Card games
Card games sold in a box, with their own deck. Often quick, often played in rounds, almost always with a score to keep.
83 games, 83 rules pages.
- Take 5 (6 nimmt!)2-10 pl.You pick up bull heads in spite of yourself. The game ends when a player goes over 66: the lowest total wins.
- Arboretum2-4 pl.Everyone plants their own arboretum, laying paths of rising values, but only the player holding the strongest hand of a species may score it.
- Bandido1-4 pl.A bandit is digging tunnels to escape: together, players lay cards to seal every exit before the deck runs out.
- Bang!4-7 pl.Sheriff, deputies, outlaws and renegade: four sides with opposing goals, and only one role revealed at the start.
- Ghost Blitz2-8 pl.A card flips and everyone grabs for one of the five objects in the middle of the table: the one shown in its true colour or, failing that, the one the card does not show at all.
- Bohnanza2-7 pl.Bargaining over bean fields. You sell your harvests for gold coins.
- Century: Spice Road2-5 pl.Caravan leaders produce, trade and upgrade spices of four colours to fill orders. Every card bought makes your hand a little more efficient.
- Château Combo2-5 pl.Recruit nine characters and arrange them in a 3×3 grid where each scores according to its neighbours. The game ends when everyone has filled their grid, then you add it all up.
- Citadels2-8 pl.Build a district of eight buildings. Points are counted at the end of the game, bonuses included.
- Coach Ride to Devil's Castle3-10 pl.Inside a coach, two secret associations clash: the Order wants three keys, the Brotherhood three goblets. Trade objects face down and attack to find out who is who, then proclaim victory by naming your allies.
- Codex Naturalis2-4 pl.Lay cards that overlap at the corners to build a manuscript. Reaching 20 points triggers the end, but the objectives, scored afterwards, often decide the winner.
- Coloretto2-5 pl.Collect three colours and not one more: the others count against you.
- Coup2-6 pl.Two hidden characters, a few coins, and the right to lie about who you are. The last player with any influence left wins.
- Courtisans2-5 pl.At the Queen’s banquet, each player plays three cards per turn: one to push a family into favour or disgrace, one into their own domain and one into an opponent’s. Assassins, spies, nobles and guards muddle the count; courtiers of favoured families score, the others cost points.
- Slide2-6 pl.Everyone lays out sixteen face-down cards in a square. Each turn, all players reveal one in the middle, then each takes one and slides it into their grid, pushing a row or a column along. At the end, matching cards that touch cancel out: the lowest total wins.
- Dnup2-5 pl.Empty your hand before the others, with cards that have two values: a beaten set goes back into its player's hand, flipped over. The first to collect the four letters D, N, U, P wins.
- Dobble2-8 pl.Spot the one symbol two cards share, faster than everyone else. You count the cards won.
- Dominion2-4 pl.Build your deck turn by turn, then count the Victory cards it holds.
- DREIst!1-4 pl.Everyone places their cards under the base card with the same number, never letting two different colours touch in a row. Lining up three cards of one colour, or bringing three colours into a column, draws an extra card and can clear the column. The first player rid of all their cards wins.
- Duck & Cover2-7 pl.Each player lays out their twelve rubber ducks in a grid. On each number called by the Captain, everyone moves the duck bearing it at the same time: onto one of their own cards right next to it, to cover it, or to an empty space next to one of their other cards. The fewer splashes left visible, the better; finishing in a single stack scores negative points.
- Exploding Kittens2-5 pl.Russian roulette with cards: you draw until you hit an exploding kitten, unless you know how to defuse it.
- Faraway2-6 pl.Eight cards laid in a row to explore an unknown land, then scored in reverse: each card only scores with what was played after it.
- Flip 73-18 pl.Stay or hit: flip cards to score their value, but a duplicate number loses everything. Seven different numbers is a Flip 7 and 15 bonus points. First to 200 points.
- Flip 7 With a Vengeance3-18 pl.Flip 7's push-your-luck, nastier: bonuses become penalties, numbers go up to 13, and stopping no longer protects you — someone can still steal a card from you. First to 200 points.
- Flowers1-4 pl.Each player builds a garden card by card, next to or on top of the flowers already laid. You need same-colour beds of at least five cards, but you must also respect the numbers: 4s come in fours, 3s in threes, 2s in twos, and a 1 stays alone.
- For Sale3-6 pl.Estate agents buy houses at auction, then sell them all blind for the cheques on the market. The richest at the end, cheques and banknotes combined, wins.
- Forest Shuffle2-5 pl.Everyone grows their own forest: Trees in front of them, and all around them animals, plants and mushrooms that each score in their own way. Paying with the right cards earns bonuses, and the third Winter card stops everything at once.
