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Invented Card Games

This section of the card games site is devoted to new games played with existing cards. The idea is to provide a forum for card game inventors to publish their ideas, and to try out and comment on each other's games.

Traditional card games will not be found here, but in the main body of the site (see for example the alphabetical index).
New games which require a special pack of cards designed for that game, which you have to buy from the publisher, will also not be found here. They are listed on the Commercial Games page.

Most of the games on this page have been contributed by their inventors. If you have any questions or comments about one of these games, please ask the author of the game, not me.

If you would like to contribute a game of your own to this page, or publish a comment, variation or improvement on one of the games here, you can send me your contribution by e-mail. Please try to describe your game clearly. It is surprisingly hard to write out the rules of a game in a way that can easily be understood by a reader who has not seen it played. In most cases I will write back and ask you a few questions, to clarify any doubtful points. Therefore please write from a valid e-mail address and be prepared to answer follow-up questions, otherwise your game will probably not be published.

The games are at present listed in alphabetical order. Eventually I may organise them into categories.

#|A|B|C|D|E|F|G|H|I|J|K|L|M|N|O|P|Q|R|S|T|U|V|W|X|Y|Z|

1 Zodiac: A crazy eights variant by Trevor Cuthbertson.
1111-9999: A math game for children by Aaron Barnhart in which the aim is to match a four-digit number.
3-13 Speed: A rapid version of 3-13 Rummy for large groups, with simultaneous drawing and discarding, by Stan Stone.
3 Chip Stack: A betting game with 3-card hands, in which the aim is to win all the chips, by Jim Kuglics and Jamie Licari.
3-Hole Poker: A poker variation in which players use their own 3 cards plus two of the cards exposed by other players to make up their hand.
5 and 2 or 3: A poker variation of the guts type, contributed by Phil Boschert.
92Q: An game of tricks, trumps and bidding, by Chet Leja. As well as a trump suit there is a suit that functions as a duplicate of whatever suit is led. As in some Japanese games, twos are high if everyone follows suit, but low otherwise.
10 Bridge: A variation of Bridge, with elements of the Indian game 29, by Basudeo Agarwal.
10 Phases: A Contract Rummy variation inspired by the commercial game Phase 10, contributed by Aaron Barnhart.
21st Century War: A War variation by Osman Hussaini in which the players have some choice of what cards to play.
100 Years War: A card game for 2 to 4 players by Alan Smithee. Players collect cards with a view to winning battles decided in favour of the best poker hand.
1000 Blank White Cards: The Discordian Intelligence Agency Edition of a game whose purpose is to create the cards as you play.
The Aardvark Game: A game for friends, created by James Quin, Adam Tilghman, Luke Weisman and Renée Sharp.
Abracadabra: A trick-taking game with exact bidding game by Paul Newton, in which players not only predict how many tricks they will win, but also which ones.
Abroasta: A speed game by Tom Acker and Rachel Secenghier, reminiscent of Spit or Racing Demon but much simpler.
Abstrac: A game of perfect information for two players, by David Parlett. The 24 cards are laid out face up in a row and players take turns to remove cards from one end, trying to collect combinations.
Abundance: A two-player game by Matthew Shields, in which cards are auctioned, and the suits that turn out to be most abundant have the least value.
Ace of Death: A simple but violent game, related to Ace of Spades and Suicide, contributed by Patrick Nance.
Ace of Spades: A game of impressive simplicity, explained by Eric J. Egolf.
Ace Pit: An unusual two-player trick-taking game, contributed by Bill Hurn.
Aces and Faces Quarto: An adaptation by Eugene Fitzgerald of the board game Quarto, using a standard deck of cards.
Addenda: An adding up and trick-taking game for two or four players, by David Parlett. Each trick consists of four cards of each suit and is won by the last player who keeps the total of the cards played to 17 or less.
Adder: A game by Steven Hammon in which players try to get rid of their cards by discarding them on three piles.
Addition War: A War variation by Jesse Weinstein and Nancy Fuller in which cards are played two at a time and added.
Advanced Switch: A variation of Switch (British equivalent of Crazy Eights), contributed by David Walters.
Advantage (or Vigoda): An unusual two-player game by J. Brukhman, in which players try to form pairs by a process of playing cards to a layout, exchanging hands, and exchanging cards from their hands with piles from the layout.
Aggravation: A Contract Rummy variation from Bette Procter.
Ambition: A four-player point-trick game by Mike Church, in which twos are high if an ace or picture card of the same suit is played, but low otherwise, and the aim is to take the second highest number of points in each deal. The above link is to the rules in PDF format - a Microsoft Word version is also available.
Ambusch: A Rummy-like game by Jack Russell and Steven Ellis, in which the winner of each hand saves the final discard to try to build a winning poker hand over a series of deals.
American Bank: A competitive patience game by Bill Perkins
Anandis: A game in which the two players try to guess the identity of a face-down card, gathering evidence by forcing the opponent to reveal cards of a particular number and suit.
Anarchy: A game of the eights type, but with stronger than usual restrictions on what cards can be played, by Jimmy Kaplowitz and Kofi Mills.
Angel (or Afterlife): A draw and discard game by Rick Orobko, in which a player can call for "judgement" when they think they have the best hand.
Ants: A two-player game by Brad Paras in which the object is to complete an ant colony of 14 cards - ace to ace - in your colour.
Arlington: This has nothing to do with the Rummy game of the same name. It is a game for two to six players which involves getting, playing, and keeping played certain combinations of cards. It was contributed by Dennis Himes.
Army: A straightforward game of turning over cards, somewhat like War, except that instead of collecting won cards a score is kept on paper. Contributed by by Justin Kohli.
Ascot: One of Keith Stevens' new card games. The aces take part in a 'horse race' controlled by the tricks taken in a game of German Whist.
Ascending Rules Uno: An Uno variation, contributed by Chris O'Hare.
As Easy As 1-2-3: A casino gambling game in which three blackjack (21) hands are dealt face up, the players betting on which will win.
Assassin Poker: A poker variation by Joel Lau.
Auction Scumbag: A President variation with auctioning of cards, contributed by Nathan Hedt.
Autumn Leaves: A straightforward but challenging solitaire game with similarities to Spider, by Toby Ord.
Avalanche: An original game for 2 to 6 players by Légrády Gábor and Kápolnás György.
Backwards Cribbage: A Cribbage variation by Cody Myers-Miller in which the object is to avoid scoring points.
Barbette: A shortened version of Barbu requiring only 16 deals, by Warren Chang.
Barbu for three players: A three player version of the classic game Barbu, contributed by Noel Leaver.
Barra-Can: An elaborate game of melding combinations with four discard piles, contributed by Carlos De La Riva.
Barry's & Les's: A variation of President played with a pack in which all four suits are different colours, by Anthony O'Dea and others.
Batallion: A game for 3 to 6 players by Tim Orcutt, in which players attack and defend using sets of cards of the same suit.
Battlefield Cribbage: An interesting Cribbage variation by Shane Murphy, which incorporates a draw and discard mechanism similar to Golf. Played cards are placed in the "frontline" and are no longer part of a player's hand. At the start of each turn a card is drawn from the deck, or the card played to the frontline by the previous player is taken, to be replaced by a different played card.
Battle Pairs: A straightforward game by William Malloy in which players race to make pairs from cards in their hands.
Battle Whist: A four-player game by Jay.I Sharn - players try to collect high cards by drawing and discarding; then two player conduct a battle in which the higher cards win.
Betrayal: One player, unknown to the others, is the traitor; the others are allies. The traitor and allies try to eliminate each other by a series of 'accusations'. Contributed by glitchninja.
Bid Fair: A game for two players by Matthew Shields - a twist on his game Third Hand, which rewards cooperation with your opponent - naturally, with strings attached.
Big Al's Guillotine: A poker variation, contributed by Al.
The Big Game: A variation of Texas 42 played with an 8-8 set of dominoes, by Howard Fosdick.
Bino: "The Computer Math Card Game". Players race to make a high score using the cards of their hand to represent decimal and binary numbers. Contributed by Jim MacMath
Birthday Suit Uno: Uno played with exposed cards.
Bisko-Bobo: A somewhat intricate showdown game by Richard and Robert Peluso in which players try to form sets of cards of the same suit.
Bitch: A crazy eights variation by Miles Dansereau.
Blackbird: A rummy-like game by Mal Jones, in which the type of cards that can be melded is controlled by the top card of a second discard pile (the "trick pile").
Black Heart Rum: Comprehensive guide to this elaborate Rummy variation by Toby Vaughn.
Black Hole Cribbage: A Cribbage variation contributed by Jesse Chrisman
Black Mariah (1): A poker variant by Andrew Demkovich. As in the various traditional games called Black Maria, the Queen of Spades has a special role.
Black Mariah (2): This game by Ren Petrone is related to the traditional British game of Black Maria, with penalty scores for the ace, king and queen of spades. The differences are that in this game hearts are trumps, not penalty cards, and there is a positive score for winning tricks.
