Traditional card games
Games played with an ordinary 32- or 52-card deck. They are the oldest, and the ones whose rules vary most from one region to another.
32 games, 32 rules pages.
- Aluette4 pl.The trick-taking game from the Vendée: a ranking that follows no logic, no suit to follow, and agreed signals that partners give each other discreetly.
- Barbu4 pl.A series of negative contracts (no tricks, no hearts, no queens...) then the Réussite, which scores positive. Each player takes a turn as declarer.
- War2-6 pl.Every child's first card game. You count the rounds won or the cards collected.
- Egyptian Ratscrew2-6 pl.Turn your cards over without looking: an ace or a face card forces the next player to produce one, and you slap the pile as soon as two cards of the same rank follow each other. Whoever wins all the cards wins the round.
- Belote4 pl.A trick-taking game in teams of two, with trumps and announcements. The variant changes all the scoring: pick yours before you start.
- Three-player Belote2-3 pl.Belote when there aren’t four of you: each for themselves, the taker against the other two. They must score more than each of them, or they fail.
- Bezique2 pl.Rummy's two-player ancestor: you take tricks and declare melds for as long as the stock lasts.
- Blackjack2-8 pl.Get close to 21 without going over. Tracks each player's chip balance against the bank.
- Bridge4 pl.The king of trick-taking games. Bidding then card play, in teams of two, with a score per contract.
- Briscola2-6 pl.The Italian trick-taking game: three cards in hand, a trump turned up, and a hundred and twenty points to share.
- Cabo2-5 pl.Everyone has four face-down cards they only see at the start. Memorise, swap, and call Cabo when you think your total is the lowest.
- Canasta2-6 pl.Make canastas, seven cards of the same rank, with jokers and 2s as wild cards. In partnerships of two, the first side to 5,000 points wins.
- Russian Bank2 pl.A fast, chatty two-player patience: shout Crapette when your opponent misses a compulsory move.
- Hearts3-6 pl.A trick-avoidance game: every heart taken costs 1 point, the Queen of Spades 13. The game ends at 100, and the lowest total wins.
- Écarté2 pl.A lightning-fast trick-taking duel where you can swap your bad cards before playing. The first to five points wins.
- Crazy Eights2-7 pl.The ancestor of Uno, played with a standard deck. The winner collects the value of the cards left in hand.
- Kemps4-8 pl.Collect four matching cards and tip off your partner with an agreed signal, without getting caught.
- Manille4 pl.A team trick-taking game widely played in the north and south-west of France. The 10, the manille, is the top card.
- Cheat2-10 pl.Put your cards down face down, announcing their rank, true or false. Getting caught costs you the whole pile; the first player with no cards left wins the round.
- Nain Jaune (Yellow Dwarf)3-8 pl.A discard game in runs, with five prize boxes. The seven of diamonds (the Yellow Dwarf) takes the biggest pot.
- Piquet2 pl.The great duel of French card games: you declare your sequences before playing, and your opponent only shows what they must.
- Poker2-10 pl.Tracks each player's stack: enter the wins and losses of each hand, as positive or negative.
- Old Maid2-8 pl.Get rid of your pairs. Whoever is left holding the lone jack loses the round.
- President3-8 pl.Get rid of your cards as fast as possible. The rankings from the previous round decide the card swaps.
- Rummy2-6 pl.Lay down runs and sets to discard your hand. Cards left in hand count against you.
- Scopa2-4 pl.Capture cards from the table by adding them up. Each clean sweep, the scopa, scores a point.
- Skat3-4 pl.Germany’s great card game: bid to play alone against the other two, in a suit, Grand or Null. The counter works out the value of each game.
- French Tarot3-6 pl.The taker faces the defence alone. The target depends on the number of oudlers won (56 / 51 / 41 / 36).
- Thirty-One3-9 pl.Three cards in hand, you swap until you get close to thirty-one in a single suit. The lowest hand loses a life.
- Truc y Flou4-8 pl.The card game of the Aure and Louron valleys, in the Pyrenees: two teams, three cards each, suit announcements (the embit, the flor), then three tricks. The truc and its raises push the stakes up, and bluffing and signals between partners are part of the rules.
- Whist4 pl.The ancestor of bridge. In teams, you score a point for every trick beyond the sixth; the first team to 5 points wins.
- Yaniv2-8 pl.Call Yaniv when your hand is worth 5 points or less. If an opponent has as much or less, it’s Assaf: you score your hand plus 30.