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Introduction
A card game is any game that uses playing cards as the primary device with which the game is played, whether the cards are of a traditional design or specifically created for the game (proprietary). Countless card games exist, including families of related games (such as poker). A small number of card games played with traditional decks have formally standardized rules with international tournaments being held, but most are folk games whose rules may vary by region, culture, location or from circle to circle.
Traditional card games are played with a deck or pack of playing cards which are identical in size and shape. Each card has two sides, the face and the back. Normally the backs of the cards are indistinguishable. The faces of the cards may all be unique, or there can be duplicates. The composition of a deck is known to each player. In some cases several decks are shuffled together to form a single pack or shoe. Modern card games usually have bespoke decks, often with a vast amount of cards, and can include number or action cards. This type of game is generally regarded as part of the board game hobby. (Full article...)
Selected general articles
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Image 1
Catch the ten, also called Scots whist or Scotch whist, is an 18th-century point-trick ace–ten card game that is recorded as being played only in Scotland, although evidence suggests a possible German origin. Unlike standard whist, it is played with a pack of only 36 cards, the fives and below being omitted. In the trump suit, the jack is the highest card. Despite its alternative name, it has nothing to do with standard whist. (Full article...) -
Image 2
1001 is a point-trick card game of German origin for two players that is similar to sixty-six. It is known in German as Tausendundeins and Tausendeins ("1001") or Kiautschou. The winner is the first to 1001 points, hence the name. Hülsemann describes the game as "one of the most stimulating for two players", one that must be played "fast and freely". (Full article...) -
Image 3
Polskpas, Polsk Pas, or Polskt Pass is a Scandinavian 5-card plain-trick game for four individual players using 24 cards.
Eldest hand has the first right to accept or make trumps. As is typical for Schafkopf card games, which are normally point-trick games, the four Jacks are known as Wenzels and form permanent highest trumps. Polskpas is similar to the historical German game of Kontraspiel. (Full article...) -
Image 4
Fipsen or Fips is an old north German card game for 4 or 5 players that resembles British Nap in some respects. It is a trick-taking game played with a standard Skat pack that was once popular across North Germany in the former states of Schleswig, Holstein, Mecklenburg and Pomerania, but is now restricted to the south Holstein region. In the village of Thedinghausen in Lower Saxony, a rather different game is played under the same name for currant buns called Hedewigs. It has been described as "quite a special card game" that is "ancient, but very easy to learn". (Full article...) -
Image 5
All fours is a traditional English card game, once popular in pubs and taverns as well as among the gentry, that flourished as a gambling game until the end of the 19th century. It is a trick-taking card game that was originally designed for two players, but developed variants for more players. According to Charles Cotton, the game originated in Kent, but spread to the whole of England and eventually abroad.
It is the eponymous and earliest recorded game of a family that flourished most in 19th century North America and whose progeny include pitch, pedro and cinch, games that even competed with poker and euchre. Nowadays the original game is especially popular in Trinidad and Tobago, but regional variants have also survived in England. The game's "great mark of distinction" is that it gave the name 'jack' to the card previously known as the knave.
The game has a number of unusual features. In trick play, players are allowed to trump instead of following suit even if they could. The title refers to the possibility of winning all four game points for high, low, jack and game for holding (later winning) the highest and lowest trump in play and the jack of trumps and for winning the greatest number of card points. (Full article...) -
Image 6
Brus is a four-hand card game of German descent that was once played in Denmark and Estonia. The game is descended from the oldest known card game in Europe, Karnöffel, a fact testified by its unusual card ranking and lack of a uniform trump suit.