Black Rat: A wagering game by Alan Kross-Vinson in which players try to collect cards worth as near as possible to 21 or 33 without going over these totals.
Blackwidowstar: A game for one player by Joseph Smith, in which the player tries to guess the order of cards in a shuffled deck.
Blades of Steel: A two-player hockey game with cards designed by Craig Bednar.
Blast: A Shithead variation by Kyle St Hilaire. Each card played must be equal to or lower than the last (aces low). Twos have no special power. Tens clear the pile, as do three or more cards of the same rank played consecutively.
Blind: A game of card matching, which "can last 5 seconds or 5 hours, depending on your luck". Contributed by Justin Swartsel.
Blind Man's Switch: Players switch cards, aiming to obtain the highest card. Contributed by Lee Perry.
Bob Smith: In this game, also known as 'Aiee', players are dealt five cards and select the highest valued combination of three, according to an elaborate counting system. Jokers have special effects of invalidating other hands, or can themselves be eliminated.
Bottom Line Baccarat and Bottom Line Blackjack: Variations of these games in which red cards count as negative, contributed by Jeff Cross.
Box: A game by Richard Bradley in which each card played must be lower than or equal to the previoius
Bread and Chocolate: A matching game for two players, in which each card played may enable the player to draw or discard some cards. The object is to run out of cards exactly. Invented by JC Ravage, Jimmy Kaplowitz, and Marc Jaffee.
Breaker: A Texas Holdem Poker variant by George Weissenberger in which a joker can be used to destroy your opponent's straight or flush.
Brickards: A variation by Bill Perkins of his card game Squaressi in which players simultaneously play a game of dominoes, the dominoes controlling the number of cards drawn from the stock.
Broadway: A two-dimensional domino game for four players by Clark D. Rodeffer, in which points are scored for matching adjacent dominoes.
Brucie's Play Your Cards Right Tennis: A tennis format version of the Higher or Lower game popularised on British TV, contributed by Tom Hawkey.
Buddys Game: A poker variation, contributed by Bob and Robin Procter.
Bugami, also known as Bleeding Hearts: A game by David Parlett, something like Hearts, except that before the play begins, each player independently chooses which suit to avoid.
Buh: Buh is a betting and vying game, invented by Erik Max Francis. Hands consist of four cards and there is poker-like betting after the second, third and fourth cards are dealt. Hands are valued according to the pips of the cards they contain, but several cards of the same rank count as only one card, a sequence of cards counts as only the card with the highest value, and flushes halve the value of the hand.
Caged Rat: A two-player game by Matthew Shields in which both try to capture the right number of cards to satisfy their two rats.
Cahoots: A game of varying partnerships for four players, by David Parlett. Players collude to win the same number of tricks as exactly one other player.
Call Deuces: A game for four or five players by Simon Haddad, in which the aim is to win tricks containing fives, and the bidder's partner is the holder of the deuce of trumps.
Cal's BS: A variation of I Doubt It by Calvin Yoshitake.
Canadian Salad: A compendium game similar to King or Barbu, contributed by "kermitfrog".
Candidate: A two-player game by Matthew Shields in which players use faction cards to bid for candidate cards, and try to assemble scoring groups of candidates.
Captains Chair Poker: A seven card stud poker variant invented by Adam Fullman.
Captain Jack: A ship combat game by Alan Barrett.
Capture: An unusual two-player game by Jim DuBois, in which a card column captures an opposing column by containing the highest and lowest cards or a pair.
Card Explosion: A round game by Nic Giacchino in which each card played must be no more than one different from the previous card, and there are bombs which cause the next player to pick up the play pile if they explode before being defused.
Card Fighter: A combat game by Stantz Field. There are no layouts: the attacker selects an opponent and an attacking card from hand, and the defender selects a card. The two cards are revealed simultaneously to determine the result.
Cardigan: A complicated trick-taking game in four deals, by Jared McComb.
CardOpoly: Although this game by Mark Brown was inspired by Monopoly®, it is played with standard cards, and the mechanism is similar to that of Rummy.
CardRPG: A role-playing game using standard playing-cards, by Ray of Ash. Stephen Rogers has contributed an advanced version of CardRPG, with extra powers and abilities and greater scope for strategy.
CardSen$e: A game closely related to Barbu, but with fewer contracts and different scoring, contributed by Carolyn Bryan.
Card Triathlon: A three-part game by Bill Oliver - the three legs have elements of Bridge, Canasta and Poker, and cards from each leg are kept for the next.
Cartiles: A variation by Bill Perkins of his card game Squaressi in which players simultaneously play a game of dominoes, the dominoes controlling the number of cards drawn from the stock.
Casualty War: A War variation by Jesse Weinstein and Nancy Fuller in which cards are played three at a time.
Cat's Cradle: An original solitaire game by Michael Bourne.
Chamberlain: A cross between American Bid Whist and Polignac / Knaves, by Jonathan Ling.
Chameleon (1): A trick taking game with bidding for three players, by Francis Dobbs.
Chameleon (2): A poker variant by Paul DeLuca and Fritz Stei.
Checks: A two-player game by James Yates in which players use groups of cards to capture single cards matching them in point value.
Chicks Rule: A game with with the 78-card tarot pack in which any suit can be trumps. There is Bridge-like bidding to detrmine the trump suit and the minimum number of tricks that must be taken by the team that wins the bidding. Contributed by Mark Krebs.
Chinkway: A five-player trick taking game with changing partners. The object of the game is to take tricks that include elements of a �Quest� that changes for each deal. Contributed by Derek Carver.
Chit Chat: A card game for two players that simulates the exchange of small talk between two acquaintances at a social function, contributed by Richard Vickery.
Chowaha: Scot Wolfington's description of Mike Chow's shared card poker variant.
Chug of War: A drinking game by Clint Chaney.
Cincinnati: Club Special: A non-game, contributed by Keith Stewart, in which the objective is to fool the spectators.
Circle Jerk: A shared card poker variant by Tim Bates.
Clan [archive copy]: A point-trick game invented by Glenn Overby, described in late 16th century Scots. The page now contains some other games in a similar style.
Clash: A kind of partition game for two players by Mike Church, in which each player forms 4-card, 3-card, 2-card and 1-card sets from a hand of 13 or 16 cards.
Climb the Ladder: A partnership game by Scott Dieter, in which cards are discarded to a discard pile in ascending or descending sequence, the aim is to get rid of all your cards. The game begins with a kind of bidding process to choose the start card.
Clockwork Spades: An automatic game for two players by Jamie Masculine, in which cards are played to a clockface formed from the spade suit.
Clogs: A trick-taking game with some unusual features, created by Paul Weekes and Blake Vernon
Clone War: A War variation by Ken Scherer
Clubs (1): Nothing to do with the suit clubs, but a trick-taking game in which you add the cards you win in tricks to your hand, where your aim is to form pairs, threes and fours of a kind (known as clubs). Contributed by Drew Brokke.
Clubs (2): A game based on Hearts with a few elements of Spades, in which Clubs are trump. Contributed by Daniel Clements.
Clubs (3): An Oh Hell variation with a constant number of cards dealt and clubs as permanent trumps, created by Michael Lamar.
Clubs (4): A three-player game inspired by Hearts and Spades, as posted to rec.games.playing-cards by TC.
Clumond: A game by Charles Magri, based on David Parlett's Ninety-Nine, but where the 'bid' is determined by the cards remaining at the end of the play, rather than being chosen in advance.
Cold Omaha: An Omaha Poker variant by Brett Johnson in which the community cards are dealt from players' discards.
Collector: A draw and discard game for 2-4 players by Tyler McCarn in which players try to collect a set of 13 cards, one of each rank.
Colosseum: A combat game inspired by Pokémon but played with standard cards, contributed by Enrique Santos.
The Compass of Fate: A game by Robert Kalin based on a much simplified version of Mah Jong. His web site includes designs for special cards for playing this game.
Confidence by Gabriel Arthur Petrie: withdrawn for revision.
Conspiracy: A partnership trick-taking game by Vinay Kolhatkar in which one partnership can look at each other's cards and discuss strategy before calling trumps and announcing how many tricks they will win.
Contemplation Crib: A cribbage variant with some extra scores, by Rolanda Keene.
Cookie Monster: A game by James Banks, in which the aim is to be the first to have your monster "eat" a row of cards in front of you, representing cookies.
Coosner: A bidding type game by Jim Risner and John Cooper, in which cards are auctioned, and the bids in the auction are themselves represented by cards that come from your hand.
Corellian Pitch: A Pitch variation by Larry Charbonneau
Cosmic Poker: A variation of Omaha High Low 8 or Better Poker by Mike Picollelli.
Counterweight: An original two-player game by Adrian Morgan, in which the object is to get rid of your cards by discarding them in balanced pairs onto discard piles.
