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Games for kids
Easy games for children – all of them playable at 8, many from 4 or 5.
- 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.
- Rolling Stone Follow suit or pick up the whole trick – the first to empty their hand wins, but hands can swell fast.
- Cambio Remember your hidden cards, swap away the high ones and call "Cambio!" when you think your total is lowest.
- 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.
- President Beat the last play with higher cards, shed your hand first and rise from Beggar to President – and claim the Beggar's best cards next round.
- 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.
- 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.
- Cheat Play face down, claim whatever you like and keep a straight face – but if someone calls "Cheat!" and you lied, the pile is yours.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- Sueca From Portugal's cafés – a silent partnership game where the 7 ranks just below the Ace and 61 of 120 points win.
- Hearts Pass your dangerous cards on, dodge every heart and the Queen of Spades – or grab them all and shoot the moon.
- Knockout Whist Seven cards, then six, then five – take at least one trick each hand or you're knocked out.
- Black Maria Hearts with teeth – dodge the Queen of Spades, and watch out for her King and Ace too.
- 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.
- Nap (Napoleon) Five cards each, one brave bid – and the whole table ganging up to stop you going Nap.
- 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.
- Rummy The classic draw-and-discard game – collect sets and runs, lay them down and be the first to empty your hand.
- Rummy 500 Every card you lay down scores – dig deep into the discard pile for the one you need, and be first to 500.
- Twenty Down Start at 20, count down one trick at a time – but stay in and take nothing, and it costs you five.
- 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.
- Fan Tan Start each suit with its seven, build out towards Ace and 2, and hold back the cards your neighbours are waiting for.
- Ninety-Nine Add up the pile, call out the total – and don't be the one who can't keep it under 99.
- Boodle Run the suits up in sequence, pocket the chips on the four boodle cards and be first to empty your hand.
- Pig Pass cards round the circle as fast as you can, collect four of a kind – and don't be the last to touch your nose.
- Donkey Pass cards to the beat, sneak a token when you've got four of a kind – and don't be the one left without.
- Spoons Pass cards round the table until someone grabs a spoon – then everyone dives for the rest, and one hand comes up empty.
- 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.
- Chase the Ace One card each – keep it or swap it with your neighbour, and don't be caught holding the lowest.
- 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.
- Kemps Swap cards from the middle, collect four of a kind and give your partner the secret sign – before the others crack your code.
- 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.
- 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!"
- Klondike Seven columns, four Aces and one deck – the classic solitaire that millions played on their computers, now back on the kitchen table.
- TriPeaks Clear three mountains of cards by playing one up or one down – string together long runs and watch the peaks tumble.
- Golf Solitaire Seven open columns, one pile to play on – one up or one down, and every card left over is a stroke on your scorecard.
- Aces Up Four piles, one rule – throw out every card beaten by a higher one of its suit, and hope only the four Aces are left.
- Accordion Squeeze a whole deck into a single pile by jumping cards onto matching neighbours – simple to learn, fiendishly hard to win.
- Pyramid Take apart a pyramid of 28 cards by finding pairs that add up to 13 – quick, simple and harder to win than it looks.
- Monte Carlo Spot pairs that sit side by side, clear them away, close the gaps – a quick, cheerful patience that even young children can play.
- Four Seasons A cross of five cards in the middle, a foundation in each corner – a quick patience in which you slowly clear the cross.
- Clock Deal thirteen piles round a clock face and let the cards find their own way home – will the fourth King strike too soon?
- Gaps (Montana) All 52 cards face up, four holes to shuffle them through – sort every suit into its own row, from 2 to King.
- Osmosis Any order will do on the top row – but every row below may only take the ranks that have already seeped through from above.
- Grandfather's Clock Twelve cards make a clock face – build each one up in suit until every hour shows the right time.
- Sir Tommy One card at a time, four waste piles and a single decision each turn – perhaps the oldest patience of all, and still a fine test of judgement.
- Nestor Find two of a kind and clear them away – a simple pairing patience where every card lies face up and the only question is which pair to take first.
- Black Hole Seventeen fans of three orbit the Ace of Spades – feed them all into the black hole, one rank up or down, and plan every step.