- Hanabi2-5 pl.Cooperative in reverse: everyone sees the others' cards, never their own, and together you build five fireworks.
- Hanamikoji2 pl.A duel for the favour of seven geishas. Each player has the same four actions per round, and every gift forces the opponent to choose.
- IPSO2-6 pl.A four-row pyramid to build card by card. Only ascending rows score: 1 point per card, 2 if the row is a single colour.
- It’s a Wonderful World1-5 pl.Four rounds of drafting, planning and production, then you score your empire: cards, combinations, generals and financiers.
- Jaipur2 pl.A merchants' duel: trade, sell at the right moment, and grab the bonus tokens before the third pile runs out.
- Jungle Speed2-10 pl.Grab the totem when two matching symbols appear. The first to empty their pile wins.
- L.L.A.M.A.2-6 pl.To get rid of your cards, you play onto the discard pile a value equal to it or one higher, a llama after a 6, a 1 after a llama. Otherwise, you draw or quit the round. Cards left over cost chips: the lowest total wins.
- Lama Cadabra2-6 pl.The llama is back with magic tricks: you play a card of the same value or one higher, draw, or quit the round. Each llama played puts a chip on the Lamagic Show, and whoever cannot follow collects them all. The fewest minus points wins.
- High Society3-5 pl.Socialites fight at auction over jewellery, fine wines and marks of prestige, with a hand of money that is never replenished. The most prestigious player wins, unless they end up the poorest: that player is cast out and cannot win.
- The Dwarf King3-5 pl.A trick-taking game over seven deals whose rules change every time: the deal's Quest tile says which cards or tricks score, and which ones cost. A special card shuffled into the deck shakes up every deal.
- The Builders: Middle Ages2-4 pl.Construction sites to open, workers to hire and pay, three actions per turn: you build for prestige while keeping enough money for the workforce. The first to reach 17 victory points announces the end.
- Five Crowns2-7 pl.11 rounds. Deal 3 cards in the first round, one more each time, up to 13. Cards left in hand count against you: the lowest total wins.
- Lost Cities2 pl.A duel of explorers: starting an expedition costs 20 points, and only those you push far enough pay off. Three rounds, added together.
- Ligretto2-12 pl.Everyone plays at once, with no turns: stack your cards in the middle, colour by colour, from 1 to 10, while emptying your reserve pile as fast as you can.
- Lobo 772-8 pl.Each player lays a card on the pile and calls out the new total. Calling a double, from 11 to 66, costs a chip, and so does reaching 77, which ends the round. −10, 0, reverse and “2x” cards pass the hot potato to the next player.
- Love Letter2-6 pl.Deduction with a single card in hand. Each round won earns a token of affection.
- Luz3-5 pl.A trick-taking game where you can't see your own cards: you play your neighbour's hand, back turned, and bet on how many tricks you'll win. Four deals of ten tricks.
- Mille Bornes2-8 pl.A race to 1,000 kilometres, with hazards and remedies. The game is played to 5,000 points accumulated over several hands.
- Machi Koro2-4 pl.Everyone grows their little town by buying bakeries, farms and cafés that pay out on the dice. The first to build all four landmarks wins at once.
- Munchkin3-6 pl.A role-playing parody: kick open doors, slay monsters, grab treasure and put spokes in everyone else’s wheels. The first to level 10 wins.
- No Thanks!3-7 pl.Every card is a penalty: pay a chip to refuse it, or take it along with the chips already on it. The lowest total wins.
- Odin2-6 pl.Vikings to play stronger than the ones in the middle, alone or in groups of the same number or the same colour. The first to empty their hand ends the round: every card left in the others’ hands costs them one point.
- Ohanami2-4 pl.Each player grows up to three Japanese gardens, laying cards in numerical order, always above the highest or below the lowest. Three drafting rounds: blue cards score from the first, green ones from the second, grey and pink ones at the end.
- Omerta3-5 pl.Four face-down cards in front of you, a stock of bottles to whittle down: swap cards without looking and use the characters’ powers. Whoever calls Omerta must have 7 or less and the lowest stock, or take a 20-point penalty.
- 3 Chapters2-6 pl.A story in three chapters: first you pick seven fairy-tale characters by passing cards around, then pit them against each other trick by trick, then bring them together to combine their abilities. Stars, hearts and gems are collected at every step.
- Papayoo3-8 pl.A trick-taking game where you want to take nothing: payoos cost their value, and the papayoo costs forty.
- Phase 102-6 pl.Ten phases to complete in order. The first to finish phase 10 wins; points break ties.
- Point Salad2-6 pl.Every card is either a vegetable or a way to score with vegetables. Build your salad by taking sometimes goals, sometimes ingredients.
