Play it anywhere.

How a turn works

Roll all six dice. You must set aside at least one scoring die (see table). Then choose: bank what you've built this turn and pass, or re-roll the rest to add more. If a roll shows no scoring dice at all, that's a FARKLE — you lose everything unbanked this turn and play passes on.

If all six dice end up scoring (“hot dice”), scoop them all up and keep rolling the same turn. You need 500 in a single turn to get on the board the first time.

Scoring

Winning

First to bank 10,000 triggers one final turn for everyone else; highest total then wins. Dice only count in the roll where they appear — you can't combine across rolls. House variants abound (some penalise three farkles in a row); agree before you start.

Use the printable Yahtzee scorecard tab for the boxes.

How a turn works

Roll all 5 dice. You may re-roll any or all of them up to two more times (three rolls total), keeping what you like between rolls. Then you must record a score in one empty box — even a zero if nothing fits.

The boxes

• Upper section (Aces–Sixes): add up only that number. Reach 63 total up here for a 35-point bonus.
• 3 / 4 of a kind: sum of all five dice. Full house: 25. Small straight (4 in a row): 30. Large straight (5 in a row): 40. Yahtzee (5 alike): 50. Chance: sum of all dice, anything goes.
• Extra Yahtzees after the first score a +100 bonus each.

Winning

Thirteen turns fills the card. Add it all up — highest grand total wins.

Each turn you get three rolls and must collect, in order, a 6 (ship), a 5 (captain), and a 4 (crew) — you can't keep the 5 until you've set a 6, nor the 4 until you have the 5. Once you've got 6-5-4, the other two dice are your cargo; their pip total is your score. You may stop early to protect a good cargo. Highest cargo wins the round (no ship-captain-crew = no score). First to an agreed number of rounds, or play for chips.

The classic press-your-luck warm-up. On your turn, roll one die repeatedly, adding each result to your running turn total. Stop and bank whenever you like. But roll a 1 and you lose the entire turn total and pass the die. First to 100 wins.

Two-dice variant: a single 1 loses the turn; double 1s wipe out your whole score; any other double means you must roll again.

Low score wins. Roll all five dice; set aside at least one, then re-roll the rest, repeating until all five are set. Threes count as zero — they're gold. Add up your kept dice; lowest total takes the round. Play an agreed number of rounds and total them, or play to a target like “first to lose” over several hands.

Roll all five dice. If the roll contains any 2s or 5s, those dice “die” (set them aside out of play) and you score nothing for that roll. If it contains no 2s or 5s, add the pips to your score. Either way, re-roll the surviving dice and continue until every die has died. Highest total when you've “dropped dead” wins — it swings wildly, which is the fun.

On your turn, roll three dice and keep the highest. Re-roll the other two and keep the higher. Roll the last die once. Your three kept dice add up to your score for the round (“going to Boston”). Highest score wins the round and scores a point; play to a set number of points. Dead simple, great for little kids.

Setup

Everyone gets 5 dice and a cup. Roll under the cup and peek at your own dice only.

Play

Players take turns making a bid about all the dice on the table — e.g. “four 5s”, meaning at least four 5s exist among everyone. Each new bid must raise either the quantity or the face value. 1s are usually wild (count as any face). Instead of bidding, you may call “liar!” on the previous bid: reveal all dice. If the bid was true, the challenger loses a die; if false, the bidder does.

Winning

Lose all your dice and you're out. Last player with dice wins. Bluffing is the whole point.

A light, sociable game for a crowd, played in six rounds. In round 1 you're rolling for 1s, round 2 for 2s, and so on. Roll all three dice: each die matching the round number = 1 point, and you keep rolling. Three of the target number = “Bunco!” = 21 points; three of any other matching number = 5. Miss entirely and your turn ends. Play in teams, rotate, and total points across the six rounds — most wins.

An elimination round-game. Each player gets one roll of two dice. Read the higher die as tens: 6&2 = 62. Ranking from the top: 2-1 = “Mexico” (highest), then doubles (6-6 down to 1-1), then the ordinary two-digit numbers (65, 64…). The lowest roll each round loses a life (start everyone with three). Last player standing wins. A fast, loud filler.

