Each player receives three cards, and four cards are dealt face up in the centre of the table. Scopa, which is Italian for 'broom,' is so named because one of the ways to score points is to 'sweep' all the cards off the table. You can play it with the standard suits of clubs, hearts, diamonds and spades if you remove the eights, nines and 10s. Traditionally, it uses an Italian deck of 40 cards with batons, coins, cups and swords as the suits. It's an Italian game known for its straightforward rules and fast pace. This game is an after-dinner favourite in my house. For a more difficult game, you can agree that the jokers have no rank and therefore a player who is dealt one must cheat in order to get rid of it.

If you'd like, you can include the jokers as wild cards, which can be substituted for a card of any value. If the player was cheating, the cheater adds the discard pile to their hand and play resumes. If they were honest, the accusing player must add the whole discard pile to their hand. If a player suspects another of cheating, they must say 'Cheat!' and the cards the suspect discarded are inspected. What makes cheat so fun is that you can attempt to discard more cards than the rules allow by pretending that your two fives are actually two sevens, for example, if you have no sevens when it's your turn to discard sevens. One 52-card deck is used for games with four or fewer players two decks are used for five or more players.Īll the cards are dealt face down among players. You win by getting rid of all your cards, and you get rid of your cards by discarding them in sequence.

It's a classic easy to learn and fun to play. CheatĬheat was one of my favourite games as a kid because I could lie and not get in trouble for it. These offerings are easy to learn and are the perfect introduction to the world of card games. While some of these games are especially popular with children, card games are for everyone. Not everyone grew up playing card games like I did, but it's never too late to start. These games are sorted in order of difficulty, so you can choose those that suit your group's skill level. On those occasions, I looked beyond my usual repertoire of card games so everyone could play. I grew up with three siblings and sometimes we'd all have friends over at once, or our visiting grandparents would want to join the fun. If you have the opposite problem - too many friends and no games come to mind - this list of recommendations is for you.

If there's no one around, you can enjoy a ton of games on your own. (Credit: iStock/Getty Images art: CBC Life)Ĭard games are fantastic entertainment for parties of all sizes.

21 card games