- Port Royal2-5 pl.In the harbour, cards are turned over one by one: ships to trade with, characters to hire, expeditions to complete. Keep going as long as you dare, but two ships of the same colour and everything sinks. The first to 12 victory points announces the last round.
- Race for the Galaxy2-4 pl.Build a galactic empire card by card, secretly choosing the phase everyone will play. The game ends at twelve cards laid or when the victory point chips run out.
- Red Rising2-6 pl.In the world of Pierce Brown’s novels, each house recruits characters from the fourteen castes: you deploy one on Jupiter, Mars, Luna or the Institute to gain another, along with the location’s bonus. When the fleet, Helium or Influence passes a threshold, hands are scored.
- Res Arcana2-4 pl.Rival mages turn five magical essences into artifacts, dragons, monuments and Places of Power, with just eight cards each for the whole game. As soon as a player has 10 victory points at the end of a round, whoever has the most points wins.
- Saboteur3-10 pl.Dwarves dig for gold, saboteurs try to stop them — and nobody knows who is who until the end of the round.
- Schotten Totten2 pl.Two Scottish clans fight over nine stones by laying three-card combinations beside them. Five stones, or three adjacent ones, win the game.
- SCOUT2-5 pl.A hand you may never sort: beat the combination in the middle, or take a card from it to strengthen your own hand.
- Sea Salt & Paper2-4 pl.Collections of origami cards. The winning score depends on the number of players: 40 with 2, 35 with 3, 30 with 4.
- Skip-Bo2-6 pl.Empty your personal pile by building sequences from 1 to 12. The first to empty it wins the round.
- Skull King2-8 pl.10 rounds. Everyone bids the number of tricks they will win. Bid made: 20 points per trick. Bid missed: -10 per trick off.
- Skyjo2-8 pl.The first player to reach 100 points ends the game, and the lowest total wins.
- Skyjo Action2-8 pl.Skyjo with Action cards to swap, peek or steal, and Stars that act as wild cards. Four identical cards in a row are cleared too, and the lowest total wins when someone reaches 100 points.
- Star Realms2 pl.A space duel of deck-building: buy ships and bases, then pound your opponent. Each player starts with 50 authority; dropping to zero means defeat.
- Sushi Go2-5 pl.Pick a card, pass the rest to your neighbour. Three rounds to put together the best menu.
- The Crew2-5 pl.A cooperative trick-taking game: you complete numbered missions. It tracks your progress, not a score.
- The Game1-5 pl.A cooperative game in which you empty a 98-card deck together onto four piles, two going up and two going down, without ever naming your numbers.
- The Mind2-4 pl.Together, play your cards from 1 to 100 in ascending order without ever talking. Level by level, the team wins or loses together.
- The Vale of Eternity2-4 pl.Two to four tamers compete for creatures drawn from myths: each round you reserve two, then sell them for magic stones or keep them to summon into your arena. Their effects move you up the score track, until 60 points or ten rounds.
- Tichu4 pl.A team discard game with declarations. Game to 1000 points; each deal hands out 100 plus the declaration bonuses.
- Timeline2-8 pl.Inventions, events, discoveries: everyone slots their cards into a shared timeline without seeing the dates. The first to place their whole hand correctly wins.
- Trio3-6 pl.A game of memory and deduction: reveal three identical cards, from other players’ hands or the middle. Three trios, or the trio of 7s, wins the round.
- Twin It2-6 pl.Cards are flipped onto the table one by one and everyone watches for the same pattern twice: slap a hand on each, and the pair is yours.
- Uno2-10 pl.The winner of a round collects the value of the cards left in the opponents' hands. First to 500 points.
- Uno Attack2-10 pl.Uno without a draw pile: you press a launcher that sometimes spits out nothing, sometimes a burst of cards. The winner of a hand collects the others’ cards; first to 500 points.
- Uno Flip2-10 pl.Two-sided Uno: a Flip card turns over the draw pile, the discard pile and every hand, switching from the Light Side to the Dark Side, where penalties hurt far more. The winner of a hand collects the others’ cards; first to 500 points.
- Velonimo2-5 pl.A cycling race in cards: play a card or combination stronger than the last, and the first to empty their hand crosses the summit. Five ever-harder climbs; the polka-dot jersey goes to the best total.
- Wizard3-6 pl.Bid your number of tricks before each round. Exact bid: 20 points plus 10 per trick. Otherwise: −10 per trick off.
- Frank’s Zoo2-7 pl.The cards carry no numbers: you beat animals with one more animal of the same species, or with as many animals of a species that scares them. The mouse frightens the elephant, and a mosquito can pass for an elephant. The first to empty their hand takes the best points card.