- Sultan Eight Kings and an Ace surround the Sultan – build each up to a Queen, and the King of Hearts ends up in the middle of his harem.
- Windmill One Ace in the middle, eight sails around it and a centre pile that swallows 52 cards – a quick two-deck patience with a pretty layout.
- Westcliff Ten little piles, one pass through the stock and a win nine times in ten – the friendliest member of the Klondike family.
- Bowling Solitaire Knock down a ten-pin triangle with 10 bowling-ball cards over ten frames – chase the perfect 300 game in Sid Sackson's clever solo design.
- Babette Deal row after row and rescue the cards that come free above the gaps – Aces build up, Kings build down, and every choice counts.
- Baker's Dozen Thirteen columns, every card face up, Kings sent to the bottom – untangle the piles and send all four suits home.
- Carpet Twenty cards spread out like a rug – pick them off one by one, patch the holes and build four suits from Ace to King.
- Irish Snap Count "Ace, two, three …" as you play – when the card matches the word, everyone slaps, and the slowest hand takes the pile.
- 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.
- Take or Pass untested Nobody wants the cards – so you pay a chip to pass them on, until someone decides the pile of chips is worth the pain.
- Ten Phases untested Ten tasks, one after another – collect sets, runs and suits, wave your wild Kings and make your rivals skip a turn.
- Tricks Together untested Everybody names their number of tricks, and the whole team wins only if everybody hits it exactly – without a word about the cards.
- Defuse! untested One of you knows the code, the rest hold the pliers – and the expert may not say a single word.
- Summit Rush untested TriPeaks for two, both at once – grab, shout and clear all three peaks before the sand runs out.
- 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.
- Bonjour Monsieur Greet the King, greet the Queen, hail the Ace – one slip and the whole pile is yours. And every round's winner adds a new rule.
- Koum Kan Greece's family rummy – ten cards, two decks, jokers you can steal back, and a second life when you go over 100.
- 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.
- Slobberhannes Don't win the first trick, don't win the last one and never take the Queen of Clubs – a five-minute rule for a whole evening.
- Polignac Keep your hands off the Jacks – above all the Jack of Spades, named after a hated French minister of 1830.
- 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.
- Lady of the Manor Eight Aces, four hidden packets and an arch of cards sorted by rank – a pretty 19th-century patience that builds without regard to suit.
- Fourteen Out The whole deck lies face up – clear it away in pairs that add up to 14, and plan ahead so no pair ends up blocking itself.
- Good Thirteen Ten cards on the table – throw out every pair that makes 13 and every King, fill the gaps and hope the deck runs out before you do.
- Captive Queens Turn the cards one by one and build eight piles around the four Queens until Kings and Jacks stand guard beside them.
- Hope Deferred Hunt down all eight hearts in a short deck – three cards at a time, three rounds, and nothing but luck and hope.
- Fortune's Favour Twelve open cards, four Aces and a little care – a friendly first building patience that comes out nearly every time.
- Pile-On Thirteen muddled piles, two empty spaces and one goal – sort the whole deck into sets of four, like the colour-sorting puzzles on your phone.
- Queen's Audience Sixteen courtiers wait in the antechamber – bring each King and Queen to the throne room and let the Jacks lead their suits in behind them.
- Frog Sir Tommy's big brother – two decks, five waste piles and a squat pile of thirteen cards, the Frog, that you must clear to win.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- Club Fight Thirteen clubs against the rest of the deck – clear a 3×3 grid with matches, sums and runs while the other suits lock your moves.
- 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.
- 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.
- Boil Over untested Three pots on the stove, spades as poison in any of them – and whoever makes a pot boil over past 20 has to take 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.
- 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.
- Temple Gold untested Everyone swears they're an honest adventurer – but somebody wants you to open the chamber with the fire trap.
- My Ship Sails Everyone passes a card to the left at the same time – collect seven cards of one suit and shout "My ship sails!"
- Yaniv Throw sets and runs, draw one card, and call "Yaniv!" the moment your hand is nearly empty – but only if nobody has less.
- Prší The Czech cousin of Mau-Mau – match suit or rank, stack sevens and Aces, and let a Queen change the suit.
- 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.
- 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.