Court: A game by Robert Kalin based closely on the Japanese flower card game Koi KOi but with specially designed cards.
Court Circular: A sort of trick taking game for two or more players, invented by Lewis Caroll. Each player plays three times to each trick, and the winner of the trick is the player of the best combination.
Cowboy, Cowgirl, Cowpattie: Poker variations contributed by txcubfan
Cramps: A trick-taking game by Pete Caldwell, in which some tricks have a positive value, while others bring negative points.
Craps: A poker variation where cards are passed depending on the roll of a die, contributed by Ella Bowerman
Crash Cribbage: Cribbage variation by Joe Kane in which players peg on a single track, and a peg landing on an opponent's peg sends the opponent forwards or backwards.
Crazy 3-5-7: An alternative version of the poker variation 3-5-7 by Zac Pells.
Crazy Four of Spades: A draw poker variation by Ryan Turnbaugh with the 4 and sometimes other 4's wild.
Crazy Pairs: A Crazy Eights variation by Albert York.
Crazy Jokers: A draw and discard game in which each player tries to complete a contract of their choice, by Justin Huneke.
Crib Noddy: A Noddy variation by Jonny Groves
Cribbage 31: A Cribbage variant with additional scoring combinations, by Russell Sturges.
Cribbage Solitaire: Play cribbage against the deck. Contributed by Natty Bumppo.
Cribbage with Jokers: One of a series of Cribbage variations submitted from Queensland, Australia by Charlie Frost.
Cribbage with Two Cut Cards: One of a series of Cribbage variations submitted from Queensland, Australia by Charlie Frost.
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Cribbeach: A game based on Cribbage, by Andy Lewicki.
Cricket Card: A reasonably quick two-player game on the theme of a cricket test match, by Matthew Shields
Cripple Mr Onion: A reconstruction of a fictional card game from Terry Pratchett's Discworld novels.
Croquet: A Golf variation by Daniel Czech.
CutThroat: A collection of Shithead variations by John Green.
Cut-Throat Uno: An Uno variation by Frank Soukey.
Damn Fool: A cross between President and Big Two, played with a 78-card Tarot pack, contributed by Jared McComb.
Daytona: A simple race game using a track made from playing cards, by James Thomas.
Deadly Spades: A game by Sonja Ritter with some resemblance to Beggar My Neighbour or Egyptian Ratscrew, in which the aim is not to collect cards but to get rid of them.
Deadly Uno: An Uno variation by Isaac Kuo.
Depot: A community card poker variant by George Weissenberger with an 8-card layout and an extra poker combination - the "ticket".
Detonator: The inventor Jarrid Steward describes this as a War variation but in fact it is a round game in which each player must beat the previous card or pick up a card as a penalty. Certain detonator plays allow cards from the play pile to be given to opponents.
Devil's Hand: Contributed by Aaron Barnhart - players bet on whose hand is closest in value to a face-up hand on the table.
Diamond: A card game for 2-3 players from the Rinkworks Pips collection by Samuel and Jacob H. Stoddard, in which you play cards to a diamond-shaped board in such a way that your opponent cannot.
Diamonds (1): A trick taking game similar to Oh Hell!, by Chris Donges.
Diamonds (2): A kind of trick taking game in which diamonds are especially valuable, by Danny Patterson.
Dice Card Mill: A set of variations by Bill Perkins of his Squaressi games, in which a die is rolled at each turn to determine how many cards the player should draw from the stock.
Dirty Deals: A four-player game by Matthew Shields. This is a trick-taking game with recycling (completed tricks are added to the trick-winner's hand) in which the object is to collect a complete suit while avoiding other suits, possibly with the support of an opponent.
Ditch Rummy: A rummy game by Gabriel Arthur Petrie in which players never hold more than three cards and can discard as many cards as they wish.
Dix: A two-player game by Fred Blundun in which the object is to win tricks, but avoid tricks whose pip cards add up to 10.
Dollars from Heaven: A variation of Pennies from Heaven by Noel McClintock.
Dom: One of Keith Stevens' new card games. Two players play alternately to a 4x4 layout and score for card combinations in the row and column where the new card is played.
Dominion: A card and dice game for 2 or more players from the Rinkworks Pips collection by Samuel and Jacob H. Stoddard. This is a strategy game in which you maneuver your armies and try to capture enemy territories.
Domino Roads: A game for four (or three) players using dominoes and dice, by Joel Zimmerman.
Domizerka: A trick-taking domino game by Kantaphon Tongmee, based on the Polish game Mizerka, but with domino trick taking rules as in 42 or Moon.
Doogie: A poker variation, contributed by Bob and Robin Procter.
Doors: A simple solitaire game, contributed by Joe Wolf
Double Deck Cribbage: One of a series of Cribbage variations submitted from Queensland, Australia by Charlie Frost.
Double Flip: A two-player game of speed by Sam G: players get rid of cards by spottoing matched pairs in an array of cards.
Doubles in the Boneyard: A three-player domino game by Jose Carrillo.
Double Trouble (1): A complicated variation of Bridge, played with two packs mixed together, invented by Matti Jantunen
Double Trouble (2): A poker variation in which players divide their hands into two, contributed by Bryant Woodard.
Doubly Reversed Shithead With Double Sampling: A Shithead variation by James Hollidge.
Dracula: A game for two to four players by David Parlett, in which cards are played to a 3x3 layout with the aim of forming high-scoring rows or columns.
Draft: A solitaire game by Aaron Barnhart.
Draft Cribbage: A four-player Cribbage variation by David Brain, in which some cards are passed around the table before the play.
Draw Cribbage: One of a series of Cribbage variations submitted from Queensland, Australia by Charlie Frost.
Duck Soup: A trick-taking game for two players in two stages (courses), by David Parlett. In the first course (duck) the lower card of the suit led wins, and in the second (soup) the higher card wins; it is also possible to win tricks in either course with a card of equal rank to the lead.
Duel (1): A two-player combat game by Mark Brown, which emulates the popular commercial CCG Magic: the Gathering using a regular deck of playing cards.
Duel (2): A combat game by Áron Csathó, inspired by U-G-O by Michael Daniel and the TSR card game Blood Wars.
Duel King: A War variation by Chris Alexander and Jeremy L Minney.
Duel of Fives: A two-player game by Jesse Weinstein, in which each simultaneously plays five cards at a time, with the object of winning the majority of the comparisons.
Dvorak: A flexible game played with home-made cards, most of which represent actions (played to the discard pile) or things (played in front of the player). Players take turns to play an action and/or a thing from their five card hand and then draw replacement cards from the stock. The effect of each card is written on it. The web site contains some ready-made card designs that can be used, and the players can cards of their own invention or design a whole new deck from scratch.
East Point (archive copy): A revised, rationalised and expanded version of two player pinochle, by Dave Barber
Eddie's Choice: A variation of 7 card stud, contributed by Dan Mathe, in which a down card matched with an up card becomes wild.
Egyptian Hold 'Em: A Texas Hold 'Em Poker variant by David Morrah with 6-card hands and 6 community cards.
Elemental: A solitaire game by Adrian Morgan in which the aim is to remove cards from a layout in blocks of four all of different suits. The inventor has also provided an Elemental tutorial.
Elimination Uno: An Uno variation by Allen J Price, in which the winner is the last player left in rather than the first player out.
Empires: A combat game by Daniel Caton, in which each player has a 52-card pack of soldiers (spades), defenders (hearts), spells (clubs) and resources (diamonds).
Ena: A Slovenian Uno variation, contributed by Wei-Hwa Huang.
EnD320: A vying game by Kawsar Uddin, in which players discard and replace cards to achieve the high scoring hand.
Enhanced Uno: Enhanced rules for the commerical game Uno, contributed by Paul Bryant.
Epsom: A two-player version of Newmarket, contributed by John Wright.
Escalation (Zhubu Shengji): A climbing game for two players, designed by Sean Ross.
Estimation Hearts: A hybrid of Hearts and Oh Hell!, contributed by Mark Brader.
Euchre Solitaire: Euchre for one player, by Natty Bumppo.
Evil Deal: A trick taking game for two players, each with their own trump suit, by Jørgen Ravn Hagen.
Evil Spades: Rules for a series of hands of Spades each with different constraints on the bidding or play.
Exposure: A two-player trick-taking card game by Matthew Shields, in which players can score bonus points by exposing combinations before the play.
Fan Rummy: A Gin Rummy variant played with exposed stock cards, contributed by Daniel Friedman.
Fast Break Cribbage: A four-player Cribbage variation by Richard Everett
Fast Cash Jack: A multi-player casino game based on Blackjack by John Picken. Several players ante to a pot and play against Blackjack against the house, losing a life when they fail to win or tie a hand. The last player left in wins the pot.
Fast Food: An adding game by Dan Wakefield
Fat Buddah: A crazy eights variation by Peter Ipnar.
Feud: An epic combat card game for two players, by Jonathan Dobson.