Brus is designed for four players and is played with 36 cards of a French pack, each of the four suits comprising the cards 6-10, Jack, Queen, King and Ace. (Full article...) -
Image 7
Zwikken (pronounced "tsvikker") is a Dutch gambling game of the trick-and-trump type using playing cards and designed for three to six players. It is "an old soldiers' game", still popular among the military today. (Full article...) -
Image 8
Elfern or Elfmandeln, is a very old, German and Austrian 6-card, no-trump, trick-and-draw game for two players using a 32-card, French-suited Piquet pack or German-suited Skat pack. The object is to win the majority of the 20 honours: the Ace, King, Queen, Jack and Ten in a Piquet pack or the Ace, King, Ober, Unter and Ten in a Skat pack. Elfern is at least 250 years old and a possible ancestor to the Marriage family of card games, yet it is still played by German children. (Full article...) -
Image 9
Kop is a minimalist Polish card game of the Schafkopf family for four players played using traditional French-suited playing cards. It uses a shortened pack of just 16 cards and is similar to Baśka, another fast moving Polish game. Both are derived from German Schafkopf. (Full article...) -
Image 10
Rosbiratschka is a trick-taking, compendium, card game for three or four players that is played with a German-suited pack of 32 or 24 cards. (Full article...) -
Image 11
Sjavs is a Danish card game of the Schafkopf family that is played in two main variants. In Denmark, it is a 3-player game, played with a shortened pack of 20 cards; in the Faroe Islands, where it is very popular, it is a four-hand, partnership game using a standard piquet pack of 32 cards. (Full article...) -
Image 12304, pronounced three-nought-four, is a trick-taking card game popular in Sri Lanka, coastal Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Maharashtra, in the Indian subcontinent. The game is played by two teams of two using a subset (7 through Ace of all suits) of the 52 standard playing cards so that there are 32 cards in play.
The game twenty-eight is thought to be descended from it. (Full article...) -
Image 13
Sedmice ("Seven") is a card game of the Sedma family played in the states of the former Yugoslavia. Like other games of this family, tricks are won by matching the led card in rank. In addition, the Sevens are wild, hence the name. In Croatia, the game is called Šuster. (Full article...) -
Image 14
Konter a Matt, Kontra a Matt or Konter a Midd is a Luxembourgish trick-taking card game played by four players. The game is popular enough to have been televised on RTL, Luxembourg's leading TV station and for tournaments to be organised. Konter a Matt is one of a family of similar games, known as the Couillon Group, played in the Benelux area. Other games in the family include the Belgian game of Couillon, known as Kwajongen in Flemish areas and Kujong in Luxembourg, the Dutch game of Troeven and the Belgian games of Brûte and Gamelle. (Full article...) -
Image 15
Pilotta (in Greek Πιλόττα) is a trick-taking 32-card game derived from Belote. It is played primarily in Cyprus, being very popular among the Cypriot population, especially the youngsters, who usually arrange “pilotta meetings” in places such as cafés and cafeterias. Its counterpart played in Greece is named Vida (in Greek βίδα). (Full article...) -
Image 16
Bruus, formerly Brausebart or Brusbart, is a north German card game for four players in two teams of two. It was once highly popular but has since died out except for a few pockets in the state of Schleswig-Holstein. As Brusbart, it was the ancestor of a family of similar games in northern Europe, including Swedish Bräus and Danish Brus which are still played today. Bruus features 'daring and tormenting' which has been said to give the game a certain charm. Once considered the national game of Hamburg, Bruus is a descendant of Karnöffel, the oldest identifiable European card game in the history of playing cards with a continuous tradition of play down to the present day. The game is named after the Bruus or Brusbart, once its top card, but now its second-highest trump. (Full article...) -
Image 17Zwanzig ab, 20 ab or simply Zwanzig is card game for four players. It is a member of the Rams family in which the key feature is that players may choose to drop out of the game if they believe their hand is not strong enough to take a minimum number of tricks. It appears to be a recent, internet-propagated variant of Schnalzen or Bohemian Watten. However, the latter has a natural card ranking, is played with double German cards and a Weli, has no exchanging and has a different scoring system. It is suitable for children from 8 upwards. It may be related from Fünf dazu! which is a simpler game described by Gööck in 1967 that has neither trumps nor the option to drop out. (Full article...)
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Image 18
Hearts is an "evasion-type" trick-taking playing card game for four players, although most variations can accommodate between three and six players. It was first recorded in America in the 1880s and has many variants, some of which are also referred to as "Hearts", especially the games of Black Lady and Black Maria. The game is a member of the Whist group of trick-taking games (which also includes Bridge and Spades), but is unusual among Whist variants in that it is a trick-avoidance game; players avoid winning certain penalty cards in tricks, usually by avoiding winning tricks altogether. The original game of Hearts is still current but has been overtaken in popularity by Black Lady in the United States and Black Maria in Great Britain. (Full article...) -
Image 19
Oma Skat or Grandmother's Skat (in German, also Blinden-Skat or Skat mit totem Mann) is a variation of the card game, Skat, for two players. It is especially popular in the Lüneburg Heath area of north Germany, but is also played in other parts of Germany, albeit sometimes under other, regional names.
