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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Unteransetzen, Unteranlegen, Unterauflegen or Unterlegen is an Austrian and Bavarian card game of the Domino family for 2-6 players that is played exclusively with German-suited playing cards. The name means refers to the building of cards onto an Unter (the equivalent of the Jack in a French pack). It is a classic children's game. (Full article...) - Image 2
Tute (Spanish pronunciation: [ˈtute] ⓘ) is a trick-taking card game of the ace–ten family for two to four players. Originating in Italy, where it was known as tutti, during the 19th century the game spread in Spain, becoming one of the most popular card games in the country. The name of the game was later modified by Spanish speakers, who started calling the game tute. The game is played with a deck of traditional Spanish playing cards, or naipes, that is very similar to the Italian 40-card deck.
The classic version of the game is two-player tute, while the most played is tute in pairs, where four players form two teams. The object of the game is to score the most points in the baza (a pile next to a player that contains the cards that the player gets after winning a trick) and by declarations (holding certain combinations of cards). Due to its wide popularity, several variations of the game exist. (Full article...) - Image 3Russian Schnapsen, Thousand Schnapsen, 1000 or Tysiacha is a trick-taking game of the ace–ten family for three players, the aim of which is to score over 1000 points to win the game. It is a variant of the popular Austrian game of Schnapsen. Like its parent, Russian Schnapsen features "marriages" (pairs of a King and Ober/Queen of the same suit) which are worth extra points. (Full article...)
- Image 4Turkish king (also called Rıfkı) is a Turkish compendium game for four players comprising 20 rounds. It is a variety of the game king, which is popular in France, Belgium, Italy, Portugal, Russia, Colombia, and Brazil. (Full article...)
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Scharwenzel, formerly also called Schipper-Schrill, is a traditional north German plain-trick card game of the Schafkopf family that is played by two teams with two to four players on each team. The game is at least three centuries old and is played today only on the island of Fehmarn in the German state of Schleswig-Holstein. It may be a regional variant of German Solo with which it bears some similarities and it may also have been ancestral to Schafkopf. It is not related to a different game called Scharwenzel or Scherwenzel that was once played in Bavaria. (Full article...) - Image 6Two-ten-jack is a Japanese trick-taking card game for two players that takes its name from the three highest-scoring (and lowest-scoring) cards in the game: the 2, 10 and Jack in three different suits. (Full article...)
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Barbu, also known as Tafferan, is a trick-taking, compendium card game similar to hearts, in which four players take turns leading seven different sub-games (known as contracts) over the course of 28 deals. Barbu originated in France in the early 20th century where it was especially popular with university students, and became a prominent game among French bridge players in the 1960s. The French version of the game was originally played with a stripped deck of 32 cards ranked seven to ace in each suit. Modern forms are played with a full 52-card deck. Barbu may be descended from earlier compendium games popular with students and originating in the Austro-Hungarian Empire such as Lorum or Quodlibet.
Barbu literally means 'the bearded [man]', a reference to the common depiction of the king of hearts, which is the only heart with a beard. This card is of special significance in one of the seven contracts featured in the game. (Full article...) - Image 8
Officers' Skat (Offiziersskat), is a trick-taking card game for two players which is based on the rules of Skat. It may be played with a German or French pack of 32 cards which, from the outset of the game, are laid out in rows both face down and face up. As in Skat, tricks are taken and card points counted to determine the winner of a round; game points are then awarded to decide the winner of a game. There are several local variations of the game, which differ mainly in the number of cards revealed or hidden and the calculation of points. (Full article...) - Image 9
Hindersche or Hintersche [ˈhɪntɐʃə], also known as 4-Strich, is an unusual card game, of the trick-avoidance genre, that is still played in the Black Forest region of Germany. The game includes the unique feature – known as schleipfen – of allowing a player to take a trick won by an opponent, provided no-one objects. (Full article...) - Image 10
Marjapussi is a traditional Finnish trick taking game for 4 players playing in 2 partnerships and is one of the Mariage family, its key feature being that the trump suit is determined in the middle of the play by declaring a marriage (a king and a queen of a same suit). There are variants of marjapussi for two and three players. (Full article...) - Image 11
Bierlachs, also Bierskat, Bierscat, Lachs or Beer Skat, is a variant of Germany's national card game, Skat, in which the winner is the first to score a fixed number of points. It is predominantly played for beer in pubs and restaurants. (Full article...) - Image 12
Schafkopf (German: [ˈʃaːfkɔpf], lit. 'sheep's head'), also called Bavarian Schafkopf, is a popular German trick-taking card game of the ace–ten family for four players that evolved, towards the end of the 19th century, from German Schafkopf. It is still very popular in Bavaria, where it is their national card game played by around two million people, but it also played elsewhere in Germany and in Austria. It is an official cultural asset and important part of the Old Bavarian and Franconian way of life. Schafkopf is a mentally demanding pastime that is considered "the supreme discipline of Bavarian card games" and "the mother of all trump games."