Fib-Fibonacci: A two-player game by Eric Treadwell and T.J. Highley using 26 cards left over from a Euchre game. Players compete to get rid of their cards by playing them in "runs" that follow the principles of Fibonacci sequences.
Fierce: A guts variation by Mike Simmons.
Fifteen: A game based loosely on All Fives and having a crib like Cribbage, contributed by Curtis Jones.
Fight for the Lead: A game of the Rams group without trumps, contributed by Jay Noack.
Finesse (archive copy): An ingenious and well balanced trick-taking game for four players in fixed partnerships, by Miles Edward Allen. Each player begins with 13 cards in hand and three cards face up on the table; when leading to a trick you can choose between leading one of your hand cards or one of partner's face up cards, which partner must replace from hand at the end of the trick.
Finish Line: A card and dice game from the Rinkworks Pips collection by Samuel and Jacob H. Stoddard. This feels like a board game, in which players race along an obstacle-laden path of playing cards to the finish line.
Fire: A War variation by Dan The Man.
Five-Card Pinochle: A fast Pinochle game with a 40-card pack, suitable for two or more players, contributed by John Sroufe.
Five-Card Roll Your Own: A 5-Card Stud Poker variant by David DeLine.
Five-Card Rummy: A draw and discard game in which the aim is to make a poker hand, contributed by C2K.
Five-Hundred++: An Australian 500 variation by Brad Tonkes.
Flip Ace: A variant of the Solitaire game "Aces Up", contributed by Kewlio.
Flip/Switch Double Deck Euchre: A Euchre variant for 2-10 players in which the trump suit can be changed during the play, contributed by Nathaniel Burgett.
Flop-A: A betting game by Brian Odell.
Flushes: A shedding game by Michael Velker in which you must follow suit or pick up the play pile.
Follow the Leader: A simple game for 2 to 5 players by Chris Goodman. Each card played must be equal to or one higher than the previous play, and the object is to get rid of all your cards.
Fool's Gold: A trick-taking game by David Nijjar, in which the aim is to win tricks in one suit, avoiding tricks in the others.
Football: A poker-style betting game based on American Football, contributed by Tim Beaulieu.
Fotboll (also known as Soccer): A football simulation with a regular deck of cards.
Foundations: A solitaire game with a wild card, contributed by Franklin Newman.
Four Aces: A draw and discard game by Jeff Ferraro in which players try to form combinations in two hands, one hidden and one exposed.
Four-Card Noddy: A Noddy variation by Jonny Groves
Four Fucks Sake: A "more vicious" version of Shithead, contributed by Sean Clark.
Four Rows: A strategy game by Michael Tizzano in which players try to get rid of their cards by playing them on four piles, matching the rank of the previous card or playing the next higher or lower rank of the same suit.
The Four Royalties: A quick game in which players try to get rid of their cards by playing them on four-card columns; the cards in each column must be in descending order. Contributed by Andrew Zhou.
Four Sisters: A kind of combat game for four players in two partnerships, by Chris Goodwin. Conflicts take place in a central 3x3 array into which players can play cards.
Four Suit Rummy: A two-player rummy variation by Paul Markwick in which players try to collect a run in each suit.
Foxtrot: A game by Ed Vasicek, based on the Turkish game Pishti.
Freak of Nature: A poker variation by Doble J.
Freak Solitaire: An original solitaire game by Michael Gurfinkel
Fred Potato Poker: A variation of Hold'em contributed by Jim De Rosa.
Free Ride Poker: A Poker variant by Reiner Knizia. A draw and play mechanism is used, each player building a face-up five-card poker hand. The cost of dropping out increases as the hands are built, and the pot goes to the last player in or to the player with the best hand if several stay for the fifth card. A computer version is available from Tray Games.
Freestate [archive copy]: A game by Steve Kramer in which the object is to discard all of your cards, following suit where possible while keeping the total point value of cards played at 15 or under; a player who exceeds 15 must pick up the discard pile.
Fünf: now renamed Chinkway
Galapagos: A leisurely two player game by David Parlett, consisting of a melding phase, followed by a trick-taking phase, followed by a phase where you try to get rid of your cards.
Galactic War: A war variation by Lee Walker in which suits play a part in battles.
Galaxy: This game by Ben Humphries uses an unusual combination of trick taking and melding - the aim is to get rid of cards from your hand in melds (consisting of a 'planet' and 'moons'), but the way you collect the cards you need for melds is by using your unmelded cards to play tricks, and acquiring repacement cards as prizes.
Game: A combat game for 2-4 players by Daniel Calizaya in which players attack each other's armies and defend their own by presenting groups of cards from their hands with the appropriate total value.
Get the Nines: A sort of trick taking game for three players with simultaneous play, by JJ Williamson. The objective is to collect all the nines.
Ghost: A Shithead variation by Sean Burns, Chris Johnson, Nirmal Shaw and Dylan Riddle in which cards are played face down and the player can lie about their value.
Gin Bummy: A draw and discard game for 2-4 players by John Baulding, in which players start with 10 cards and try to reduce their hand to four numeral cards with no two of the same rank or suit.
Gin Dice, Gin Pro, Gin Race, Gin Shot, Gin Twofold, Gin Rush, Gin Rainbow: Seven Gin Rummy variants by Andrzej Lewicki.
Give & Take: A War variation for 2 to 4 players by Jordan Goldstein in which battle results are based on the differences between cards played by adjacent players.
Give it Away Now: A round game by Troy Hinkley in which players take turns to draw a card and then, depending on its value, draw further cards, give cards away, or initiate a forfeit round, the aim being to have fewest cards at the end.
Give Two: Uno variant by Diana Crain.
Go Fish Deluxe: A Go Fish variation invented and contributed by Jonny Groves.
Go Fishing: A cross between Hand and Foot and Go Fish, contributed by Kate and Jess.
Gold Mine: A two-player game by Jared, in which players try to draw scoring cards from a face-down layout.
Good King, Bad Queen: A War variation by Ed Vasicek
Guerilla Joker: A War variation by Ryan Hill
Guess That Card: A betting game by Nick Harrison; one card is dealt to each player and one face down; in a showdown the closest to the face down card wins.
Guillotine: A game of the King / Barbu type, invented by Scott Marley.
Half and Half: A simple game of chance by Mitch Newlin.
Hardball: A baseball card game, using a standard 52-card deck with one joker to simulate pitches and plays, and tokens to represent players and bases, by Darrell Grable.
Head to Head: A variation of GOPS by Warren Esty.
Hearts++: A Hearts variation with addtional scoring cards, passing options and moon-shooting options by Brad Tonkes.
Hebrac's Dungeon: A role-playing game for one player using two or more standard decks, by Luc Miron.
Herbie: A Guts variation with a spare hand, contributed (but not invented) by Matt Preston.
High Card: An original game for 2-13 players who try to estimated whether the card they are playing is the highest, lowest or in the middle, invented by Chris Gesell and Jason Christie and contributed by Guy Srinivasan.
High Card Poker: A poker variant by Andy Drew.
High-Die: A 5-card Draw Poker variation contributed by Mike Thompson.
High/Low Spades: A Spades variant by Elsa Edwards, in which the leader to a trick can determine whether the highest or lowest card will win it.
Hockey (1): A four-player game by Scott Schemahorn, in which you score goals by matching the previous player's card.
Hockey (Draft Choice): This game by Michael Bryson simulates not just a single game but several years of managing a hockey team, with league play, playoffs and drafting, retirement and trading of players.
Hold'em Uno: An Uno variation by Charles.
Hollywood Hold'em: A Texas Hold'em Poker variation by Brian J. Cavanaugh.
Honor of the Samurai: A battle game by Obinna Onwuka.
Horseshoe: A 2-player trick-taking card game from the Rinkworks Pips collection by Samuel and Jacob H. Stoddard, in which not all cards are known at the outset, and pairs trump all else.
Hot Death Uno: Uno variation using at least two decks - one deck altered to make more special cards. The original version of the game includes much gratuitous strong language and profanity, but Gabriel Cooper's Hot Death Uno site offers a family version as well as access to the original. Here is an archive copy of another version of the original rules from Phoneboy - stay away from this one if you are easily offended.
"House Rules Card" Uno: Uno variation by Steven Beard.
How Low Can You Go?: A straightforward game by Jack Whalen, in which the aim is to have the lowest total point value in a five-card hand after exchanging cards up to three times.
Iceberg [archive copy]: A Rummy variation for 2-4 players by Gordon Bower. Another description of Iceberg is available on Howard Fosdick's site.
Immunity: A game by Don Smith in which players score by playing cards on opponents' layouts and try to achieve immunity in their own layouts to make it difficult for opponents to place cards there.
Imperium: A two-player trick-taking game contributed by Erich Burkhardt.
Insurance Hearts: A Hearts variation by Daniel Calizaya, with options to insure against taking the Q, to bid for a choice of 13th card, and to cancel a deal.
