Written June 2025
These are some of my favorite card games, house rules included!
2–3 players. Each player is dealt 11 cards. One card is turned face-up to start the discard pile, and a different card (e.g. all 7's) is chosen as the wildcard joker. On your turn: 1) draw from the deck or discard pile, 2) lay down valid sets (same rank) or runs (sequential same-suit cards) of 3 or more, and 3) discard one card. To win, arrange all cards into valid groups and discard one final closing card.
2–4 players. The full deck is dealt evenly. The goal is to be the first to get rid of all your cards. Each player has two stacks: a face-down stack (Stack 1) and a face-up play stack (Stack 2), which shows the most recently played card.
The youngest player starts. On your turn: (1) First, try to play your top face-up card (Stack 2) onto another player's stack. (2) Then, take the top card from your face-down stack (Stack 1). If it can be played on a stack that's not yours, you must play it there. Otherwise, any player can call “Mongoose!” and give you two of their cards as a penalty. (3) Continue drawing and placing cards until your turn ends. A turn ends when you cannot place your card on any other stack, so you place it on your own stack.
You can get rid of cards by: (1) Playing a higher-value card (any suit) on another player’s top card (2) Playing a higher-balue card of the same suit onto one of the four central suit piles, which begin with Aces (must be placed immediately when drawn)
Once your face-down stack is empty, flip over your face-up stack to continue. No shuffling allowed. First to empty their stacks wins.
2–4 players. The goal is to get rid of all your cards. Each round starts with a lead player (rotates each round), who declares a value (e.g., “two Eights”) and places up to 4 cards face-down—truthfully or as a bluff.
On their turn, each subsequent player may: (1) Add cards claiming the same value, (2) Pass, or (3) Call “bluff” and flip any one of the previous player’s cards.
If the flipped card is a bluff (not the claimed value), the original player takes the full pile. If it’s truthful, the caller takes the entire pile. The pile is cleared from the table when all players pass in a full rotation.
4+ players. 1+ decks. Place 1 fewer spoon than players in the center. Each player gets 4 cards; the goal is to collect 4 of a kind. Players pass cards around in a circle from the dealer’s draw pile. Once someone gets 4 of a kind, they grab a spoon — everyone else must too. The last without a spoon is out; remove one spoon and repeat until one player remains.
2+ players. 1+ card decks. Deal all cards evenly between players. Goal is to have all the cards.
Each player's hand is face down in a stack, and the top card is flipped and placed in the center. If a J/Q/K/A is placed, then the following player must flip over 1/2/3/4 cards respectively until they do or don't hit a face card. If they flip a face card, the next player does the same. If they don't flip a face card, the previous player takes the stack, and starts the next round. Criteria for slapping (and taking the center stack): Doubles: 2 of the same value are placed atop each other. Sandwich: 2 of the same value separated by only one card. First-card: Card of the same value as the bottom-most card is placed on top. Feel free to add more rules! If a pattern comes up but is not claimed/noticed before the next card is played, you can't undo a turn to go back to it.
2+ players. This is the addition-subtraction rule for Uno. You can play two cards of the same color whose sum or difference equals the top card—for example, a yellow 6 and yellow 2 on top of a 4 (of any color). After the play, the pile is considered yellow with a value of 4. This twist lets you use math to sneak out of large hands and adds a fresh layer of strategy.
Meow is a secret-rules game for 2–5 players. Deal 7 cards to each player. Objective: get rid of all your cards. (Only one player—the Chairman Meow—should read these rules!)
The first round plays like Uno: match suit or number, with 8s acting as skips. Players are not told the rules—they must deduce them through gameplay. If a rule is broken, say “penalty” and the player must draw a card.
Prologue: Players may only look at their cards after the Chairman Meow declares, “The game of Meow has begun,” and flips the first card to start the discard pile.
Epilogue: When a player has one card left, they must say “Meow” After playing their final card, they must say “Chairman Meow”
The current Chairman Meow adds one new rule for the next game (e.g., “Hold your left arm up while playing a Seven”). However, if they fail to enforce their rule, it becomes nullified for the future.
3-6 players. Based on the board game Skull. Each player gets 3 number cards (roses) and 1 face card (skull). Players take turns placing one card face down (for at least one full round) until someone starts a bet. For example, a bet of “4” means they believe they can flip 4 cards without revealing a skull. Continue around the circle, and may raise the bet or pass. No more placing cards. The final bidder must then flip that many cards, starting with their own top card first. If they reveal only roses, they win the round. Win two bets to win the game.
2–4 players. Use a standard 52-card deck. Remove 4 random cards and set them aside, unseen. Take out the red Kings and red 1’s to form four piles. Players can play any color on any pile, but 1’s piles must increase and Kings piles must decrease. Deal the rest of the cards evenly. On your turn, you must play at least 2 cards (“merge request”) and always maintain 6 cards in hand; once the draw pile runs out, play a minimum of 1 card per turn. No talking about card values. The game ends when all playable cards have been placed on piles of the same color. Cooperative game: players win if all cards are played without a failed merge request.
5+ players. This is a speaking and deduction game where the goal is to survive. One moderator runs the game and secretly assigns roles by dealing cards: King = Detective, Queen = Doctor, Jack(s) = Mafia (at least 2), Number cards = Villagers
Night Phase: (1) The mafia secretly vote to eliminate one player. (2) The doctor (Queen) chooses one player to save. If it's the same person the mafia targeted, that player survives. (3) The detective (King) picks one player to investigate. The moderator privately reveals whether that person is mafia or not.
Day Phase: All players (including the detective and doctor and mafia) openly discuss and vote to eliminate one person they suspect is mafia. The detective may use their knowledge to guide the discussion, but must avoid revealing their role too obviously. Ghosts (eliminated players) remain silent but stay in the game.
Repeat night and day phases until either all mafia are eliminated (villagers win) or the mafia outnumber the villagers (mafia wins).