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Partnership games
Games played in teams of two – sometimes you only find out during the game who your partner is.
- 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.
- Bauernschnapsen Schnapsen for four – call trumps after three cards, then outbid everyone with a Bettler, a Gang or a daring Kontra-Schnapser.
- 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.
- Schafkopf Call an Ace to find a secret partner, or take on all three alone with a Solo – the heart of every Bavarian inn.
- Sheepshead Wisconsin's tavern game – pick up the blind, call an Ace for a secret partner and take 61 of the 120 points.
- 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.
- 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.
- Watten From Tyrol and Bavaria – five cards, three tricks, trumps named by two players and plenty of bluffing to push the stakes up.
- Jass (Schieber) Switzerland's national game – choose trumps or shove the choice to your partner, then meld, take tricks and count your way to 2500.
- Sueca From Portugal's cafés – a silent partnership game where the 7 ranks just below the Ace and 61 of 120 points win.
- Coinche (Belote contrée) Belote with an auction – bid how many points your team will make, and dare the opponents with a "coinche".
- Belote France's national card game – take trumps, declare your sequences, say "belote, rebelote" and reach 1000 with your partner.
- Tute Spain's partnership game of marriages – overtake whenever you can, then sing your "forty" with the King and Queen of trumps.
- Mus The Basque bluffing game – four cards, four contests, secret signals to your partner and one word that stakes everything: órdago!
- 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!"
- Spades Spades are always trumps – bid your tricks with your partner, make them, and don't collect too many bags.
- Whist The quiet classic of English card tables – no bidding, just you, your partner and thirteen tricks to fight for.
- Bid Whist Bid uptown or downtown, take the kitty and let the jokers rule – the partnership game at the heart of African-American card tables.
- Sheng Ji (Tractor) Two decks, four jokers, a trump suit that changes every hand – and pairs that roll across the table like tractors.
- Tarneeb The Levant's card-table staple – outbid the others, pick trumps and bring home at least as many tricks as you promised.
- Hokm The Persian game of command – the Hakem picks trumps after five cards, and the first team to seven tricks takes the hand.
- Baloot Saudi Arabia's Belote – bid Hokum with trumps or Sun without, declare your projects and double the stakes all the way to Gahwa.
- Rook America's bird-card classic on a normal deck – bid for the nest, name trumps and hunt the 5s, 10s, Aces and the Rook with your partner.
- 400 (Four Hundred) The Levant's favourite partnership game – hearts are always trumps, every player bids alone, and your partner must stay in the plus for you to win.
- Pinochle America's partnership heavyweight – bid for trumps, swap cards with your partner, then meld marriages and pinochles.
- Four-Hand Bezique Bezique for two teams – four decks, partners building melds together, and a triple bezique worth 1500 points.
- 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.
- Tressette No trumps, no bidding – just 3s over 2s over Aces, a partner who knocks on the table, and the race to 21.
- Manille Belgium's café classic – the 10 beats the Ace, the dealer picks trumps, and the opponents can double it all.
- Twenty-Eight (28) Kerala's partnership game – Jacks and Nines rule, and the highest bidder hides trumps face down until someone asks to see them.
- Twenty-Nine (29) The big brother of 28 – Jacks and Nines rule, trumps stay secret, and a King–Queen pair can swing the bid by four.
- Court Piece The partnership game of Pakistan and India – take the first seven tricks of a deal and you win a court.
- Euchre Kitchen-table fun from the Midwest – order up trumps, trust your bowers and take three of five tricks, or go it alone for four points.
- Five Hundred (500) Australia's favourite card game – bid for tricks and trumps with your partner, take the kitty and reach 500 with the joker on your side.
- 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.
- Pedro Bid for trumps, throw away everything else and fight with your partner for the two 5s – each one worth five points.
- 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.
- 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.
- Burraco Canasta's Italian cousin – meld runs and sets, pick up your pozzetto as a second hand and close with a clean burraco.
- 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.
- Kemps Swap cards from the middle, collect four of a kind and give your partner the secret sign – before the others crack your code.
- Dragon and Phoenix untested The four 2s become a Dragon, a Phoenix, a Fox and a Herald – climb, bomb and bet with your partner that you'll be out first.
- Kozel The Seven of Clubs beats everything, Queens and Jacks are always trumps – and the team that loses six times ends up as the goats.
- 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.
- Marafone Beccacino Tressette with trumps from Romagna – name the trump suit, knock for your partner and count to 41 in your head.
- Chief and Vice untested Bid by laying your cards on the table, name two kinds of trumps and pick your partner – a deep trick-taking game where every hand makes new teams.
- Quadrille The 18th century's most fashionable game – call a King to find a secret partner, or play alone with Spadille, Manille and Basto.
- 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.
- Scharwenzel The island game of Fehmarn – two sides, the Queen of Clubs on top, and threads and hooks chalked up for every game won.
- Drogue The French soldiers' game of the 1830s – lose, and you wear a wooden peg on your nose until you win it off again.
- Vint Turn the screw of the auction, play without a dummy, score for every trick and honour – Russia's bridge before bridge.
- Scopone Scopa for two teams with every card dealt at the start – count what is gone, read your partner and sweep the table clean.
- 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.
- Guiñote Aragón's partnership game of marriages – draw a card after every trick, sing "forty" with King and Jack of trumps, and race to 101.