Island Pineapple: A shared card poker variant by Trevor Cuthbertson.
Jackpot: A showdown game by Mike J, in which the size of the pot is determined by the cards discarded by the players while improving their hands.
Jackpot Poker: A Poker variation by Matt Molver in which all players may repeatedly discard a card and draw a replacement.
Jailbreak: A distant relative of War, by Tom Acker, in which players try to assemble the most valuable collection of prisoners.
Jam: A fast trick-taking game for two players by Matthew Shields, in which one player plays with red cards and the other with black.
Jambo: A Go Fish variant by Alex Chase and Ankit Vohra.
Jamesy Poker: A Poker variation by Andy James, based on Texas Holdem but with elements of Pineapple, Omaha and Draw.
Jemima Puddle Duck: A draw and discard game by Jilly McZee in which, by eliminating sets of four equal cards, players try to reduce their hands to fewer than four cards.
Jewel: A game of the rummy family with special combinations and fairly complex scoring, by Basudeo Agarwal.
J. K. Flush: A draw and discard game by Jamie Masculine in which the object is to collect a 7-card run in a suit.
Jo-Jotte: Ely Culbertson's enhanced version of Clobyosh, with doubling and above and below the line scoring, described by Howard Fosdick.
Joker Hearts: A Hearts variation with jokers, by Jonathan Crawford.
Joker High: A trick-taking game with bidding, somewhat similar to 500, contributed by Michael Lawson.
Joker Rum: A Rummy-like game by Kishor Gordhandas.
Jokers Kill: A game of chance by Trevin Cowman in which players score points if they are dealt the lowest card or a card matching a face up card on the table.
Jummy: A Rummy variation contributed by Skabok.
Jungle: A 2-player card game from the Rinkworks Pips collection by Samuel and Jacob H. Stoddard. This is exploration game, where players explore a jungle of playing cards, compete over treasures, and have a showdown at the end.
Jynx: A game of luck, in which you hope not to turn over jynxed cards.
Kansas Tornado: An Omaha Poker variant by Chris Gaskill.
Kemetic Unorthodox Rat Screw (K.U.R.S.): An Egyptian Ratscrew variant from Entropic Trinity, played with a 78-card Tarot pack in which the trumps and the fool have special effects.
Kill: A game for four players by Eden Cohen in which players try to build a winning hand of K-Q-J-10 of one colour by exchanging cards according to certain rules.
Killer Kings: A drinking game by HughGrahamFarms.
King George III: A simple shedding game in which each card played must be equal or adjacent to the previous one, contributed by Rob and Dan.
King's Pot: A poker variant in which players bet on progressively revealed hands in a 5x5 layout without knowing which hands belong to the other players, contributed by Alan Kross-Vinson.
King Weirdo: A draw and discard game in which players use the cards in their hands to build columns in alternating colours from the king downwards, as in a solitaire game. Contributed by John Capozella.
Klitzkie Family Uno: An Uno variation contributed by Penny Klitzkie and David Hoelzel.
Kong-Pie: An unusual draw and discard game by Gabriel Arthur Petrie in which players collect combinations known as Kongs.
Koper: A two-player game by James Walsh in which the cards are laid out to form a board around which checkers are moved Halma-style and poker hands formed from the spaces occupied by a player's pieces.
KRG: A shared card poker game played for fixed stakes, contributed by Chris Hoogstad.
Kryky: A shared card poker variant contributed by Tim Bates.
La Krap: An unusual trick-taking game, in which cards often neutralise each other, contributed by Paavo Suhonen.
Last Chance: A game based on Speed, by Ally Weller.
Laying the Smackdown: A game of combinations based on wrestling, by Hugh Heelan.
Lead: A plain-trick game in which the high bidder chooses a partner by calling a trump. Contributed by Cathy Artigues.
Liar, Liar: A Rummy variation by Marc Bradley Zeedar in which you can ask for a card from an opponent instead of drawing from the stock or discard pile.
Lie Detector: A game of intuition by Tom Austin in which the dealer tries to detect whether statements made by other players about the card they are holding are true or false.
Loc: A betting game by Odo fitz Gilbert for 4 to 8 (or even 10) players, in which players choose in what order to play their cards and the pot is taken by an ace or joker.
Lockout: A solitaire game created by Daniel R.
Looking for Twos: A drinking game.
Losing Cribbage: A negative version of cribbage, contributed by Dave and Jeff.
Love That Joker: An Oh Hell! variation with wild jokers, by Ross Powell.
Lowball Cribbage: One of a series of Cribbage variations submitted from Queensland, Australia by Charlie Frost.
Low-Die: A 5-card Draw Poker variation contributed by Mike Thompson.
Lower Euchre: American Euchre players use 28 cards: 24 to play with and four for scoring. Lower Euchre is a trick-taking game for three players using rest of the deck: the 24 unused lower cards and two jokers. Contributed by David Longhurst.
Low Hold: A variation of 7 card stud, contributed by Dan Mathe, in which each player's lowest down card is wild.
Luck of the Irish: A Poker variation by Alan Frandsen.
Lucky House: A rapid betting game with elements of trick taking and hold'em poker, by William Chamberlin.
Lucky-o: A simple solitaire game of luck by Justin Huneke, in which the player tries to guess the suits of cards.
Ludens: A trick-taking game for four players by Carlos De La Riva, in which the cards are divided into odds, evens and pictures, and tricks only score if they contain a sufficient quota of cards of the appropriate category.
Ludic: A game by Jesse Fuchs is which players try to guess the dealer's secret rule for accepting or rejecting sets of cards.
Mad Abel: A 2-player game by Smári McCarthy, in which players get rid of sets of cards whose ranks and suits sum to a card designated by the previous two discards, adding suits modulo 4 and ranks modulo 13.
Maganic Wars: A project to build an Internet based combat card game using special cards.
Magic Uno: A variation of UNO, played using "Magic, the Gathering" cards, Enrique Medina.
Manager: A simple two-player game by Matthew Shields representing a series of 11 football seasons between which new players can be drafted by exchanging cards.
Manzana Canasta: A version of Canasta for two players using a single deck, invented by Paul Edwards.
Marijnissen: An Asshole variation contributed by Martin Hulsman.
Marshall Poker: A 5-player game by Gary Thompson, in which players trade cards and the compare poker hands. The players with better hands have an advantage in the next deal and the object is to maintain top position (marshall) for five consecutive deals.
Marshmallow War: A two-player combat game using two standard playing-card decks, by Will Gunther and Shawn Shadrix.
Mass Cool Casino: A game for 2-8 players by Brian Sauer, loosely based on War but with a form of betting using cards as money.
Matchup 4: A children's game in which players try to form matched pairs of cards, similar to memory / concentration but more elaborate, invented by Bradley Watson and named by Cameron Watson.
Mauna Kea: A two-player game by Jesse Fuchs, in which players try to build a column of cards worth 100 points, which can be partly protected from attack by face cards used as 'pitons'.
Maverick: A point trick game by Ben: players try to take cards in the 'adders' suit while avoiding taking trumps.
Mbogo: Lacking the original rules, Richard Heli invented these rules for this game played with a 61 card pack depicting African animals, hunters and cages.
Mediocrity: An unusual game by Greg Weidman, in which the object is to be the most mediocre player.
Memory: A game by Keith Stewart in which players try to memorise a sequence of cards to predict whether the next card played will be higher or lower.
Milken: A game by John Cooper, in which by playing cards to suit piles in the centre (representing the "market") you try to make the remaining cards in your hand worth more than other players' cards before the game ends.
Milk Run: A card game for 2 or more players from the Rinkworks Pips collection by Samuel and Jacob H. Stoddard, where you must deliver chocolate and strawberry milk, while encumbering your opponents' ability to do so.
Mines21: A game by Jeremy Griffith, in which players build piles of cards following suit or rank, and capture them when the total value of cards in the pile reaches 21 or more.
Minor Warfare: A war variation by Joseph Smith in which battles outcomes are normally determined by suit.
Miser: A reversed Spades variation in which players try to avoid taking tricks, contributed by Paul Edwards.
Mismatch: A trick taking game for four players by David Parlett, in which the aim is to avoid taking tricks containing certain combinations of cards.
Missing Persons: A game for two players by David Morrah, in which each tries to guess the identity of a card selected by the other.
Mitch: A variation of Mitch Gunzler's game Revolution, described by Mark Banilower and Patrick Phair.
Monastery: A Contract Rummy variation for 2 or more players from the Rinkworks Pips collection by Samuel and Jacob H. Stoddard.
Mose: A rummy game with a varying wild card, in which cards can be laid down out of turn, contributed by Kendall Anderson.
Multiple Card Brag: A collection of partition games based on Brag hands, contributed by David and Andrew Horwell.
Multiple Nine: A game in which players try to get rid of their cards by discarding them is groups adding up to multiples of nine.
Multiple of Twelve: A two-player game of rapid calculation, created by Jack Boettcher.