Its closest relatives are Doppelkopf and Skat. These three and the North American game of Sheepshead descend from an earlier game, also called Schafkopf, with influences from Solo which, in turn, is the German version of Quadrille. The earliest written reference to the earlier form of Schafkopf – now known as German Schafkopf – dates to 1780, although it only came to notice through the polite society of Altenburg in 1811. Some kind of Schafkopf was current in Franconia (northern Bavaria) in the first half of the 19th century, but the distinct Bavarian form of the game is only positively recorded from 1879, since when it has become the dominant form, whereas German Schafkopf is only played in a number of local variants, for example, in the Palatinate as Alte Schoofkopp or Bauernstoss. Bierkopf and Mucken are simple variants which make a useful introduction to the more complex Schafkopf. (Full article...) - Image 13
Jass (German pronunciation: [ˈjas] ⓘ) is a family of trick taking, ace–ten card games and, in its key forms, a distinctive branch of the marriage family. It is popular in its native Switzerland as well as the rest of the Alemannic German-speaking area of Europe, Italian South Tyrol and in a few places in Wisconsin, Ohio, California, Oregon and Washington USA.
The most common variant of Jass is Schieber (in Vorarlberg also known as Krüzjass), which is played by two teams of two players each. It is often considered Switzerland's national card game, and is so popular there that the Swiss have come to apply the name Jass to trick-taking card games in general. (Full article...) - Image 14
Polignac (a.k.a. Jeux des Valets) is a French 18th century trick-taking card game ancestral to Hearts and Black Maria. It is played by 3-6 players with a 32-card deck. It is sometimes played as a party game with the 52-card pack; however, it is better as a serious game for four, playing all against all. Other names for this game include Quatre Valets and Stay Away. Knaves is a variant and it is also similar to the Austrian and German games, Slobberhannes, Eichelobern and Grasobern. (Full article...) - Image 15
Mucken or Muck is a variation of the popular German card game, Schafkopf. However, unlike Schafkopf, it must always be played in teams of 2 players, so there are no soloist or Rufer ("caller") contracts. Mucken is mainly found in the province of Upper Franconia in the German state of Bavaria. Mucken is often played in Franconian restaurants, as it is part of the Franconian pub culture. The details of the rules vary greatly, even from village to village. (Full article...) - Image 16Trekort, tre-kort or, in Swedish, also trikort, is an old card game of Danish origin for four or five players that was usually played for money. It was also known in Sweden, where it developed into the variant of knack. The name trekort is also loosely used to describe related three-card games such as Swedish köpknack. The name means "three cards" and may therefore be related to German Dreiblatt. (Full article...)
- Image 17Ulti, or Ultimó, is Hungary's national trick-taking card game for three players. It is virtually unknown outside its home borders. (Full article...)
