippen A first card game for children from Belgium – match a card from the pot, empty it for a wip and hunt the 10♦ and the spades.
- Paskahousu The popular Finnish beating game – play equal or higher, clear the pile with a 10 or an Ace, save your 2s and don't be the last one holding cards.
- Katko (Last Trick) Four or five cards, no trumps and only one trick that matters – the last one. A quick Finnish game for learning tricks.
- Bohemian Schneider A first trick-taking game for two – each card can be beaten by just one other, so remember what has gone and grab the Aces and Kings.
- Chratze Swiss four-card game for a pot – promise two tricks, or just one, or bow out, and don't be the Susi who lets the pot go without a fight.
- Night Parade untested Sixteen spirits lie face down in a jumble – peek, slide and give silent hints until every family walks together.
- Man the Boats untested The ship is sinking – sort the passengers into orderly queues and get them into the lifeboats before the last compartment floods.
- Royal Rescue Raise armies from your hand, beat Ugly Umbar and his servants with the dice – then crack the dungeon's locks before your last card is gone.
- Side by Side untested A band of friends in a long war – get rid of your cards together, but never let three of the same threat meet in No Man's Land.
- Dungeon Rush untested No turns, no mercy, five minutes on the clock – slap down the right suits together and fight your way through the dungeon to the boss.
- Split Mind untested One of you wants balance, the other wants it lopsided – the Keeper needs an even split of tricks, the Shadow wins by any big gap.
- Vidrasso Nine is the weakest card and the most valuable – a duel with five open strawmen each, a trump suit and a trump rank that beats everything.
- Crown Duel untested Eight cards each, one secret choice per round – and every card has a trick up its sleeve. Out-guess your rival and win four rounds.
- Royal Garden untested Sixteen face cards and Aces in a square – every card you take tells your rival where they may go next. Four in a line wins.
- Line of Succession untested Add a card to the row or take the last five – but only once a round. Win the most supporters, or grab all three crowns and win at once.
- Hot Air untested Low cards win over the plains, high cards over the mountains – and you may play on your rival's side too. Collect prizes and win two trophies.
- Touché untested Two fencers on a piste of 23 cards. Step forward, step back, strike at exactly the right distance – and parry with the same cards.
- Mushroom Walk untested A walk along a line of cards in the woods. Gather mushrooms, sell a few for walking sticks and cook the best ones – with butter if you can.
- Seven Waters Two rival water parks, one pyramid of cards. Draft the right cards to build slides, a lazy river and the biggest wave pool in town.
- One Up untested Play the same number or one higher – or bail out before your hand costs you dearly. Kings are worth ten, and they come round again.
- Pinch untested Lay your cards out in front of you – and whenever you top another player's cards, you pinch them, straight into your own hand if you like.
- Big Number untested Line up cards of one suit or one rank into the biggest number you can – 9, 7 and 2 make 972 – and take one beaten card back into your hand.
- Waterhole untested Eight kinds of animal crowd round the waterhole – three of a kind chase off the next weaker ones, and only the tiny Aces dare to chase the 8s.
- Cursed Bottle untested Low cards buy the cursed bottle and every sale lowers its price – win good tricks, but don't be the one left holding it.
- Jewel Vault untested Every trick you win and every suit you can't follow moves a jewel – into your vault, into your showroom, or out of someone else's.
- Flock Together untested Lay your cards at the end of a row, catch everything between two of a kind – and fly a flock home until you hold seven species or two threes.
- Shared Air untested Several divers, one tank of air – every treasure you carry slows you down and uses up everybody's oxygen. Turn back in time or lose it all.
- Four Fields untested Sow, harvest and stockpile on four fields around the table – and turn the seasons so the harvest you want is never frozen in winter.
- Powder Keg untested Draw a card at the end of every turn and hope it isn't a King – the Kings are powder kegs, and only a bucket of water saves you.
- Duck Soup A trick-taker for two in two courses – the low card wins, then the high one, and a matching rank makes you quack.
- Monte Bank Two cards from the bottom, two from the top – then the gate shows its suit. The Mexican banking game of the California gold fields.
- Lansquenet Two cards on the table, then turn until one of them is matched – the mercenaries' banking game that Rabelais and Dumas knew.
- Primero (Primiera) Shakespeare's gambling game – four cards, sevens worth 21, and one card of each suit to win the pot.
- Bouillotte (Brelan) The salon game of revolutionary Paris – three cards, one turned card, and your opponents' cards can win the pot for you.
- Ambigu Four cards, two draws and a price on every combination – Louis XIV's "mixed" game, the old French cousin of draw poker.
- Put The English tavern game of ill repute – three cards, Threes beat Aces, and one word, "Put!", can win the whole game.
- Maw King James's favourite game – five cards, five tricks, and the five of trumps, the "five fingers", beats everything.
- Imperial (Impériale) Piquet with a trump suit – declare your point and your imperials, then fight for the honours, and wipe out your rival's score.
- Catch the Ten (Scotch Whist) Edinburgh's old favourite – the Jack of trumps is top dog, and the whole table hunts the Ten of trumps.
- Penneech A 17th-century game for two where the trump suit changes with every trick – and the 7 of diamonds beats every other diamond.
- Noddy (Knave Noddy) Cribbage before the crib – three cards each, fifteens, pairs and runs, and a Jack called Noddy. The race is only to 31.
- Comet Run the cards up to the King in one long tail, call "without" when you're stuck – and keep the wild Comet for the moment it counts.
- Hoc (Hoc Mazarin) Bid and bluff for point, sequence and three of a kind, then race to shed your cards – Cardinal Mazarin's game, with six hocs that stop everything.
- Yaniv Throw sets and runs, draw one card, and call "Yaniv!" the moment your hand is nearly empty – but only if nobody has less.
- Sette e mezzo (Seven and a Half) Italy's Christmas card game – draw towards 7½ without going over, and beat the banker's hand.
- Prší The Czech cousin of Mau-Mau – match suit or rank, stack sevens and Aces, and let a Queen change the suit.
- Machiavelli Italy's rearranging rummy – every card on the table is up for grabs, so break up sets and runs to find room for your hand.
- Basra Take table cards by matching or by adding up, use a Jack to sweep the floor – and clear it without a Jack for a 10-point basra.
- Scala 40 Italy's classic rummy – open with 40 points, add to anyone's melds and go out before the penalty reaches 101.
- Skitgubbe Sweden's classic for three – first hoard good cards by winning tricks, then beat or pick up until only one player is stuck with cards.
- Pusoy Dos The Philippine cousin of Big Two – beat every play with a higher card or poker hand, with diamonds as the top suit and the 3♣ to start.