Murder: A variation on Suicide by Jeffrey Hope.
Mutual of Omaha: A poker variation contributed by Dennis Verbeek.
Mystery Wheelbarrow: A poker variation by Richard Peluso and Jason McCrone in which players take turns to trade a card with a central layout.
Nags: A game loosely based on Stops and Horse Racing, from Andrew Brewood and Francis Irving's New Card Games site.
Najami: A mixture of Japanese Napoleon and Michigan, contriuted by Vincent Pressicaud.
Nameless: A game loosely based on Euchre, designed to be played with the cards left over from a Euchre deck, contributed by Ben.
Napoleon's War: A game based on War but requiring some strategy, by Ian Ricksecker.
Nationhood: A rummy variant for two players by Matthew Shields, where negotiation and bluff are elements of play.
Need a Fourth?: A three-player Bridge variation by Larry Levy.
New York New York: A 7-card stud high low poker variation with selection of up cards, invented by Ellen Czeh and contributed by Dave Kinney.
Nimby: A game inspired by Euchre, with some elements of Sheepshead, contributed by David Schulman.
Nineteen: A cribbage variation by Debber40s
Ninja: A Shithead variation by Richard Garfield, in which jacks are difficult to beat.
Nobility: A novel type of combat game for three players, with elements of rummy, in which players can capture opponents' melds in battle. Contributed by Matthew Shields.
No Man's Land: A Solitaire Game of Sniping in World War I, by Walter O�Hara
Nusicle: A game based on Crazy Eights (Switch) but with multiple discard piles, from Andrew Brewood and Francis Irving's New Card Games site.
Nyuri: A game by Malik Kadir in which players collect cards by using high cards to steal lower cards of the same suit from other players.
Odds and Ends: A community card poker variant by Chris Gaskill
Off-Road Stud: A stud poker variant in which a player's upcards are chosen from a communal 4x4 layout, contributed by Alan Kross-Vinson.
Oflameron: Reconstruction of an old Russian card game by Valery Shmeleff.
One Left: A Crazy Eights variant for two players, by Justin Huneke.
One Man's Trash: A poker variant by Andy Drew.
One-Minute Solitaire: A simple solitaire against the clock, by Robert Gauss.
Oneonta Whist [archive copy]: A trick taking game by Richard Hutnik, which can be played as a solitaire or by two or more players. The bidding is somewhat reminiscent of Spades, except that the bidder can choose a trump suit.
One Player Ninety-Nine: A solitaire version of the adding game ninety-nine, contributed by Corey Dixon.
Open Whist: A Whist-based game for 2 or 3 players by Sid Sackson, first published in GAMES magazine in March 1985. All the cards are open and arranged in columns; only the card on top of each column is available to play.
Opetong: A quick and simple set collecting card game for 2 or 3 players, from Andrew Brewood and Francis Irving's New Card Games site.
Ops: A two-player game with open cards by Bogart Salzberg, in which players swap pairs of cards to achieve an array satisfying certain arithmetical rules.
Oracle: An original game by Peter Higgins. One player, the Oracle, holds a secret hand of cards and the other players try to win these cards by guessing their rank; when an Oracle's last card is taken, the player taking it becomes Oracle.
Ottawa: A matching game by Jorge Mata: players try to get rid of their cards by discarding them in ascenting and descending runs and sets of equal cards.
Padan: A two player trick-taking game by Dan Vetter, in which each player has four hands of cards and chooses in what order to play them.
Pain: A violent variation of War, contributed by Clay Brandenburgh.
Pairs: A simple solitaire game by Alan Gilfoy.
Palace of %$#&: A variation of Shithead (also known as Palace), contributed by Bret Caron.
Palace Poker: A complex poker variant, contributed by Scott Henneman, in which players can bet head to head against another player, the winner taking the loser's upcards.
Palindrome: A two-player by Russ Schneider, in which cards are played to a layout with the object of forming symmetrical sets (palindromes).
Paperless Spades: A game based on Spades, in which scores are kept using low cards, as in Euchre, invented by Hugh Aguilar.
Parcellus: A stops game for three players by Matthew Shields.
Partnership Blackout: A 4-player game by Scott Mayes combining elements of Blackout (Oh Hell) and Back Alley Bridge.
Payroll: A betting game with cards and dice, by Manny Cruz.
Peaks and Pits: A domino game by Adrian Morgan in which players aim to make "slopes" - playing tiles so that the numbers progress either upwards or downwards - changes of direction are penalised.
Peatwit: A plain-trick game with bidding, in which all the twos, threes and fours are trumps, but can only trump suits other than their own. Contributed by Paul Dunham.
Penguin Patience: A solitaire game by David Parlett.
Pentyrch: A game for four or two players by Mal Jones in which a card layout is used as a playing board on which other cards are moved.
People's Democratic Dictatorship: A Mao variation in which each player is responsible for one of the rules, invented by Joseph Graly and contributed by his brother Marcus.
The Perfect 10: An Old Maid variant with a winner instead of a losr, by Terry Ann Womack.
Perico: A draw and discard game by Steven Metzger in which the aim is to collect a good poker hand and then end the play by knocking.
Personal Uno: Uno variant by se-no-fee-uh in which each winner adds a rule.
Phalanx: A game for 2 or more players by Stefan Farias, related on War, but more strategic: players can choose how to deploy their cards in a battle taking place across three zones.
Phase 10 + 10: An extended form of the commercial game Phase 10 with 10 extra phases, contributed by Justin Huneke
Phoenix Burn: A showdown game between three-card hands, contributed by Tim Sharkey and Bob Conlon.
Pickle: A point-trick game with bidding for 2-5 players from the Rinkworks Pips collection by Samuel and Jacob H. Stoddard. The bids are for tricks, but players score additional points for valuable cards taken in tricks, using a point schedule reminiscent of Pitch or Pedro.
Pick-Up: A fishing game contributed by Justin Lake.
Pimps & Hoes: A simple game by Joe V.�& Raymond C., in which each player selects the best scoring five cards from the cards they are given.
Pinnacle: Unrelated to Pinnacolo, Pinaculo or Pinochle, this game by Kevin Anglin uses rummy-like combinmations with a game mechanism similar to shared card poker.
Pirate Uno: An Uno variation by Kyle.
Platinum Fish: A Go Fish variant by Dom Bruno.
Plonk: A four-player partnership game by David Parlett, in which the object is to win tricks containing cards of different suits from the card that was led.
Poe Crumb: A draw and discard game based on Poker combinations, by Jared McComb.
Pokefish: A game similar to Go Fish, in which the object is to collect certain poker combinations, contributed by Taryn and Kristal.
Poker Roulette: A game of chance by Ross Dubery, in which cards are collected by a matching process and then compared as poker hands.
Poker War: A War variant by Mark Perkins, in which cards are played seven at a time rather than singly, and compared as poker hands.
Pokex: An ingenious trick taking game, in which the winning of tricks is based on poker hands, contributed by Gabriel Schwartz.
Polt to Tzar: A trick taking game for 5-7 players, with social status, contributed by Guyon Roche.
Possession: An interesting rummy-like game by Guy Quang Tran, in which melds can be stolen from your opponent.
Potomac Blackout: A variation of Oh Hell! in which the highest bidder chooses trumps after everyone has bid, described by Wei-Hwa Huang.
Pottle: An exact bidding game by Joan Milliken in which only the highest successful bidder wins.
President Variations: Variations of the popular game President, contributed by Colin Nielsen, Martin Hulsman
Prime: An adding game for 2-4 players by Jer Gallagher, in which each card played must make a prime total.
Prisoner of War: A War variation by Ken Scherer
Prisoners: The picture cards represent slaves and players use the pip cards ace to ten to bid for them. Contributed by Kate Thompson.
Progression: A strategic game for three players, who try to build a long ascending sequence of cards in each suit, invented by Wei-Hwa Huang.
Progressive Poker: A game based on poker but without betting, contributed by Karlis.
Psych: A two-player Gops variation by Brad Chapman.
Psychic War: A War variation by Emily Goodlife.
Psycho Poker: A two player game based on poker hands, contributed by James Swerdfeger and Marc Reside.
Puck: An interesting cross between Poker and War, invented by David Knight.
Punk: A trick-taking game with simultaneous play in which only the player of lowest unique card in the trick scores its value, contributed by Mike Church.
Push: A new poker variation contributed by Bill Johnson.
Puzzle: A very simple competitive patience game by Matt Molver.
Pyramid (1): A trick-taking game by Albinas Borisevicius. Players try to win the exact number of tricks that they bid, and each possible bid must be attempted a given number of times by each player during the game.
Pyramid (2): A Poker variation by Sq2yard.
Pys'ngtaut: A Canasta variation with two discard piles by Stephen & Jill Rogers, in which sets of three cards are most valuable.
Quantum: An ingenious game involving trick-taking and collecting winning combinations of cards, created and thoroughly explained by Stephen Rogers and Jill Newman
Quar: Game in which players try to get rid of cards by playing them on "stations" in front of each player, matching number or suit. Complete with spoof historical introduction.