A roll-and-draw race — everyone needs paper and a pencil. Take turns rolling one die; each number lets you draw one beetle part, and you must roll a 6 for the body first (nothing attaches to nothing!).

First complete beetle — body, head, tail, 6 legs, 2 eyes, 2 antennae — shouts “Beetle!” and wins. The drawings are the real prize.

No box needed — write the numbers 1 through 9 on paper. On your turn, roll two dice and cross off any combination of open numbers that adds up to the roll (roll 8: cross the 8, or 6+2, or 5+3, or 1+3+4). Keep rolling and crossing until no combination works; your score is the sum of what's left uncrossed — low is good. Once 7, 8, and 9 are all crossed, you may roll just one die. Cross off everything and you've “shut the box” — an instant win. Otherwise, lowest leftover total takes the round.

Set it up

Draw a 3×3 grid: two lines down, two across, like a hashtag (#).

Play

One player is ✕, the other ◯; ✕ goes first. Take turns marking an empty square. First to get three in a row — across, down, or diagonally — wins. Fill the grid with no winner and it's a “cat's game” (a draw).

Tip: the centre and corners are strongest. Two players who both know what they're doing will always tie — which is when it's time for the giant version below.

Bigger variant

Gomoku: on a large grid of squares (graph paper or hand-drawn), race to get five in a row. Far deeper than it looks.

Set it up

Draw a grid of dots — start with about 6×6 for a quick game, bigger for a longer one.

Play

Take turns drawing a single horizontal or vertical line between two adjacent dots. Complete the fourth side of a box and you claim it — write your initial inside and take another turn. When every box is claimed, most boxes wins.

Strategy

Early on, avoid drawing the third side of any box (it hands a free box to your opponent). The endgame trick is the double-cross: when forced to open a long chain, decline the last two boxes so your opponent must open the next chain for you.

Set it up

One player thinks of a word or phrase and draws a short dash for each letter (and gaps for spaces). Off to the side, jot the alphabet to cross off.

Play

The guesser calls letters. Correct ones get written on every matching dash. Each wrong guess adds one piece to a gallows drawing in this order: head, body, left arm, right arm, left leg, right leg. Solve the word before the figure is complete (six misses) to win; complete the figure first and the word-setter wins.

Phrases, movie titles, and the names of people in the car all make great (and merciless) puzzles.

Use the printable Battleship sheet for ready-made grids, or just draw two 10×10 grids each (label columns 1–10, rows A–J). Secretly mark your fleet on one grid — Carrier (5), Battleship (4), Cruiser (3), Submarine (3), Destroyer (2) — as straight, non-overlapping lines. Take turns calling shots like “C-4”; the other player says hit or miss, and announces when a ship is fully sunk. Track your shots on the second grid (✕ hit, • miss). First to sink the whole enemy fleet wins.

Set it up

Draw 2–4 dots on a page (more dots = longer game).

Play

On your turn, draw a line connecting two dots (or a dot to itself), then place a new dot somewhere on that line. Two rules: lines may never cross (their own or others'), and no dot may have more than three lines touching it. The last player able to make a legal move wins. Tiny rules, surprisingly deep — a favourite of mathematicians.

Set it up

Draw a grid — 5×5 is a good start.

Play

On your turn, write either an S or an O in any empty square. If you complete the sequence S-O-S in a straight line (any direction), draw through it, score a point, and take another turn. When the grid is full, most SOS sequences wins. One placement can complete two SOSes at once — bank them both.

The pen-and-paper ancestor of Mastermind. One player secretly writes a 4-digit number with no repeated digits. The other guesses; after each guess the setter reports two counts: bulls = right digit in the right place, cows = right digit in the wrong place. Use the feedback to close in. Crack the code in the fewest guesses, then swap roles. (Try 5 digits for a brutal version.)

Everyone draws the same grid: a column for each category (e.g. Animal, Place, Food, Name, Movie) and a few rows. Pick a random letter for each row. On “go”, everyone races to fill every category in that row with a word starting with that letter, within a time limit (say two minutes per letter). Score: a unique answer = 10 points, an answer someone else also wrote = 5, blank = 0. Most points after several letters wins. (This is the homemade version of Scattergories.)