The game is usually played when a third player is unavailable, but also to introduce beginners to the Germany's most popular card game, as it is easier to play than conventional Skat. (Full article...) -
Image 20
Klaberjass (German: [ˈklaːbɐˌjas]) or Bela is a trick-taking ace–ten card game that is most popular in German communities. In its basic form it is a 9-card trick-and-draw game for two players using a 32-card piquet pack.
As in other point-trick games of the king–queen group, players can score points for the "marriage" (bela) of king and queen of trumps. The distinguishing feature of Klaberjass is that the jack (Jass) and nine (Manille) of trumps are elevated to the highest ranks and highest card point scores. (Full article...) -
Image 21
Mistigri, historically Pamphile, is an old, French, trick-taking card game for three or four players that has elements reminiscent of poker. It is a member of the Rams family of games and, although it is a gambling game, often played for small stakes, it is also suitable as a party game or as a family game with children from the age of 12 upwards. (Full article...) -
Image 22
Letzter Stich is a card game for 3 or 4 players in which the aim is solely to win the last trick. It originated in Germany and the names mean "last trick" respectively. It has been described as suitable for children, yet having a "surprising wealth of interesting game situations." It should not be confused with Letzter, a reverse game of greater complexity where the aim is to lose the last trick. (Full article...) -
Image 23Herzblatt or Herzblättchen is a German card game of the ace–ten family for two to five players. It bears a certain resemblance to the extinct 19th-century game of Piquesept, however without the special rules associated with the trump Seven. (Full article...)
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Image 24
Letzter is a card game for 3 or 4 players in which the aim is not to win the last trick. It originated in Germany and the names mean "the last one". It should not be confused with Letzter Stich which is a much simpler, positive game in which the aim is to win the last trick. (Full article...) -
Image 25
Svängknack ("swing knock") is a Swedish card game for 6 to 8 players that is a further development of Knack and, like the latter, is mainly played for money. (Full article...)
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Selected images
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Image 1North German pattern: the Kings (from French-suited playing cards)
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Image 2Deck celebrating the union of Brittany and France with Spanish suits but has queens instead of knights (Antoine de Logiriera of Toulouse, c. 1500). (from French-suited playing cards)
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Image 3The values of Königrufen cards. The columns (from l to r) are: Card Type, Number, Card Value (from Königrufen)
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Image 4Historically, card games such as whist and contract bridge were opportunities for quiet socializing, as shown in this 1930s magic lantern slide photo taken in Seattle, Washington. (from Card game)
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Image 5Sigmund Freud indulged in Königrufen in his spare time. (from Königrufen)
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Image 6Petrtyl's deck with Indian and American motifs (from Königrufen)
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Image 9Galicia with today's limits (from Königrufen)
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Image 10Bukovina (orange) (from Königrufen)
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Image 11French Rouen pattern on the left, Spanish Toledo pattern on the right (from French-suited playing cards)
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Image 13The Ober of Bells from a Württemberg-pattern pack (from Binokel)
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Image 14Modern pack of Tarock cards by Piatnik; Industrie und Glück design, Type 6 by Josef Neumayer, 1890 (from Königrufen)
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Image 16Dondorf Rhineland pattern (from French-suited playing cards)
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Image 17The standard English (Anglo-American or International) pack uses French suit symbols. Cards by Piatnik (from French-suited playing cards)
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Image 18Pagats by a modern, Central European manufacturer; three type 6, one type 5 (here smaller, in Austria however usually larger than type 6) (from Königrufen)
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Image 20Russian pattern (from French-suited playing cards)
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Image 22Chinese mother-of-pearl gambling tokens used in scoring and bidding of card games. (from Card game)
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Image 23A transitional deck with suits of hearts and crescents (François Clerc of Lyon, late 15th century) (from French-suited playing cards)
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Image 24Book cover detail of the Illustrirtes Wiener Tarokbuch of 1899 (from Königrufen)
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Image 25Belgian pattern (from French-suited playing cards)
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Image 26Austrian-style 54-card Tarock hand (from Königrufen)
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Image 27The four lowest trumps from an 18th-century animal Tarock pack (from Königrufen)
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Image 28Baronesse pattern (from French-suited playing cards)
Subcategories
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Subtopics
Non trick-taking card games | |
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Adding | |
Collecting | |
Commerce | |
Comparing | |
Compendium | |
Draw and discard | |
Fishing | |
Matching | |
Shedding | |
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