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Bezique (/bəˈziːk/) or bésigue (French: [beziɡ]) is a 19th-century French melding and trick-taking card game for two players that came to Britain and is still played today. The game is derived from piquet, possibly via marriage (sixty-six) and briscan, with additional scoring features, notably the peculiar liaison of the Q♠ and J♦ that is also a feature of pinochle, Binokel, and similarly named games that vary by country. (Full article...) - Image 19
Schnalzen is an Austrian card game for 4 players and a member of the Rams group of games 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 is, broadly speaking, Ramsen with the Weli as the second-highest trump. Players are dealt 5 cards and may not exchange. The Weli is the second-highest trump and game is 20 points. (Full article...) - Image 20
Bid whist is a partnership trick-taking variant of the classic card game whist. As indicated by the name, bid whist adds a bidding element to the game that is not present in classic whist. Bid whist, along with spades, remains popular particularly in U.S. military culture and a tradition in African-American culture. (Full article...) - Image 21
Quodlibet (Latin: "what you like") is a traditional card game and drinking game associated with central European student fraternities that is played with William Tell pattern cards and in which the dealer is known as the 'beer king'. It is a compendium, trick-taking game for 4 players using a 32-card pack of German-suited playing cards. The Bavarian game of Rumpel is descended from Quodlibet. (Full article...) - Image 22
Ramscheln, also called Ramsch, is a German card game for three to five players, which is usually played for small stakes. It is a variant of Mönch and a member of the Rams group of card games characterised by allowing players to drop out of the current game if they think they will be unable to win any tricks or a minimum number of tricks. It should not be confused with Ramsch, an unofficial contract in Skat, played when everyone passes, in which the aim is not to score the most card points. (Full article...) - Image 23
Lampeln or Lampln is an old Bavarian and Austrian plain-trick card game that is still played in a few places today. It is one of the Rams group of card games characterised by allowing players to drop out of the current game if they think they will be unable to win any tricks or a minimum number of tricks. (Full article...) - Image 24
Tapp (Swabian: Dapp or Dappen) is a trick-taking, card game for 3 or 4 players using 36 French-suited cards that is played in the south German region of Swabia, especially in the former Kingdom of Württemberg. It is the French-suited offshoot of German Tarok; its German-suited form being called Württemberg Tarock (German: Württembergischer Tarock) in that region. Tapp is one of a family of similar games that include Bavarian Tarock, the Austrian games of Bauerntarock and Dobbm, and the American games of frog and six-bid solo. Although probably first played in the early nineteenth century, the game of Tapp is still a local pastime in its native Württemberg, albeit in a greatly elaborated form. (Full article...) - Image 25
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...)
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Selected images
- Image 1Bukovina (orange) (from Königrufen)
- Image 2A transitional deck with suits of hearts and crescents (François Clerc of Lyon, late 15th century) (from French-suited playing cards)
- Image 3The four lowest trumps from an 18th-century animal Tarock pack (from Königrufen)
- Image 4North German pattern: the Kings (from French-suited playing cards)
- Image 5The values of Königrufen cards. The columns (from l to r) are: Card Type, Number, Card Value (from Königrufen)
- Image 6Book cover detail of the Illustrirtes Wiener Tarokbuch of 1899 (from Königrufen)
- Image 7Dondorf Rhineland pattern (from French-suited playing cards)
- Image 8Austrian-style 54-card Tarock hand (from Königrufen)
- Image 9Galicia with today's limits (from Königrufen)
- Image 10Pagats by a modern, Central European manufacturer; three type 6, one type 5 (here smaller, in Austria however usually larger than type 6) (from Königrufen)
- Image 12Sigmund Freud indulged in Königrufen in his spare time. (from Königrufen)
- Image 13The Ober of Bells from a Württemberg-pattern pack (from Binokel)
- Image 14Belgian pattern (from French-suited playing cards)
- Image 15French Rouen pattern on the left, Spanish Toledo pattern on the right (from French-suited playing cards)
- Image 17Deck 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)
- Image 22The standard English (Anglo-American or International) pack uses French suit symbols. Cards by Piatnik (from French-suited playing cards)
- Image 23Petrtyl's deck with Indian and American motifs (from Königrufen)
- Image 24Modern pack of Tarock cards by Piatnik; Industrie und Glück design, Type 6 by Josef Neumayer, 1890 (from Königrufen)
- Image 25Russian pattern (from French-suited playing cards)
- Image 26Baronesse pattern (from French-suited playing cards)
- Image 27Chinese mother-of-pearl gambling tokens used in scoring and bidding of card games. (from Card game)
- Image 28Historically, 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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Subtopics
Non trick-taking card games | |
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Adding | |
Collecting | |
Commerce | |
Comparing | |
Compendium | |
Draw and discard | |
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