The Queen: A two-player game by James Yates in which players play cards to a central pile, scoring points for certain moves such as playing a three-card sequence or a Queen. His web site gives a very thorough introdcution to the game, with examples and discussion of strategy.
Queen's Dungeon: A trick-taking game by Ken Blosser in which queens are the highest cards of their suits, carry a bonus and can be played to any trick.
Quick Rummy - now renamed Skirmish
Quick Seven ™: A casino game by Innovative Gaming, Inc. in which the aim is to make a total of 7 points, or as near as possible below it. Players are dealt cards one at a time, and are allowed one discard to create their best possible hand.
Rails: A community card poker variant by George Weissenberger incorporating an extra combination - the "ticket".
Railway: A of luck, based on an Indian children's game, contributed by Anoop Sankar.
Rank: A matching game, in which players dispose of their cards by playing a card equal or adjacent in rank to the previous play. Created by Corey Dixon.
RAW: A War variation by Emma Dean, with the objective and the ranking of the cards reversed.
Realm of the Defenders: A combat game using standard playing-cards, by Shawn Dumas.
Red and Black: A rummy-like game by Kishor Gordhandas, in which players collect seven-card ascending and descending sequences.
Red Carpet: A game by Mike Church in which pairs of cards are auctioned, and players try to buy cards to make up the best four-card combination.
Red Dragon: A Palace / Shithead variation with all cards dealt and no draw pile, by Richard Glover.
Regicide: A two-player trick and trump game by Robin Taylor, in which the trump suit and card ranking can be changed whenever a trick is won by the opponent of the player who led to it.
Reoccurring Strange: A trick taking game with two trump suits and two cards played by each player to each trick, from Andrew Brewood and Francis Irving's New Card Games site. Like "Simple Strange" but stranger.
Replay Whist: A whist-like game with bonuses for bidding the exact number of tricks taken, from Andrew Brewood and Francis Irving's New Card Games site.
Reveille: A two-player version of Texas Forty-Two, invented by Ryan Barrett
Reverse Hearts: A partnership Hearts variation contributed by Wendy Harvie, in which the object is to take hearts and the spade queen.
Reverse Shithead: A Shithead variation by Andrew Duthie, which includes a reverse phase where beating the previous player's card is compulsory but disadvantageous.
Revolution (1): An original game in which players try to manage their cards, to play as many cards as possible of each suit in descending order - invented by Mitch Gunzler. See also the variation known as Mitch.
Revolution (2): A trick taking game, with unusual contraints on leading, following suit and determining trumps, contributed by sjhsniffen.
Right or Wrong: A simple "higher or lower" card guessing game by William Malloy.
Ri$ky Bu$ine$$: A game by Jeffrey Mowery and Josh Mullins, in which players try to minimise their score by discarding cards to a range of piles and drawing replacements.
River Rat Rummy: A rummy game with increaing hands, similar to 3-13 or Nickels, contributed by Greta Figel.
R-M-D Uno: An Uno variation contributed by Ronda.
Rochester Poker: A poker variant by Mark Brown in which players are required to pass cards between rounds of betting.
Rocketpants: A speed game of matching ranks, by Jacob Gohlke and friends.
Rocky: A boxing simulation game in the form of a war variation, contibuted by Mackenzie Yeung.
Romantiles: A domino game by Bill Perkins: each player draws dominoes from a bag; any that cannot be played on the layout are displayed in front of the player in a 'mismatch row'. Also a variation Draworama.
Rook Pyramid: A version of Pyramid Solitaire played with Rook cards, by Jeffrey Jacobs.
Rook Shanghai: A version of Contract Rummy played with Rook cards, by William Robfogel
Rose Mau: A variation of Mao (Mau) with some similarities to Bartok, by Guy Srinivasan
Rouge et Noir: An accelerated version of the casino game Trente et Quarante (30 and 40) by Sergio Raimondo.
Roundary: A game by Bill Perkins, played with cards, dominoes dice, chips and a cribbage board.
Rounds: A point-trick game for two players in four rounds with changing trumps, contributed by David Schulman.
Roy: A Crazy Eights variation invented by Roy Fuller, modified by Spike Walker and described by Lee Coursey.
Royal Ace-assin: A two player game by Thomas Gale: each player owns the three court cards of one suit, and supports each using numeral cards of the same suit. Based on partial information about the opponent's support, each player assassinates two of the opponent's courts, and the winner is the player whose surviving court card is better supported.
Royal Assassin: A solitaire game by Mark Brown, whose object is to kill off court cards and retain your throne.
Royal Hold'em: Texas Hold'em Poker with a 20-card pack.
Royal Orgy: A Tarock / Pinochle hybrid, contributed by Wayne Michael Shirk.
Royal Mastheads: A trick taking game for four players, in which extra points are scored for winning certain cards. Contributed by R. Kieva.
Royal Spades: A two-player spades game using a 28-card or 30-card pack, by William Chamberlin.
Sabacc: Interpretations and adaptations of the Star Wars card game by Ryan B. and Peter Kerton.
Same'Em Poker: A Hold'Em Poker variation by JDulius.
San Mateo Canasta: A Canasta variation created by John Bejarano.
Savannah: A card and dice game for 2 or more players from the Rinkworks Pips collection by Samuel and Jacob H. Stoddard. Players build up shared foundation piles and try to exhaust their reserve and discard piles.
Scatterbrain: A draw and discard game by Rob Dufour in which players try to form runs, but also to remember the other players' cards.
Scoundrel: A card and dice game for 2 players from the Rinkworks Pips collection by Samuel and Jacob H. Stoddard. Players build columns of cards and wipe out the opponent's columns.
Scramble War: A War variation in which both players draw cards from a common pile, by Jared Lubrico.
Screwin' Herman: A poker variant by Ian Blessing
Scribbage: A game based on Cribbage, for any number of players.
Scum of the Earth: A President variation inspired by the WotC games The Great Dalmuti and Dilbert Corporate Shuffle, contributed by Ryan McGuire.
Serpent: A 2-player card game from the Rinkworks Pips collection by Samuel and Jacob H. Stoddard, in which cards are played in a serpent pattern; one player tries to connect pairs and runs, while the other tries to stop him.
Set Variants: Tom Magliery's collection of variations of the commercial game Set.
Seven and What Makes It: A variation of 7 card stud with up to 7 wild cards, contributed by Dan Mathe.
Seven Card Combo: A game by Stephen McVerry in which by passing cards, players try to build a seven card hand in which all cards belong to combinations.
Seven Card Nopeek: As in War, players flip their cards from a face-down hand. Each player must beat the previous player's card or combination or be knocked out. Contributed by Christian Mendoza.
Sevens and Eights: A cribbage variation by Debber40s
Seven Spades: A simple and original bluffing game by Johan Wästlund; the winner is the first player to collect seven spades, or more often the winner of a challenge when a bluff is suspected.
Seventeen: A point-trick game in which you are rewarded for points up to 17 but penalised for any excess points you take, contributed by 'Weirdguy38'.
Seven Up: A game by Adam, in which the winner is first player who turns up a card of each rank from ace up to seven.
Sex in the Middle East: A Poker variant by Ian Blessing
Shamus: A co-operative two-player game with elements of 500 Rum and Uno, contributed by Erin McGilvray.
Shanghai: A domino and dice game for 2 or more players from the Rinkworks Pips collection by Samuel and Jacob H. Stoddard, in which chains of dominos are constructed such that the ends match dice rolls.
Shark Attack: A four-player game in three rounds by Seth Williams, in which the cards you play must be neither too high nor too low.
Shmath: A two-player game by Abbi Pittman in which players take turns to capture sets of three cards which satisfy an arithmetic equation.
Shop Solitaire: A solitaire game by Gabriel Arthur Petrie.
Showcase: A two-player game loosely based on German Whist, invented and contributed by Charles Magri. Every suit trumps every other, and only tricks won by trumping are of value.
Shotgun Cribbage: Cribbage without the crib, contributed by Dave and Jeff.
Shrine: A combat game by Julian "Legend" Jimenez using the standard 52-card deck plus an optional joker
Shuffle Game: A way to shuffle cards, contributed by Sarah Shimazaki.
Simple Strange: A trick taking game with two trump suits and two cards played by each player to each trick, from Andrew Brewood and Francis Irving's New Card Games site.
Six-card draw poker: A version of draw poker using six-card hands, by Jeff Cross. Michael Keller has provided an analysis of the probabilities of hands.
Six Stacks: A game by Jacob Kroll in which players add cards to a solitaire-like layout. A player who is unable to play gets a "strike", and on the third strike is eliminated.
Skarney: A Rummy variation invented by John Scarne and described by Howard Fosdick.
Skillcat: A four-player game of skill with features of Oh Hell and Spades by Lloyd Taylor. The web site includes a facility for playing the game on line against live opponents.