Turn one word into another of the same length by changing one letter at a time — and every rung must be a real word. Classic example: COLD → CORD → WORD → WARD → WARM. Set a start and end word (same length) and find the shortest chain, or just race a friend from the same pair. Four-letter words make a friendly puzzle; five-letter words make a fierce one.

Draw a few rows of marks — a good start is rows of 3, 5, and 7. On your turn, cross off as many marks as you like from a single row (at least one). Whoever crosses off the very last mark wins. Play the “misère” version — last mark loses — for an extra brain-twist. There's a mathematically perfect strategy hiding in here; finding it is half the fun.

Connect Four with a pencil. Draw a grid about 7 wide and 6 tall. Players alternate placing their mark (✕ or ◯), but a mark must drop to the lowest empty cell in its column, as if gravity pulled it down. First to line up four in a row — horizontal, vertical, or diagonal — wins. No grid handy? It works fine on plain paper if you both respect the gravity rule.

One person picks something they can see and says “I spy with my little eye, something beginning with… B.” Everyone else guesses objects starting with that letter until someone gets it; the winner spies next. For pre-readers, use colours instead (“…something blue”). Moving-car version: the object has to stay in view long enough to guess, which keeps it honest.

One player thinks of a person, place, or thing and tells the others which of those three it is. The group asks up to 20 yes-or-no questions to narrow it down (“Is it alive?”, “Is it bigger than a car?”), then takes guesses. Crack it within 20 and the guessers win; stump them and the thinker wins. Good questions split the possibilities in half each time.

Race through the alphabet using words on signs, billboards, and license plates outside the car. Find a word starting with A, then B, and so on to Z. Two ways to play: everyone shares the same sightings (cooperative), or it's every-passenger-for-themselves and you can't claim a sign someone already used. Q, X, and Z are where dreams go to die — many families allow them as any-position letters.

A chain of place-names. The first player names any place (city, country, river, mountain…). The next must name a place starting with the last letter of the previous one — “Denver” → “Reno” → “Oslo” → “Ottawa” → and so on. No repeats. Stumped or wrong and you're out (or you lose a point). Surprisingly heated once someone drops “Kyrgyzstan”.

Players take turns adding one letter, building toward some word but trying not to be the one who completes it. If you add a letter that finishes a real word (4+ letters), you lose the round and earn a letter of G-H-O-S-T. You may also challenge the previous player if you think they've added a letter that can't lead to any real word — if they're bluffing they lose, if they had a word in mind, you do. Spell out GHOST and you're eliminated.

Build a ridiculous story one sentence at a time, alternating openings. First player: “Fortunately, we found a shortcut.” Next: “Unfortunately, it led straight into a swamp.” Then “Fortunately…”, “Unfortunately…”, each player swinging the tale up and down. No winners — just see how gloriously far off the rails it goes. Great with kids.

Pose an impossible choice — “Would you rather be able to fly, or be invisible?” — and everyone answers and defends it. The fun is entirely in the arguing. Keep them coming around the car. For long drives, make a rule that each answer has to come with a reason, which turns a two-minute game into a half-hour debate.

Each player states three things about themselves — two true, one invented. Everyone else votes on which is the lie. Score a point for each person you fool, and a point for each lie you correctly spot. A brilliant way to learn that your cousin once met a moose.

Pick something to tally and watch out the window. Cows: each side of the car counts cows on their side; pass a cemetery on your side and you lose all yours (“bury your cows”). Padiddle: first to spot a car with one headlight out calls “Padiddle!” for a point. Slug Bug: a (gentle) point for each spotted. Set a target or just play till someone naps.

Whoever stays silent the longest wins. That's the whole game. It has been deployed by tired drivers since the invention of the automobile and remains, somehow, undefeated.

Count upward around the car — one, two, three… — but any number that's a multiple of 7 or contains a 7 must be replaced with “buzz!” (7, 14, 17, 21, 27, 28…). Say the number by mistake, or buzz when you shouldn't, and the count restarts (or you're out). Veterans add “fizz” for 5s at the same time — fizz, buzz, and at 35, “fizz-buzz.” Speeds up wonderfully as everyone gets cocky.

Play

One player (the word-master) thinks of a secret word and announces its first letter — say, “S.” The others try to trap them: someone thinks of a word starting with S and gives a clue for it (“a reptile without legs”). If another guesser knows it, they yell “Contact!”, count down 3-2-1, and both say their word aloud. If they match (“snake!” “snake!”), the word-master must reveal the next letter — unless the word-master beats the countdown by naming the clue's answer first (“it's not snake”).

With each revealed letter, clues must fit the growing prefix. Guessers win by eventually naming the secret word; the word-master wins by surviving the alphabet siege. The best pure-talk game there is for a long dark highway.

Setup

Split into two teams. Each team secretly writes prompts for the other team on scraps of paper — movies, books, songs, animals, famous people, or family in-jokes.

Play

One player draws a prompt and acts it out silently — no words, no mouthing, no pointing at objects and no sounds — while their team shouts guesses against a 2-minute timer. Solved in time = a point.

The standard gestures

• Category: movie = crank an old camera · book = open your palms · song = pretend to sing · TV = draw a rectangle · person = stand hands-on-hips.
• Counts: hold up fingers for the number of words, then which word you're acting; tap your forearm with fingers for the syllable count.
• Shortcuts: “sounds like” = tug your earlobe · “shorter/longer” = pinch or stretch your hands · “whole idea” = sweep both arms · on the nose = someone got it, tap your nose and point.

Setup

One player is the moderator and deals secret roles (scraps of paper work): two Werewolves, one Seer, one Doctor, everyone else a Villager. (With 10+, add a third wolf.)

Night

The moderator says “everyone sleep” — all eyes closed. Then, one at a time: wolves wake and silently pick a victim · Seer wakes and points at someone; the moderator nods if they're a wolf · Doctor wakes and picks one person to protect.

Day

Everyone wakes; the moderator announces who was taken in the night (unless the Doctor saved them). The survivors debate, accuse, and vote someone out — that player reveals their role and is gone. Then night falls again.

Winning

Villagers win when both wolves are voted out. Wolves win when they equal the villagers. Dead players stay silent — the hardest rule in the game. Firelight makes it perfect.

Setup

Everyone writes 3–5 names or things on scraps of paper — people, characters, animals, anything — into one bowl (a hat or pot works). Two teams.

Three rounds, same papers

1. Describe: 60 seconds to get your team to guess as many papers as possible using any words except the answer itself. Keep guessed slips; the bowl passes at the buzzer.
2. One word: all papers go back in. Same thing, but you may say only a single word per slip. (Everyone's heard them all once — that's the trick.)
3. Charades: back in the bowl one last time; act only, no sounds.

Most slips across all three rounds wins. Ideal at a picnic table.

Sit in a circle. One player whispers a sentence once to their neighbor, who whispers what they heard to the next, and so on around the ring. The last player says it aloud, then the original is revealed. No repeating, no clarifying — the mangling is the game. Longer, sillier sentences fail more spectacularly.

Hide-and-seek meets tag, after dark. One player is “it” with a flashlight and counts at base while everyone hides. Instead of tagging by hand, “it” tags by catching you in the beam and calling your name — then you're caught (or you become it, by house rule). Agree on boundaries in daylight first, and give little kids a buddy. Glow sticks on ankles make it magical and safer.

Reverse hide-and-seek: one player hides, everyone else counts, then all seek separately. When you find the hider, you don't say a word — you squeeze into the hiding spot with them. The pack grows, giggling, until the last searcher finds a spot stuffed with sardines. That last player hides first next round. Spectacular at dusk.

One player — the Ghost — hides while everyone else counts at base: “one o'clock, two o'clock… midnight!” Then all wander looking for the ghost. Whoever spots it yells “Ghost in the graveyard!” and everyone sprints for base while the ghost tries to tag someone. Anyone tagged becomes a ghost too — soon the dark is full of them. Last free player wins.

Setup

Two teams, two territories with a clear center line, one flag (bandana, towel) placed visibly in the back of each side, and one jail per side.

Play

Cross the line to steal the enemy flag. Get tagged on their side and you go to jail; a teammate can free you with a tag (walk back with a free pass). The flag carrier, if tagged, drops the flag where caught.

Winning

Carry the enemy flag back across the center line. Classic house rules to settle first: can you guard the flag closely (“no puppy-guarding” within ten paces is common), and does a freed prisoner get safe passage home.

The seeker stands at a fixed spot, closes their eyes and counts to 20 while everyone hides within sight of the seeker's spot. The seeker — feet planted — calls out anyone they can see. Then: “Camouflage! Ten!” — eyes closed for a 10-count while hiders must move closer and re-hide. Then a 5-count, then 3. Whoever's nearest the seeker without ever being spotted wins. Teaches sneaking; beloved by scouts.

Team hide-and-seek-tag, usually at dusk: a small team of hunters, everyone else hides across the whole (agreed!) area. Tagged players either join the hunters (snowball version — game accelerates to a thrilling end) or go to a jail that teammates can raid. Round ends when everyone's caught or a time limit hits. Set boundaries and a “game over” whistle signal first.

Setup

Deal 10 cards each. Place the rest face-down as the stock and flip the top card to start the discard pile. Aces are low (A-2-3 is a run; Q-K-A is not). Card values: face cards 10, ace 1, others pip value.

Play

Arrange your hand into melds: runs of 3+ consecutive cards in one suit, or sets of 3–4 of a rank. Unmatched cards are deadwood. Each turn: draw one card (top of stock or top of discard), then discard one. On the very first turn, the non-dealer may take the upcard or pass.

Ending a hand

• Knock (discard face-down) when your deadwood totals 10 or less; lay out melds and deadwood. The opponent may lay off cards onto your melds to shrink their deadwood.
• Gin — zero deadwood. +25 bonus, and the opponent may not lay off.
• Undercut — if the defender's deadwood ≤ the knocker's, the defender scores the difference +25.
• If only two stock cards remain and nobody knocks, the hand is a wash — redeal.

Scoring the match

Knocker scores the deadwood difference. First to 100 wins the game; classic scoring then adds 25 per hand won (“box”) and 100 for the game. Shutting someone out (they never scored) doubles everything.

Setup

Deal 7 each (10 each for two players; use two decks for 5+). Flip one card to start the discard pile, which stays spread out so all cards are visible.

Play

On your turn, draw either the top of the stock or dig into the discard pile: you may take any card in it, but you must also take every card on top of it, and you must immediately meld the card you dug for. Then meld any sets/runs face-up in front of you, lay off cards onto anyone's melds (announce where they go), and discard one.

Scoring

When someone goes out (plays their last card), the hand ends. Everyone scores: melded cards count for you, cards stuck in your hand count against you. Aces = 15 (or 5 when played low in A-2-3), faces = 10, number cards = pip value.

Winning

First to 500 total wins. Going negative is possible and very funny for everyone else.

Setup

Deal the whole deck — 13 each. The goal is to score as few points as possible: each ♥ = 1, the Q♠ = 13. (3 players: remove the 2♦; 5: remove 2♦ and 2♣.)

Passing

Before each hand, pass 3 cards: left, then right, then across, then no pass — repeating.

Play

• Whoever holds the 2♣ leads it to the first trick. Follow the led suit if you can; otherwise play anything — with one exception: no points (hearts or Q♠) may be dumped on the first trick.
• Hearts can't be led until a heart has been discarded on another trick (“hearts are broken”), unless you hold nothing else.
• Highest card of the led suit takes the trick and leads next. There is no trump.

Scoring

Count your hearts and the Q♠. Shooting the moon — taking all 26 points — scores you 0 and everyone else 26. Play to 100; when someone crosses it, lowest total wins.

Setup

Two partnerships, partners across. Deal 13 each. Spades are always trump and can't be led until “broken” (played on another suit's trick) unless you have nothing else.

Bidding

Each player bids the number of tricks they expect to win, in turn, no passing; partners' bids combine into a team contract. Nil = a bid to win zero tricks (+100 if you make it, −100 if you take even one). Blind nil (bid before looking at your cards, when your team is down 100+) = ±200.

Play

Player left of dealer leads anything but a spade. Follow suit if able; a spade beats any non-spade. Highest spade — or highest card of the led suit if no spade appears — wins the trick.

Scoring

Make the contract: 10 × bid, plus 1 per overtrick (“bag”). Collect 10 bags across hands and you lose 100. Miss the contract: −10 × bid. First team to 500 wins.

Setup

Strip the deck to 24 cards: 9, 10, J, Q, K, A in each suit. Partners across. Deal 5 each (traditionally in packets of 2 and 3); flip the next card face-up.

Trump & bowers

In the trump suit, the Jack (right bower) is highest, then the other Jack of the same color (left bower) — which counts as a trump — then A, K, Q, 10, 9.

Bidding

Round one: each player may tell the dealer to “pick it up” (the upcard's suit becomes trump; dealer takes the card and discards one) or pass. Round two: if all passed, the upcard is turned down and players may name any other suit as trump, or pass; if everyone passes again, throw in the hand. The team that names trump are the makers.

Play & scoring

• Left of dealer leads; follow suit if able (the left bower counts as trump, not its printed suit). Highest trump, or highest card of the suit led, wins.
• Makers take 3–4 tricks = 1 pt · all 5 (“march”) = 2 · fail = defenders score 2 (“euchred”).
• Going alone: the maker may play without their partner; a lone march = 4 pts.

First team to 10 wins.

Setup

One player deals (rotate each round or whenever someone gets blackjack). Everyone antes a token — pretzels and pinecones work fine. Each player gets 2 cards face-up; the dealer takes one up, one down.

Goal

Get closer to 21 than the dealer without going over. Faces = 10, ace = 1 or 11 (your choice), others pip value. An ace + a ten-card on the deal = blackjack, instant win (traditionally pays 3:2).

Play

In turn, each player may hit (take a card) as often as they like, or stand. Go over 21 = bust, out immediately. Then the dealer reveals and must hit until reaching 17 or more. Beat the dealer's total to win the round. Optional: double down (one card only, double stakes) and splitting pairs into two hands.

Setup

Deal the whole deck. Ranking: 2 is highest, then A, K… down to 3. The first hand has no roles; afterwards, players are President, Vice-President, … down to the Scum, and seats/perks shift accordingly.

Play

Whoever holds the 3♣ leads (any single or set of equal cards, e.g. a pair of 6s). Each player in turn must play the same number of cards of higher rank, or pass. When everyone passes, the pile clears and the last player to play leads fresh. First out of cards is President; last is the Scum.

Between hands

The Scum hands the President their two best cards; the President returns any two. (Vice pairs trade one.) The Scum also deals and the President leads. Common house rules: 2 clears the pile; four of a kind reverses ranking — agree first.

Setup

Deal 6 cards each, face-down in a 2×3 grid. Flip any two of your cards face-up. Rest of the deck is stock; flip one to start the discard pile. Like golf, low score wins.

Play

On your turn, draw from stock or discard, then either swap it for any card in your grid (face-up or down — the replaced card goes to the discard) or discard it. When one player's grid is fully face-up, everyone else gets one last turn, then all cards flip.

Scoring

Aces = 1 · 2s = −2 · 3–10 = pip value · J/Q = 10 · K = 0. A pair in the same column cancels to zero. Play 9 “holes” (hands); lowest total wins the round of golf.

Setup

Deal 7 piles: 1 card, then 2, … up to 7, only the top card of each face-up. Remaining cards form the stock. Four foundations (one per suit) start empty.

Play

• Build the tableau piles down, alternating colors (red 9 on black 10). Move single cards or sequences together.
• A space left by an emptied pile can only be filled by a King (or a King-led sequence).
• Flip the newly exposed card whenever a face-down card is uncovered.
• Turn the stock 3 at a time (easy mode: 1 at a time), playing the top card if you can; recycle when it runs out.
• Build foundations up by suit from the ace: A-2-3…K.

Win by getting all 52 onto the foundations. Roughly 1 in 3 deals is winnable with the 3-card draw — don't take it personally.

Setup

Deal 5 cards each (7 for two players). Flip one to start the discard pile.

Play

Match the top card's suit or rank. Eights are wild — play one anytime and call the next suit. Can't play? Draw until you can (house rule: max 3 draws, then pass). First to empty their hand wins; for points, losers' hand cards count against them (8 = 50, faces = 10, ace = 1).

Popular add-ons: 2 = next player draws two (stackable) · Queen = skip · Jack = reverse. Agree before dealing or prepare for mutiny.

Deal 5–7 each; the rest is the “pond.” On your turn, ask a specific player for a rank you already hold (“Any sevens?”). If they have any, they hand all of them over and you ask again — anyone. If not: “Go fish” — draw from the pond; if you draw what you asked for, show it and keep going. Completed sets of four go face-up. When all 13 sets are claimed, most sets wins.

Remove three queens, leaving one — the Old Maid. Deal everything out. All players discard pairs from their hands. Then, in turn, each player blindly draws one card from the neighbor on their left, discarding any new pair made. Hands shrink until only the lone queen remains — whoever's stuck holding her loses, and everyone else wins together.

Deal the whole deck face-down; players don't look at their cards. In turn, flip your top card quickly onto a center pile. When a Jack appears — slap it! First hand on the pile takes the whole stack. Slap a non-Jack and you pay each player one card. Run out of cards and you get one last chance: slap the next Jack to rejoin. Last player holding all the cards wins. (Trim fingernails first.)

Split the deck evenly, face-down. Both flip their top card; higher takes both (aces high). On a tie it's war: each lays three cards face-down and one face-up — the higher face-up card takes all ten. Out of cards mid-war? Your last card plays. Collect the whole deck to win. Zero skill, infinite drama — ideal for traffic jams.

Setup

Place one fewer spoon than players in the middle (forks from the mess kit work). Deal 4 cards each; dealer keeps the deck.

Play

The dealer draws a card, keeps or passes it face-down to the left, always holding exactly 4; everyone continuously passes cards around the circle at whatever speed chaos allows. The moment someone collects four of a kind, they grab a spoon — sneakily or blatantly — and then everyone grabs. The player left empty-handed takes a letter of S-P-O-O-N (or is simply out, removing a spoon too). Last survivor wins.

The all-time move: get your four of a kind and quietly slide a spoon out while continuing to pass cards, watching the table slowly notice.

Setup

Deal 3 cards each; flip one to start the discard pile. Everyone gets three lives (pebbles, matches, pretzels). Goal: get your hand's same-suit total as close to 31 as possible — aces = 11, faces = 10. Three of a kind counts 30.

Play

Draw from the stock or discard pile, then discard, always holding 3. When you like your hand, knock instead of drawing — everyone else gets one final turn, then hands show. Lowest total loses a life; hitting exactly 31 ends the hand instantly and everyone else loses a life.

Winning

Lose all three lives and you're “on your honor” — lose once more and you're out. Last player alive wins.

Setup

Each player gets 3 face-down cards (don't look!), 3 face-up on top of them, and a hand of 3. Before starting you may swap hand cards with your face-up row to bank good ones.

Play

Play a card (or a set of equals) onto the pile that's equal or higher than the top card, then draw back up to 3 while the stock lasts. Can't play? Pick up the whole pile. Magic cards: 2 resets the pile (play anything next), 10 burns the pile away entirely (and go again); four of a kind on top also burns.

Endgame

Hand and stock gone, play your face-up cards; those gone, flip your face-down cards blind, one per turn — flip a loser and the pile's yours. First to shed everything wins; last player is the Scumbag and deals next.

Setup

Deal 7 each; place the stock in the middle and flip one card onto each of its four sides (N, S, E, W).

Play

On your turn, draw one card, then play as many moves as you can: build the side piles down, alternating colors (like solitaire); move a whole pile onto another if it fits the sequence; fill emptied side slots with any card. Kings — and only Kings — start the four diagonal corner piles.

Winning

First to play out their whole hand wins. For points, losers count cards left (10 per King). Low equipment, high spite.

Play

Deal the whole deck face-down; no peeking. Take turns flipping cards fast onto a center pile. When someone flips a face card or ace, the next player must flip another face/ace within a set number of tries — J = 1, Q = 2, K = 3, A = 4 — or the challenger takes the pile.

Slaps

Anyone may slap the pile and win it instantly on: a double (two equal cards in a row) or a sandwich (equal cards separated by one). False slap = pay two cards to the pile's bottom. House rules add marriages (K then Q) and runs — agree first.

Run out of cards and you can only slap your way back in. Whoever holds the whole deck wins. Trim fingernails; hide jewelry.