Skirmish: A game by Kevin Anglin with some similarities to Rummy. The extra combinations and the possibility of "dropping" cards speed up the game and increase the opportunities for bluffing strategies.
Skrap: A game for 2-5 players by by Craig Bednar in which players compete using two-card "bots" made up of a black weapon card and a red armour card.
Skuck: An exact bidding game for two players, by Ron and Sue Craig.
Skyscraper: A domino game for 2-3 players from the Rinkworks Pips collection by Samuel and Jacob H. Stoddard, in which dominos are stacked up to build a skyscraper. If you can't legally build on the skyscraper, you lose.
Slap: A variation of Slapjack with extra slapping, contributed by Justin Huneke.
Slave Auction: now renamed Prisoners
Sleepless: A game using cards and poker dice, by John Mitchell. There are several objectives: to match cards to dice, to have the best combination of cards, and to win the most tricks.
Slippery Slope: A three-player exact trick taking game with unusual card ranking rules, by Brien Patterson and Vicki Jackson.
Sloppy Seconds: A trick taking game by Peter Schell, in which the aim is to take the second highest number of points in each suit, and trumps is the second suit to be 'broken' (played on a lead of a different suit).
Slovenian Uno: An Uno variation for advanced players by Jure Leskovec.
Smack My Bitch Up: A poker variant, based on Follow the Queen, contributed by Andy "Sprocket" Noreen
Smith Uno: An UNO variation contributed by Bryan Brady.
Smokestack: Playing simultaneously, players try to collect various kinds of four-card sets by swapping cards from their hand with face-up cards.
Snag: A 2-player trick-taking card game from the Rinkworks Pips collection by Samuel and Jacob H. Stoddard, in which players have their own hands, plus a shared board. Players try to capture many cards of a single suit.
Sneak: A game of bluff for 2 to 7 players, by David Parlett. Players can lead one or more cards face down, hoping to win if no one challenges by trying to play a higher card or combination.
Snitch: A rather unusual fishing game, with some similarity to the Iranian game Gharat, contributed by Geoff Klassen.
Solitaire Uno: An UNO variation for one player, by Moonbeam.
Solo Nus: A one-player version of the Crazy Eights variant Nusicle, from Andrew Brewood and Francis Irving's New Card Games site.
Soureh: A draw and discard game by Lior Chaga in which players replace cards in their own or their opponents' 8-card layouts with the aim of being the first to reach a configuration known as 'Soureh'.
Southern Deuce Hold'em: A Texas Hold'em Poker variation by Justin Huneke: there are only four community cards, but each player receives a different wild deuce as a third card at the end.
Spank!: One of Noby and Rusty's Games. Players score by building sequences of three or more consecutive cards.
Sparts and Spartsel: Sparts is a cross between Spades and Hearts. Spartsel adds some features of Oh Hell! as well. Contributed by Doug Meyer.
Speahx: A game that combines the mechanism of Shithead with the playing rules of Eights.
Speed Crib and Super Speed Crib: Cribbage variations in which each player gets an extra crib, by T Hodge.
Speedo Cribbage: A cribbage variation with a different way of discarding to the crib, by Maria Thomas.
Speed Uno: An UNO variation contributed by David Swart
Speed War: A War variation contributed by Eric Longley.
Spidge: This game for 3 players, contributed by Chris Young, takes from Bridge the idea that one player (in this case the dealer) controls a dummy hand, and from Spades the permanent spade trump suit and the scores for Nils. A variation is given with jokers as high trumps which cancel if played to the same trick.
Spiralling Shape: A solitaire card game by Jesse Fuchs in which you try turn a grid of 16 cards to your colour (red or black) by means of a series of "conversions" of cards by adjacent cards, carried out in spiral sequence.
Splatoids: A Shithead variation by Ian Marson.
Split (1): A draw and discard game in which you try to build two three card hands whose point value is equal and odd. Created by Matt Singer, Christian Dietrich and Trevor Binney
Split (2): A variation of Go Fish in which sets of only three cards are collected, contributed by Jonathan Touchette.
Splunk: A combination of BS, 21 and Snap, contributed by John P Lawrence.
Spokane Open Wild: A poker variant by Dave DeLine - akin to a stud game but players have a choice of cards to add to their hand at each stage.
Spooneye: A two-player game created by Jesse Fuchs in which each player tries to build "masts" of 21 points to capture the opponent's masts.
Spots: A poker variant in which the pot is split three ways, contributed by Scott Pangle.
Spy vs Spy: A racing game by Jeff Dorak, in which players try to unload their cards onto up to six discard piles.
Squaressi Kings: A variation of Kings Corners, contributed by Bill Perkins. See also the variations Squaressi Queens, Squaressi Jacks, Squaressi Aces and Squaressi.
Stalin: A Crazy Eights variant with two play piles by Chris Carter.
Stand Off: A two-player game by C. Scott Davis and Mark Davis, in which players try to collect five cards of one suit by exchanging cards with the stock and with each other.
Stanley Cup Run: RetroDawg's simulation of an NHL hockey season, using playing-cards.
Steeplechase Rook: An interesting but lengthy variation of 4-player call-partner Rook for dedicated players, invented at lifeFORCE and contributed by Luke Bunger.
Stop, Drop and Roll: A community card poker variant by George Weissenberger.
Strato-Sphere: A war game played with cards, from Andrew Brewood and Francis Irving's New Card Games site.
Streets and Avenues: A new domino game by Stephen and Kenneth Kokoska. Tiles are played in a street grid pattern, the aim being to complete enclosed blocks.
Strike!: A game for three or four players, simulating ten-pin bowling, contributed by James Thomas.
Strobe: A community card poker variant by George Weissenberger.
Stud Jack: A 7-card stud poker variation incorporating an element of blackjack, invented by Ken McKenzie and contributed by Dave Kinney.
Suaro: A two-player plain-trick game with Bridge-like bidding, invented by Jason Short and Matt Bourland.
Subtraction War: A War variation by Jesse Weinstein and Nancy Fuller in which cards are played two at a time and subtracted.
Suicide: A money game with no skill at all, invented by Joakim Malmquist.
Suicide King: A game of pure luck, by Paintball1688, in which the player who draws the K is eliminated from the game.
Suit High: A war variation by Jason Berger.
Suitmatch: A game by Adrian Morgan, in which you try to collect an equal number of cards of each suit by swapping cards with your neighbour.
Suits (1): A trick taking game by Aaron Barnhart in which each player has a complete suit, but only has access to a few cards at a time. Playable as a solitaire game against three dummy players or as a real four-player game.
Suits (2): A simple race to sort the cards into suits, by Tony Powell and Brian Clark�
Suits (3): A negative point-trick game loosely based on Hearts, by Brad Tonkes.
Suits Me: A game for 2-6 players by Seth Williams in which, by trading, discarding and drawing, the players try to collect seven cards of the same suit.
Super Crazy Eights For Two: A two handed adaptation of the traditional game Crazy Eights by Donald G Keller and Michael Keller.
Super Hearts: A version of Hearts with improved scoring to make the game play more demanding. Contributed by Jerry Schwartz.
Super Hyper/Twisted Knot: now renamed Twisted Shithead
Superjoker: A Shithead variation by Gaz and Elf.
Super Nus: A "real-time" version of the Crazy Eights variant Nusicle, in which everyone plays as fast as possible without waiting for turns. From Andrew Brewood and Francis Irving's New Card Games site.
Super Wild Phase 10: A variation of the Phase 10 Masters Edition by Jeff Presley with some slightly easier contracts and enhanced wild and skip cards.
Switch (1): Not the traditional eights game, but an original game by Crad Kilodney with a few (maybe coincidental) similarities. Rules are on the July 2002 page of his Dead Man Talking site.
Switch (2): A poker variant by Brenton, in which players draw one card from their left-hand neighbour's hand.
Switched Up: A simplified Eights game for two players, inspired by the commercial game Swap, contributed by by Justin Huneke.
SWOPS: A two-player Gops variation by John H Conway.
Table [archive copy]: An interesting and unusual game combining trick taking and formation of combinations, created in Colombia by Reynel Cuevas Mejia. When you win a trick you add its cards to your hand, and discard some cards; then all players replenish their hands to four cards. The aim is to form certain combinations in your hand, and it is also possible to win points by declaring and winning several consecutive tricks. There are two jokers, called the bono and the gadget, which have special effects that can benefit or disadvantage the holder.
Tableau Cribbage: A perfect information game based on Cribbage hands, by Andy Lewicki.
Table Top Cribbage Solitaire: A solitaire game for those who like to practise counting cribbage hands, by George Moore.
Taboo: A fishing game based on Tablanette, by Graham Turner.
Take: A rummy variation by Alan McCollough, in which players capture other players' melds when they add cards to them.
Takeover: A simple battle game involving speed and dexterity, in which numeral cards are captured by picture cards (assassins) of the same suit. Authors: