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This page contains links to information about various card games which require a special pack of cards promoted and sold by a particular manufacturer. I am not actively developing this part of the site, but from time to time I will include here relevant information and links that I come across or that people send me. Please note that there is a separate page for Collectible Card Games (Trading Card Games). Some of the listed below games are available from unclesgames.com, Winning Moves, www.amazon.com or www.funagain.com and can be ordered by following the links next to the descriptions. Since this page has become rather large, here is an alphabetical index to help you find the game you want:

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The symbol indicates entries that have recently been added to the page. It does not necessarily mean that the game itself is new.

1-2-3 OY

A pack of 90 cards by Dream Green intended for educational games. There are 5 cards for each of the numbers 0 to 16 and 5 wild "OY!" cards. Rules of several games are included, all of which are based on mental arithmetic. The same company makes an A-B-C OY! deck for word games.

6 Nimmt! (6 Takes!)

This is a light-hearted game for 2-10 players. The pack contains cards numbered from 1 to 104. Each card is worth penalty points (the multiples of 5 and 11 being most expensive), so the aim is to avoid capturing cards. Each player simultaneously selects a card from their hand and these cards are played according to various rules to a layout consisting of four rows. The cards in each row must be in ascending order, and a row cannot contain more than 5 cards. When a player's card would extend a row to six cards, the player has to capture the first five cards of the row; when it won't fit on any row that player chooses a row to capture. It's difficult to see how to develop an effective strategy, but players seem to enjoy trying. Here are the rules in English.

You can order 6 Nimmt! from funagain.com

Abridged

A commercial version of Minibridge from Out of the Box games. The 52-card pack uses colours (red, green, yellow, blue) instead of suit symbols, and has numbers 2-14 of each colour, with the top four cards of each suit marked with 1-4 dots representing their Milton Work point count. Since cards of the same rank differ only in colour, these cards will be unsuitable for some colour-blind players, but it is easy to substitute a standard deck of playing-cards. You can order Abridged from unclesgames.com

Alpha

There are 74 cards representing letters of the alphabet - 42 consonants, 32 vowels and 2 wild cards. While the consonant cards each represent a single letter, the vowel cards give a choice of two vowels and the wild cards represent any letter. Several games for these cards are offered; for example in New Word, players take turns to make the highest scoring word they can from the cards in their hand together with those left on the table from the previous play, unused table cards being discarded after each turn.

ALPHAbet playing cards

This is a 110 card pack consisting of letters A to Z in four suits (red triangle, green circle, blue star and brown square) plus four jokers and two further wild cards. Rules are included for five games involving making words, either on a layout or by collecting cards in your hand.

Armory

A combat game for 2-4 players, but not a CCG (trading game). Each player has a deck of 60 cards containing two warriors and an archer who are to be provided with appropriate armaments (22 cards per deck) and then protected by a guardian (5 cards). Each deck includes 30 "mystic" cards can be played to attack other players, to counter attacks and for various other purposes. The two final attack cards can be used to win the game when your three combatants are fully armed and guarded.

Astral Tournament

This is a computer game based on trading card games. Players battle for control of the magical plane using creatures and spells. Apus software release the successor game Astral Masters in spring 2005.

Authors

This American version of Quartet, Go Fish or Happy Families is sometimes played with standard playing-cards, but originally cards showing famous authors were used. Nowadays various other educational series - presidents, baseball players, inventors, etc. are also available. Players try to collect sets of four cards by asking other players for them. You can order Authors cards of various types from unclesgames.com

Barons of Fyn

This is a kind of board wargame, but played entirely with cards, some of which represent land. The game components are free - you can download and print out the rules the card designs from the web site, cut out the cards and play.

Baseball (Sportscards)

Baseball card games are an American tradition dating back to the late 19th century (Lawson's Patent Base Ball Game was patented in 1884). More modern simulations include Sportscards Baseball. There is a pitching deck and a batting deck which includes some cards allowing "coaching moves". The cards come in a handsome wooden box which unfolds to represent the playing field, with metal pegs for the players. An outline of the rules is given on the cards, but these are quite hard to understand unless you are familiar with the workings of the real game of Baseball. The game can be ordered by e-mail from John Carr at cardgames@comcast.net.

The American novelist Paul Auster has also designed a baseball-based card game called Action Baseball that was published in his recent Hand to Mouth: A Chronicle of Early Failure (NY, Henry Holt, 1996). The game needs 2 packs of 96 cards each, a game board, several tokens, a scoring board. The cards are printed inside the book, and the rules are given as an appendix.

Beat the Bookie

An simple but effective game based on horse race betting - requiring judgement of probabilities and with plenty of scope for psychology and bluff. There is a pack of 44 cards, each showing a balanced set of odds on a four horse race, plus two sets of cards representing the four horses (red, green, blue, black). An odds card is turned up and one player (the bookie) decides secretly which of the four horses will win the race. Then the other players bet on the horse(s) of the choice, the winner is revealed and the bets are settled. The inventor is Andrew McKinnon (acmckinnon@netscapeonline.co.uk)

Bendomino

A double-six set of 28 dominoes each of which has a 120 degree bend, so that loops can be formed in the layout. (In theory there are two possible versions of each non-double tile, since the bend could be to the left or right. The set contains just one version of each - if the tile is placed with the low end towards you, it bends to the right if the spot total is odd and to the left if it is even.) You can order Bendomino from funagain.com

Berzerk

Berzerk is a trading card game which is currently in development. The web site www.warlock.info has information on the project and how to participate.

Blindes Huhn (Blind Chicken)

An unusual trick taking game, invented by Michael Schachtand published in 1997 by Berliner Spielkarten (a subsidiary of Ravensburger). The pack consists of a single series of 60 cards numbered from 0 to 59, and the player of the highest card wins the trick. The twist is that having sorted your cards at the start of the game, you are only allowed to play cards from the ends of your hand - either the extreme right-hand card or the extreme left-hand card. You cannot rearrange your cards once play has started. Some of the cards are penalty cards, showing a number of rotten eggs, and the aim is to collect as few as possible of these rotten eggs in your tricks.

You can order Blindes Huhn from funagain.com

Blink - see Speed

Bohnanza

This is the classic bean growing and trading game. The pack consists of 104 cards representing eight varieties of bean, the most valuable types being scarcest. In front of you you lay out the beans you are growing - at most two varieties at a time, or three varieties if you invest in an additional plot of land. At your turn you acquire more beans that you must either plant or trade with other players. You earn money by harvesting beans, but it's most profitable to harvest a large number of the same variety; sometimes you are forced to harvest prematurely to create space for new varieties that you are forced to plant. Here are the rules in English You can order Bohnanza from unclesgames.com

Bridgette

A two-player game based on Bridge, first published by J.Q.Kansil in 1970. The 55-card Bridgette pack consists of a standard 52-card pack plus three extra cards known as Colons: the Grand Colon matches aces; the Royal Colon matches Face cards (K,Q,J) and the Little Colon matches the numeral cards 2-10. A Colon can be discarded on a matching lead: it loses the trick but stops the opponent from leading a card of the same suit to the next trick. The 2004 edition from Xanadu Leisure introduces a new variation: Bridgette Showdown, and the set includes two 55 card packs plus the dice, dice cups, wooden suit markers and bidding boards used for secret simultaneous bidding in Bridgette Showdown.

You can order Bridgette from funagain.com

Bux

This is a quick card game in which by an original process of auctioning and trading players collect sets of three matching cards which they can then sell for chips. The set contains a pack of cards, chips of various denominations, and a plastic tray to hold the bank and the draw and discard piles. The 48 cards used for play have one of the four suits and one of four shapes on the front, and a chip worth 25, 50 or 100 is shown on the back. Three special "BUX 1-2-3" cards are shuffled into the deck to determine when the game ends, and four special cards with rules.

Campaign Politiks

Although this election game includes a large board for laying out the cards and scoring, it is essentially a card game with an unusual trick-taking mechanism. Each trick represents an election race consisting of a "primary" during which players organise themselves into factions and a "campaign" that determines the winning faction, members of which may score for cards won in the trick. The pack contains 134 cards - 115 "suit" cards representing votes and 19 "action" cards which can be used to affect the outcome.

Canasta Caliente

This is an attractive special deck for playing canasta. The cards are labelled in English and Spanish and the rules are also provided in both languages. The ranks from ace down to 4 are each marked with their point values and show fruit on the numeral cards and crowns on the courts. The red and black threes are replaced by "bonus" cards with fireworks and "stop" cards with a stop sign, and the twos and jokers become "small wild" and "big wild" cards showing mice and a parrot. In addition to the normal double deck of 108 cards there are two "caliente" cards. If used in the game, these allow a player to draw extra cards at a cost of 100 points deducted from the team's score.	Order from unclesgames.com:
	Canasta Caliente	Canasta Caliente Deluxe Edition

Card Golf

This golf simulation uses a 51-card pack whose cards represent golf clubs each of which sends the ball a specific distance - there are 9 woods, 24 irons, 8 wedges and 10 putters. From a 14-card hand the player selects a set of clubs whose total yardage matches that of the hole being played, or exceeds it by as little as possible. The number of strokes for the hole is the number of cards used plus a penalty for any excess distance. Scorecards for various famous golf courses are available from the manufacturer's web site.

Corporate Shuffle

Another climbing game from Wizards of the Coast, in which the cards depict characters from the Dilbert cartoon series, It is similar to The Great Dalmuti but with some extra cards that have special effects.

Coup d'Etat

A four-player game related to Barbu, produced by Parker Brothers in the 1960's. It uses a 32 card pack and some extra charts and equipment. The innovation in this game is the "coup", by which another player can try to take over the declarer's role for the rest of the current set of hands.

Cows Can't Dance

(... but they like to be asked). This game from Gamewright contains 52 cards plus two spares, which can be used as wild. There are 4 lady and 4 gentleman dancers in each of four suits, 6 Madame Fifi cards, 7 bulls and 7 cows. This is a draw and discard game in which players try to score points by making pairs of dancers, which are placed on the table. The discarded cards are laid out separately in the "dance hall" in the centre of the table. Normally a pair is formed by a card from your hand and one from the dance hall. A lady and gentleman of the same suit can dance together; Madame Fifi can dance with any lady or gent and can break up a dancing couple to get a partner; cows and bulls can only dance with each other, and can ask for a partner from another player's hand.

CrossCrib®

This is a commercial version of Table Top Cribbage: you get a board on which to lay out the cards, scorepads, and rules with variations, including versions for more than two players. The aim is to play cards on the 5x5 board so as to make high scoring Cribbage hands: one player scores for the rows, the other for the columns. You can read a review of it in The Game Report.

You can order CrossCrib from unclesgames.com

D! Bone

A set of 29 robust plastic cards equivalent to a double-six domino set with no double blank but with two double wild cards. These are used for a draw and discard game - the play mechanism is similar to Rummy or Tonk, but the "spreads" are chains of cards whose touching ends match and open ends add up to a multiple of five, as in a fives-style domino game. These can be "hit" by extending them to longer scoring chains. Several other games with the same cards are also offered, some of them more similar to classic dominoes.

Deal a Word

A word game. The pack consists of 108 letter cards, each showing a point value. The rarer the letter in English, the fewer cards there are for that letter and the higher the score. The rule leaflet describes several games. One is a draw and discard game in which the aim is to form one 5-letter and one 6-letter word in your 11-card hand. In another, a turn consists of playing a card to the table and drawing a replacement: when your play creates a word of four or more letters you can take those cards and score for them. There are several suggestions for educational use of the cards and simpler games for young players.

Dia de los Muertos

A rather innovative trick-taking game using a pack with three suits (pink, blue and green) and black cards that have no suit. In each trick, it is illegal to play a card of a suit that has already been played. Black cards, not having suits, can always be played. Every card has a number, ranging from 0 to 10. In general, the highest numbered card wins the trick (in case of a tie, the first card played wins the trick). Many of the lower-valued cards have special effects which must be carried out when they are played. The goal of the game is to win the "point cards", which are the 2s and the 4s, and a partnership gets a point for every 2-4 pair they win. When a player takes a point card (4, 2, or the special 0) during gameplay, they must give a "gift card" to the opponent on the right. The opponent gets a card at random, looks at it, and chooses a card to return (it may be the same card).

You can order Dia de los Muertos from funagain.com

Dutch Blitz

This is a version of the raditional competitive patience game known as Racing Demon, Pounce or Nerts, but played with special decks containing numeral cards 1 to 10 only (40 cards in each deck). It is sold as a game of the Pennsylvania Dutch. You can order Dutch Blitz from unclesgames.com

The Einstein Code

A game by Luc Gheysens using a deck of 16 cards (the letters x, y, z, t four times) for forming codes and a deck of 36 cards (the numbers 1 to 9 four times) for guessing them. The rules are aavailable on the T3 Flanders web site in English and Flemish. The cards can be ordered from (price 10 Euro).

Family Business

Each player (there can be up to six) controls a gang of nine mobster cards. During the game, mobsters may be placed on a hit list (lined up against a wall), and the mobster at the top of the hit list is liable to be executed when a mob war takes place. Play is from an action deck of 56 cards - on each turn a player draws a card an plays one. The effects of cards are to place mobsters on the hit list, change the hit list sequence, rescue mobsters from the list, start a mob war, counter the actions of other players, and so on. As you would expect, the winner is the last player to have any mobsters left alive.

You can order Family Business from funagain.com

Fiasco

A trick-taking game in which each player tries to collect cards of a particular suit. There are 54 cards in the decks, ranking 1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8-K, and there are six suits, but the six kings and six fives do not belong to any suit. Kings are bonus cards, but if you win a five you have to give away a scoring card. The Fiasco web site includes an entirely fictional "history" of the game. You can order the Fiasco Card Game from unclesgames.com

Five Crowns

A rummy game similar to Three-Thirteen, played with a 116 card deck. There are no aces or twos but there is an additional suit of stars and six jokers. You can order the Five Crowns Card Game from amazon.com

Flinch^®

Flinch was copyrighted in 1901 by A. J. Patterson, then in 1903, by Flinch Card Co. and later revised in 1913. In 1904 Parker Brothers bought the exclusive licence to sell it, and finally took over Flinch Card Co. in 1938. It is a competitive patience game a little like Spite and Malice, played with a 150 card deck consisting of ten each of cards numbered from 1 to 15. Rules are also available here. The game is now produced by Winning Moves.

Order Flinch from Winning Moves

Fling (formerly called Suds)

A fast game for young children from Gamewright. The pack of 54 soap-sud shaped laundry cards contains peaked hats, T-shirts, boxer shorts, pants, socks and sneakers. There are also three wild cards which count as anything. The players each have a three-card hand and a face-down stock used to replace hand cards as they are used. There are no turns - players get rid of their cards as fast as they can, building face-up piles of six cards in the correct sequence on the table. The first player who runs out of cards wins. You can order Fling from funagain.com

Flocks

A children's game in which players try to collect sets of three identical birds (flocks) by a draw and discard mechanism to which is added the option of asking another player for a card rather than drawing from the stock or a discard pile. The 72-card pack has 3 each of 24 different cards. There are 21 different birds and 3 kinds of special card: wild Golden Eggs, Spectacle Birds that can look at another player's cards and Crazy Cuckoos which enable the player to swap flocks with an opponent.

Fluxx

A boldly original card game, in which the rules are written on the cards. Fluxx was published in 1997 by Looney Laboratories. Basically it works on a draw and discard princple - you draw cards from the stock and either play them in front of you or in the centre of the table, or discard them. The unusual feature is that the cards you play alter the rules of play and the winning conditions. Because the objective can change unpredictably the game is rather wild and there is a considerable luck element. Kristin Looney writes: "So yes, Fluxx is largely a luck oriented game, which means that hard-core strategy game fans might not care for it. Rather, it's just a good, fun, kind of silly family card game, which kids of all ages will enjoy." See also Steffan O'Sullivan's Fluxx Fix page, which has a review of the game and some suggested changes to the rules.

You can order Fluxx from funagain.com

Frank's Zoo

This is the English language edition of Zoff im Zoo, published by Doris Matthäus and Frank Nestel in 1999. It is a climbing game, best for 4-5 players, played with a 60 card pack consisting of five each of whales, elephants, polar bears, seals, crocodiles, lions, perch, foxes, hedgehogs, goldfish and mice, four mosquitos and one chameleon. The basic play is similar to President, but with several added complications. The rules on which animals beat which are subtle - for example, elephants beat crocodiles and crocodiles beat perch but elephants don't beat perch. You can play an equal sized set of animals that beats the previous play, or a set of the same animal as the previous play but with one more card. The chameleon is a wild card that takes on the identity of the animal it is played with. A mosquito, normally the weakest animal, can masquerade as an elephant when played with an elephant. Players score according to the order in which they run out of cards, and there are special scores associated with lions and hedgehogs. From the second deal onwards, players form partnerships according to their scores.

You can order Frank's Zoo from unclesgames.com

Free Parking

In this game from Winning Moves each player has a parking meter. They can run errands worth various numbers of points, but they must make time for these errands by feeding their meter. In addition to cards representing the meters with sliders showing the remaining time, the deck contains errand cards, cards for feeding your meter, free parking cards which enable an errand to be run without using meter time, and special cards that send another player's meter to zero, cause a player with no time on their meter to be fined ("Officer Jones"), or enable you protect yourself against a fine. Each player has a hand of six cards, and a turn consists of replenishing your hand to six and then playing a card. You can also draw a card from a second deck, known as "second chance" cards, and follow the instructions on the card.

Frog Juice

This Gamewright game is a sort of hybrid of a fishing game and a quartet game, with some extra features. It is based around the theme of collecting the ingredients for spells. The pack consists of 44 ingredients cards, 4 witches, 2 princes, 2 maidens, a black cat, a "witch wash" and five different spells.

Order Frog Juice Card Game from amazon.com

F*ck This!

A rude word game from BTRC. There are 125 cards, 120 containing words or groups of words and 5 giving bonus points. The cards are played to form a crossword-like grid. Players score points for completing obscene, blasphemous or otherwise offensive phrases. Available as a download of the rules and card images or in printed form ready to play.

Fuddy Duddy

This is an original draw and discard game with 4-card hands and four discard piles, in which the object is to collect a set of 1-2-3-4 of a single colour. There are 5 colours - red, yellow, green, blue and white (dud) and the 52-card pack contains three of each 1, 2 and 3 but only one 4 of each colour. There are two wild 4's, which can be used as any colour except dud, so a dud set (a fuddy duddy) is the most difficult and valuable to collect; also the most risky since there is a penalty for any odd dud cards left in players' hands at the end.

Gametasia

This is a 56-card pack from the "Freedom Within Foundation" based on the standard 52 cards of the Anglo-American pack plus jokers in the four suits. Each card carries many extra symbols - a chess piece, a letter of the alphabet with a score, a table of chess values, various astrological and other symbols, and a fanstasy character, so that the cards can be used for a variety of different types of game, some of which also require a game board and pieces. Rules for various games are provided on the Gametasia web site, along with the board and card designs for those who wish to print their own deck rather than buy one.

Gang of Four

This is one of the most successful commercial adaptations of a climbing game. It was adapted from the Chinese game Choh Dai Di (Big Two) by Lee Yih and first published in Hong Kong in 1990. The cards are attractively designed in an unusual style reminiscent of Chinese communist poster art. The pack consists of cards numbered from 1 to 10 - two red, two yellow and two green of each number - plus 4 extra cards. Each numerical rank represents an occupation, from Student up to General, and the extra cards are the Chairman (highest), two Vice Presidents (next highest) and a Student Leader (ranking slightly above an ordinary student). As in all such games the aim is to get rid of your cards. The cards can be played singly, in pairs, in triples, in fours of a kind (gangs of four) and in five-card poker combinations. A combination is beaten by a combination of the same type with better cards, or by a gang of four or more equal cards, which beats anything. The scoring system penalises anyone left with a large number of cards, and this creates an interesting tension between three possible objectives:

• to maximise your chance of eventually winning the hand, for which you must not let go of your strong cards too soon;
• to reduce your hand to a safe level, so that you will not lose too much if someone else wins, for which you must get rid of cards as soon as you can even if these leaves you with cards that will be hard to dispose of;
• to go out as quickly as possible, to try to catch at least one other player with a high score, which may taking an early risk that some play you make will not be beaten.

Gavitt's Stock Exchange

This lively 1903 stock trading game, possibly the inspiration for Parker Brothers' Pit, was reissued by Out of the Box Publishing in 2003. The deck consists of 49 cards: eight shares in each of six railroad companies, plus one telegram card. Players simultanoeusly trade cards or pairs of identical cards, sight unseen, aiming to collect all eight shares of a company, at which point they can shout "Topeka" to win. You can order Gavitt's Stock Exchange from funagain.com

Gawp

This game involves recognising sets of cards from a layout: each card shows concentric rectangles in three colours, and the aim is to spot sets of three cards with the correct colour relationships. This game might appeal to people who like SET - the game play is somewhat similar but different types of pattern are involved. A free on-line version of the game is offered on the web site.

Geoplunge

This US geographical game was invented by Alan Fishel and published in 2004. The set consists of 98 giant cards (127mm x 76mm) and a rule book. The core of the game is a 50-card deck corresponding to the states of the USA, each showing a map of the state, its rank (1st to 50th) in size, population and "statehood" (date at which it became a state of the USA), its capital, three largest cities, bordering states, state flower and state bird. The rule book describes several games that can be played with these cards, and others are described on the game's web site. These include trick-taking games, rummy-like games, and quiz games where players try to identify opponents' cards from clues. In addition to the state cards, the set includes a deck of 36 GeoChallenge cards that are used to select the clues given in quiz games - they have instructions like "opponent chooses either the Flower or Bird to read" - and a deck of 12 GeoPower cards (4 size, 4 population, and 4 statehood) that are used to determine the card ranking in some of the trick-taking games.

Gift Trap Card Game

Each card represents a gift. Players give each other gifts, choosing from the cards they are dealt. The recipient, without knowing who gave what, decides which gifts he or she prefers. The giver of the most welcome gifts wins the "trick" and the first player who wins seven tricks wins the game. The cards can be printed from the web site and cut out, or the cards from the Gift Trap board game can be used. You can order Gift Trap from unclesgames.com.

Glory to Rome

Designed by Carl Chudyk and published by Cambridge Games Factory in 2005, this game for 2-5 players has a mechnism similar to San Juan, but is considerably more complex. Victory points can be scored for buildings and for materials stored in one's vault. Each card in the 144-card "orders deck" can represent a role, a building or a material. To execute a role one must play a card of the appropriate type from hand or have a card of that role installed as a "client". Roles include hiring a client, gathering and storing material, starting a building, adding to a building, and moving material from store to vault. It is also possible to requisisition materials from other players. Buildings require various quantities and types of material and provide extra powers as well as victory points when complete. The game also includes also some smaller decks: 6 jacks, which are wild role cards, and 36 sites on which buildings can be erected. The considerable effort required to understand this game is worthwhile for those who enjoy a game with moderately deep strategy.

You can order Glory to Rome from Funagain games.

Go Bark

A version of Go Fish played with a pack of 54 cards: 4 cards of each of 12 breeds of dog and six special "Go Bark!" cards which can be used to redirect a demand for a card to another player. You can order Go Bark from unclesgames.com

Golasso

A computer card game - a simulation of American Football played with four 52-card decks.

Golf Widows [archive copy]

The pack contains 26 red "Hers" cards, each containing a golf question like "Why are you always practising your putting in the house?" or "Why do you spend so much money of golf?" and 26 black "His" cards with answers or excuses like "I need more exercise as I get older!". "She" plays a series of questions from Her hand and "He" tries to respond with appropriate answers from His hand. The cards are also marked in the corners as a standard 52-card pack plus two jokers, so can also be used for many traditional card games. The game can be obtained from sporting-gifts.com.

Go Surf

This 45-card pack illustrates 11 types of surfing manoeuvre (4 different coloured cards for each) and there is one wipe-out card. The web site suggests several games to play with these cards - mostly adaptations of children's games such as Go Fish, Old Maid, Memory, Crazy Eights, Slap Jack and Pig (Spoons).

The Great Dalmuti

This is a game of the climbing group, somewhat similar to President. The main innovation is that there are more cards of the low ranks than the high, so the losing players can sometimes play a such a large set of low cards that they can't be beaten by the players with high cards. The deck contains 80 cards; there is one card of the highest rank (Great Dalmuti), two of the second, three of the third, etc. down to twelve of the lowest (Peasants). In addition there are two Jesters, which are wild. Sequences are not allowed, but Dave Howell of Wizards of the Coast, Inc. writes: The Great Dalmuti was developed from a variant of scum/asshole/etc. that did have sequences as an allowable play. It was taught to Richard Garfield by the name "The Great Dalmuti". We deliberately removed the sequences option as needlessly complicating the game. We also experimented with a couple of versions that had trump suits.

You can order The Great Dalmuti from unclesgames.com

The Great Running Game

This is a fairly detailed simulation of a Rugby Union game. There is a pack of over 100 cards representing various runs, tackles, kicks, catches, pick-ups and sequence plays. These are used by the two players to move the ball back and forth on the pitch, which is divided into 5 metre bands. There is also a pack of 12 cards representing the referee's decisions, which are invoked when certain cards are played, and 12 cards for determining the results of line outs, scrums, drop goal and conversion attempts.

Green Thumb Cards

A game with a gardening theme. Some of the cards represent plants of various types and the aim is to score points by playing matching sets of these in the area in front of you (your garden). Other cards are used for attacking other players' gardens or defending your own, or cause events such as natural disasters. At the start of each turn you replenish your hand to six cards and then play one of these. A computer version of this game is also available.

Gubs

A family card game for up to 6 players by Cole Medeiros. The game uses a draw-play-discard mechanism, the aim being to have the most "gubs" face up in front of you at the end of the game. As well as "gub" cards, the deck includes various events, barricades, hazards, traps, tools and interrupts, which enable players to steal each other's gubs, protect their own gubs, dismantle other players' protection, and cause various other events. There are are also three letter cards, the drawing of the last of which ends the play.

Guillotine

An original card game from Wizards of the Coast in which French nobles are lined up for execution, your aim being to arrange them so as to achieve the most prestigious collection of heads. It has no connection with Scott Marley's card game Guillotine (published in 1983).

Heavy Gear Fighter - Showdown in the Badlands

This is a game for two players, which simulates a combat. Each player has a hand of cards representing powers and resources. This game seems akin to a Collectible Card Game in the way it is played, though it uses a fixed pack of cards from which the players' hands are dealt. Here is an archive copy of the rules.

Hero House

The pack has 56 cards: 14 each of heads, bodies, legs and primes. The prime cards are complete heroes; three-card heroes can be constructed from one card from each of the head, body and legs suits. Within each suit the cards have from 1 to 4 black or white dots, which determine their fighting strength against monsters, which are heroes formed by the players' discards. The aim is to collect a set of heroes that is 'balanced', with an equal number of black and white dots.

High Society

An auction game for 3-5 players, by Reiner Knizia. Each player has a supply of money cards which are used to bid for cards representing luxury possessions; these possessions are worth from 1 to 10 points in the final scoring. Among the cards to be bid for there are also recognition cards, which double the value of possessions, and misfortune cards, which reduce your score for possessions. When a misfortune card appears, players bid to avoid it: the first player who drops out of the bidding gets it, while the others pay what they bid. The player with least money at the end is eliminated and cannot win; the winner is the player with the greatest number of possession points among those who remain.

Hol's der Geier

A game of bluff by Alex Randolph, closely related to Gops and also known in English editions as Raj. Each player has a deck of bid cards numbered from 1 to 15, which are used to bid for prize cards: there are mice with positive values and vultures with negative values. A mouse is won by the highest unique bid and a vulture by the lowest. Equal bids cancel. You can order Hol's der Geier from funagain.com

Horse Show

The pack for this Gamewright game consists of 32 different cards representing named horses, each with different abilities, 12 "assist" cards, which can be used to boost any horse's chances in a particular type of event, and 15 "blue ribbon event" cards in the categories Hunter, Jumper, Dressage and Equitation (there is one "dealer's choice" event, which can represent any of these types). Each horse show consists of three events, represented by blue ribbon cards drawn from the shuffled event card stack. Each event card also specifies advantages and penalties for particular horses that might enter. The horse and assist cards are dealt to the players, who decide how to deploy them, the aim being to collect as many blue ribbons as possible for winning events at the four horse shows which make up a game.

Order Horse Show Card Game from amazon.com

House of Lords

This is a game for up to four players, in which each player controls a Lord Baron who may be accused of and tried for high treason. It is played with a set of cards made up from parts of three standard 52 card packs, including jokers, 32 chips and one 6-sided die. Each player lays out five cards of a suit to represent the Baron's household, and has an estate of 8 chips. Each player also has a hand of cards, which can be played to make allegations against other Barons and to defend your own Baron in a trial. If your defence fails, your Baron goes to prison, and if your Baron cannot afford to buy freedom, his House falls. The last surviving Baron wins.

Indochine 2000

From Xanadu Leisure Ltd., this is a handsome set of wooden tiles corresponding to a six-suited deck of playing-cards. The extra suits are wheeels and anchors (green) and there are three jokers, one of each colour, making an 81-card deck. The set is intended for playing an ingenious Solitaire game invented by J.Q.Kansil, to facilitate which several extra wooden pieces of different shapes are included. However, the 81 tiles can clearly also be used for six-suited adaptations of all kinds of card games. You can order Indochine 2000 from funagain.com

Instinct

A variant of Oh Hell! played with a 66 card deck consisting of five suits of 12 cards and six equal ranking trumps. If a trump is led, the other players may play any cards, and if several trumps are played to a trick the last one wins.

Jonola

This game, formerly known as Canasta Five, is a variation of canasta played with three 52 card packs plus jokers, which has achieved great success in Australia and New Zealand. The game is speeded up by having two draw piles instead of one, and the advantage of taking the discard pile is lessened by only allowing the top five cards to be taken. Jonola can be played by two, three or four players.

Jungle Speed

A game based on Snap, played with a pack of 80 square shaped cards and a wooden totem, which the players grab when they notice a match. 72 of the cards show 18 different shapes, each in four different colours. Normally the object is to be the first to notice matching shapes. Many of the different shapes are deliberately similar, to lure players into claiming false matches. There are 8 special cards: two of them switch the game objective from shape matching to colour matching and back; three require everyone to play a card simultaneously; three require everyone to grab the totem.

Kuhhandel

Kuhhandel (horsetrade) is an original and unusual game which has been popular in Germany for some years. It was designed by Rüdiger Koltze in 1984 and published in 1985 by Ravensburger. In 1996 a second lightly revised edition was issued which is now being produced under the imprint of F.X. Schmid (which Ravensburger took over in 1998). There are two packs of cards: a 40 card pack showing 4 each of 10 types of animal with values ranging from 10 to 1000, and a pack whose cards serve as money of various denominations. A turn consists of either auctioning the top animal card of the stock, or trading with another player who has an animal card of the same type as you. The aim is to collect sets of four matching cards, and the trading mechanism guarantees that eventually all the animals are in sets belonging to the players, at which point whoever has the most valuable collection wins. An English translation of the rules is available from the Kuhandel page at Game Cabinet. Also, here are German rules of Kuhhandel from Ravensburger.	You can order this game from funagain.com:
	Kuhhandel - FX Schmidt edition	Kuhhandel - Ravensburger edition

LeCardo

A compound word game by Leo Marshall. Each of the 52 cards shows a short word and a point value. Players score for constructing longer words by combinining pairs of cards - for example 'paper' + 'work' = 'paperwork'.

Lexicon

A word game, using a pack of cards each showing a letter of the alphabet. Lexicon was first published in Britain by Waddington in 1933, and an American version was launched by Parker Brothers in 1937. In the original (1933) version, the aim is to get rid of your cards by laying them down as words. It is also possible to alter words by adding or replacing letters, without disturbing the order of the remaining letters. In later editions, variations were added, such as one in which words can be built across each other at right angles, sharing letters. You can order Lexicon cards on line from Toptrumps.com.

Lexio

This is a version of the card game Big Two from the Korean firm Dagoy. It is played with plastic tiles numbered from 1 to 15 in each of the four suits, making a 5-player game possible in which each player is dealt 12 tiles. Chips are supplied for keeping score: each player is supplied 149 points' worth of chips at the start and a game ends afetr 5 deals or when a player runs out of chips if that happens sooner. The BoardGameGeek page on Lexio includes links to English translations of the rules. You can order Lexio from funagain.com

LiarLiar [archive copy]

This card game is based on similar principles to the dice game Liar's Dice or Perudo and the related game Liar's Poker which uses the serial numbers of dollar bills. The set contains a 10-sided die and 50 cards each showing a ten digit "serial number". Each player has one card and the players take turns to make increasing claims about the number of times some digit appears in total on all the cards in play. Unlike some games of this sort, the play in LiarLiar is halted only when a claim is challenged by all opponents. The rules include a number of variants, some of which use the die to choose a wild digit.

Ligretto

A German proprietary version of the traditional game known as Racing Demon, Pounce or Nerts. Each player has a pack of 40 cards, numbered 1 to 10 in four colours. Tableaux in this game consist just of a row of three cards (or more with fewer than 4 players) with no building allowed. One game box contains 160 cards - enough for four players, but boxes are available in various colours and themes, and by combining these more players can be accommodated.

You can order Ligretto from funagain.com

Lost Cities

A two-player game by Reiner Knizia. The 60-card pack has 5 suits, each representing an expedition, consisting of cards from 2 to 10 and three unnumbered "investment" cards. Players build up expeditions by playing cards of a suit in ascending order only. An expedition can be preceded by investment, which increases both its cost and its potential value. A turn based online version of Lost Cities is available at YourturnMyturn, which also has rules for Lost Cities. You can order Lost Cities from unclesgames.com

Lucky Seven

An undemanding but enjoyable game played with seven numbered beer coasters. They are shuffled and dealt face down in a row, then turned up one at a time. The number you find indicates which coaster is to be turned next. You win if you end with all seven face up. Lucky Seven was invented by Martin Samuel of Games Above Board and published in 2003. You can order Lucky Seven from unclesgames.com.

Magic The Gathering

The classic trading card game from Wizards of the Coast.

Meuterer

Sequel to Verräter, Meuterer (Mutineer) is another successful strategy game by Marcel-André Casasola. It is played by three or four players. There are twelve cards representing islands are arranged in a circle. One player is the captain, who navigates the ship from island to island, but the captain's role can be taken by another player by means of a mutiny. There are cards representing goods that can be sold at the islands, and weapons that can be used to help or resist a mutiny; other cards represnt the varying roles that the players can take during the game: captain, mate, mutineer, ship's boy, quartermaster or trader.

You can order Meuterer from funagain.com

Margin for Error

This trick-taking game from Sagely Games has a basic mechanism similar to American Hearts (no trumps, pass cards before play, one suit of point cards), but in a context that makes the tactics rather different. This is a partnership game, played with a 56-card pack with cards numbered 1 to 14 in four colours, and in addition there are two "goal" cards: "high" and "low". The dealer (or another player if the dealer passes) chooses the point suit and the objective. The suit is announced but the objective - to win or to lose points - is communicated secretly to partner by passing a goal card face down across the table. You can order Margin for Error from unclesgames.com

Michigan Rummy

This is an American commercial version of Three in One or Poch, played with a standard 52 card pack, some chips for stakes, and a board on which to arrange the stakes. Each round consists of two games played with the same cards: first you select five cards with which to play Poker; then you play Michigan (Boodle), and collect chips whenever you play a card or combination corresponding to one of the sections of the board.

You can order the board and counters for Michigan Rummy from unclesgames.com

Mille Bornes^®

"Mille Bornes" is a fast and entertaining partnership game using the draw-and-discard principle from a six-card hand; cards have point values; players have to meld cards showing kilometers but they can be stopped by "accidents" (called Hazard Cards) placed by their adversaries. The object of the game is to be the first team to accumulate a total of 5000 points in several hands of play. Four "Safety Cards" can be used to prevent an opponent from playing certain Hazard Cards. Mille Bornes was designed in 1954 by Edmond Dujardin, a printer at Arcachon (near Bordeaux). It is the best known member of a family of card games that started with Touring (rules copyright 1906). Although Parker Brothers had for long been publishing Touring (up to 1975), in 1962 they bought a licence from Dujardin to issue an American edition of Mille Bornes. The game remains popular, either under the original French name "Mille Bornes" or translated as "1000 Miles" or even "Milestone". Rules are given on the Central Connector site and also on Dan F. Duda's page under the name Milestone, with a computer version of the game in Java and Windows versions. A space travel themed version is included under the name Space Race in Hoyle® Card Games (2007) for Windows. Mille Bornes was discontinued by Parker Brothers in 1997 but re-released by Winning Moves in 1998 under Parker/Hasbro's licence.

From Winning Moves, you can order Mille Bornes or Mille Bornes Collectors Edition

Monopoly: The Card Game

This game from Winning Moves is played with a 60 card pack: 28 correspond to the property spaces on a Monopoly board, and there are 16 house and hotel cards, 2 wild chance cards, 6 token cards, 4 "go" cards and 4 "Mr. Monopoly" cards. Each player has a hand of 10 cards and the object is to collect a hand containing one or more complete colour groups of property cards by drawing from the stock, discarding and "trading" discards with the other players. The value of a colour group can be increased by house, hotel and token cards, and go and Mr. Monopoly cards can bring extra rewards. The score is kept using the Monopoly money included in the set and the first player who collects $10,000 dollars wins.

You can order Monopoly The Card Game from Winning Moves

Mü

A point trick game by Frank Nestel and Doris Matthäus (Spiele von Doris & Frank / Amigo) that won the 1996 "à la carte Kartenspielpreis". It is best for 5 or 4 players, and features a novel and ingenious method of bidding to choose the trumps and partnerships. The pack consists of 60 cards; each of the five colours has cards from 0 (low) to 9 (high) with the ones and sevens duplicated. Sevens and sixes are worth two points, nines and ones are worth nothing, and all other cards are worth one point each. The trump suit can consist of two parts, the higher part chosen by the bidder and the lower by the opponents. Trumps can be two colours (e.g. red over blue), two numbers (e.g. 3 over 7), or a number and a suit (e.g. 5 over green or black over 1). The bidding is performed by players displaying cards from their hands; this gives a lot of scope for players to communicate information which can be used later when choosing partners and trumps, and in the play. See also Doris and Frank's Müpage, which includes a forum for discussing strategy and bidding systems.

You can order Mü from funagain.com

Mummy Rummy

A rummy-like game from Gamewright. The 45 cards carry attractive illustrations of parts ancient Egyptian treasures. The cards are ingeniously arranged into 5 suits, each of which has 3 cards showing part of one treasure, and 6 cards showing parts of two different treasures. The players try to collect sets of three cards make complete treasures. At a turn you draw a card, put down any treasure you have completed and then discard. It is possible to draw any card from the discard heap provided that you can use it to complete a treasure; if you do this you must also take all the discards that are on top of it. If you have matched all or all but one of your cards you can knock, in which case the game ends and is scored after everyone else has had one more turn.

Order Mummy Rummy Card Game from amazon.com

Mytos y Leyendas

A trading card game from the Chilean company Salo.

Ocho Vampiros

This game, playable by 2 to 8 players but said to be best for 4 or 6 playing in teams, first became popular in tha American southwest, but is beginning to acquire a following in other cities. Each of the 49 cards has a street side and an indoor side. Players' cards are laid out on the table, so that their upper sides are visible to all players. In the basic game a turn consists of playing a card to the play pile and drawing a card from the stock. The game begins with all cards street side up; playing a "door" card causes the cards to be turned over to show their indoor sides. Eight cards show vampires on one side (hence the name of the game - eight vampires): there are four indoor and four street vampires. Playing a vampire captures the cards in play, and the object is to capture most cards. There are alternative versions: Vampire Thief, in which vampire cards can be stolen from opponents, and Horror Wonderland in which the cards are arranged in stacks with only the top card visible and moved according to fairly complex rules.

Onexeno

A pack of 70 square cards, each with a different pattern of spots in the eight edge positions (the four corners and the middles of the four sides). There are rules for three games, each involving matching the sides or corners of adjacent cards. In the first, cards are played to a grid with the aim of completing a row of five cards. The second is a solitaire game in which the aim is to build an 8x8 grid in which all adjacent cards match. The third is a draw and discard game in which players can meld combinations of from 4 to 7 matching cards.

Open

A game by Sergey Panfilov, consisting of three miniature 32-card packs with suits of hearts (red), diamonds (yellow), clubs (green) and spades (blue) plus a set of various jokers. The cards of each suit are numbered 1-8 in the first pack, 10 to 80 in the second and 100 to 800 in the third. Many different games are offered; in all of them the cards are moved around an 8x8 game board with squares marked in the colours of the four suits. I freeware PDF file with the rules, card and board designs for the initial version of the game are available here.

Phase 10

A commercial version of Contract Rummy, with a few innovations. There are ten contracts (called "phases"), but instead of playing just ten deals, one for each contract, it is necessary for each player to make each contract before moving on to the next. Thus players can be aiming for different contracts on the same deal. Most of the contracts are made up of sets and runs as usual, but contract 8 requires a 7 card flush. The 108 card deck has 4 suits of 12 cards (duplicated) plus 8 wild cards and 4 "skip" cards which cause the next player to miss a turn. The suits are distinguished only by colour, so the cards may be difficult for colour-blind players to use.

You can order Phase 10 from funagain.com

You can order the 20th Anniversary Phase 10 Game from unclesgames.com

Pico

A game of bluff invented by Frank-Sven Nestel. It is somewhat related to GOPS, but with several interesting twists. It is played with a pack of just 11 cards (originally numbered 2-3-4-5-6-7-8-9-10-13-16 but the new edition Pico 2 will have 11 and 12 instead of 2 and 3). The two players each place a card face down and expose them simultaneously; the winner a trick is the player of the higher card, provided it is not more than twice the lower card. If the higher card is more than twice the lower card, the lower card wins. The card that wins the trick is placed in front of the person who played and scores at the end; the losing card is put back into the player's hand and can be reused in future tricks.

You can order Pico from funagain.com

Pigasus

A game from Gamewright, which is similar to the traditional children's card game known as Pig or Spoons, but cards are drawn as well as passed so that the hands increase in size. The 55 card pack onsists of 11 sets of 5 cards, each set depiction a pun involving pigs. The cards are dealt out so that everyone has a face-down Pig Pile. Play is simultaneous and consists of alternately drawing a card from your Pig Pile and passing a card to your left-hand neighbour. As soon as anyone has a pair of cards from the same set they slap the table (or you could grab a spoon of which there are one too few or put your finger to your nose as in the traditional games). When someone slaps, so does everyone else, and the last to do so loses a life. There are variations where you can slap without a pair, but you then lose a life if someone correctly challenges you.

Pig Pile

This is a version of Shithead, played with a special deck of cards, with illustrations of a farmer pig eating corn. There are cards numbered from 1 to 12, corresponding to the cards 3 to ace, and "high AND low" cards, corresponding to the twos in the traditional game. There are eight cards of each number, corresponding to a double deck. Only three identically numbered cards are needed to remove the pile. Three cards have special actions: as usual the 8 (Hog Wash - equivalent to 10 in the standard pack) clears the pile; the 4 (Hog Tied - equivalent to 6) skips a player and the 11 (Ewe Turn - equivalent to king) reverses the direction of play. The game comes with little rubber pigs that are used for scoring.

You can order Pig Pile from funagain.com

Pit^®

A lively trading game, copyrighted by Parker Brothers in 1903. The deck consists of sets of cards representing various commodities. Older decks have 9 cards each of corn, wheat, oats, flax, rye, barley and hay; some new ones have 8 each of corn, oats, sugar, cocoa, barley and wheat. In addition there is a bull and a bear card. The game is played with one commodity per player; everyone trades cards at once and the aim is to collect a complete set of one commodity. The bull card is a wild card, and the bear card is a useless card which you must get rid of to form a set. The game is now produced by Winning Moves.

From Winning Moves you can order:

Pit - The Classic Trading Game

Deluxe Pit (with bell)

Pokémon

A trading card game from Nintendo.

Quiddler

This is a rummy-like game in which the combinations are words. It is played with a pack of 118 cards, of which 108 show single letters and 10 show two-letter groups. Players take turns to draw and discard until someone is able to form all their cards into words after discarding. Each of the other players then has one more turn in which they make as many words as they can; then all score the value of the words they have played less the value of the unused cards in their hands.

You can order Quiddler from unclesgames.com

Pokey Joe

A betting game without money for up to 6 players, using cards as chips. The 60-card deck has cards numbered from 1 to 10. The smaller numbers rank higher (1 highest) and are in shorter supply. The cards are dealt out equally at the start. In each round, players look at their top card and bet poker-style on whose card is best, using their remaining cards as (equal valued) chips. This is repeated until one player wins by collecting all the cards.

Qwitch

This game (formerly known as Switch) is played with a 64-card pack and one special die, whose faces show "+", "-" or "=". Each card has a letter and a number - they range from A1 to H8. Players try to get rid of their cards by playing to them to a discard pile. When the die shows "=", each card played must match the previous card's number or letter, so the play is similar to the traditional game of Switch or Eights. If a player runs out of cards or no one can play, the die is rolled and everyone replenishes their hands to five cards. When the die shows "+" the number or letter of each card played must be one more (later) than the previous card, so they play gets stuck if you reach H8. Conversely, when the die shows "-" the number or letter must decrease by one each time and A1 blocks the play. Play can be simultaneous or turn based according to the players' preference.

You can order Qwitch from unclesgames.com

Race for the Galaxy

This game for 2-4 players designed by Thomas Lehmann and published by Rio Grande Games in 2007 has a mechanism similar to San Juan, but its greater complexity allows for a wider variety of strategies. The main pack of 114 cards contains 64 planets and 50 developments, but can also be used as money (paying to settle a civilian planet or install a develpoment by discarding other cards) or as goods (which can be produced on planets and later traded for cards or consumed for victory point chips). These chips score in addition to the points for planets settled and developments installed. Each player has a set of voting cards which are used to select the phases which will take place in each round, the possibilities being exploration (drawing cards), installation of developments, settlement of planets, trading and consumption of goods, and production of goods. Planets and developments have various powers: some planets can produce, some can consume, some provide military strength that is required to conquer military planets. The key to success is to install a combination of planets and developments that work well together. Expansions of the game are promised, including a yet greater variety planets and developments and versions for 1 or 5 players.

You can order Race for the Galaxy from UnclesGames.com.

Rage

A game based on Oh Hell!, played with a 108 card pack consisting of six suits numbered 0-15 plus 12 special cards, which have effects such as changing the trump suit or causing the winner of the trick to gain or lose points. You can order Rage from funagain.com

Random Quest

A draw and discard game in which the objective is to collect all the cards of one solar system and eliminate all other cards from your hand. The pack of 67 cards consists of 5 solar systems - each with a sun and nine planets - and 17 power cards - on black hole and four each of comets, moons, quasars and asteroids. A turn consists of drawing the top card of the stock or any number of cards from the top of the discard pile, and optionally discarding one card. Power cards can be played to take cards from other players, to prevent another player doing this, to take any selection of cards from the discard pile, or to take the top discard out of turn.

Rat a Tat Cat

This game from Gamewright is based on the traditional card game Golf. Of the 54 cards, 45 are rats, numbered from 0 to 8 (four each) plus nine nines. Each player has four of these face down, which they try to remember, and the aim is to collect the lowest total and then stop the game. At your turn you draw a card form the stock or discard pile, and can use it to replace one of your cards. There are also nine cat cards with special powers: three allow you to swap one of your cards (unseen) with another player; three give you two extra turns; and three let you peek at one of your cards.	You can order from funagain.com:
	Rat-a-Tat Cat Card Game	Rat-a-Tat Cat Card Cuddler

Revenge of the B-Movie

A quick, undemanding game for 3-6 players - entertaining for those who like creating bizarre movie titles. Each of the 63 cards contains part of a title for a potential B-movie. Using these cards, players build movie titles with as much "cult value" as possible and then attempt to sell their movies by rolling a die. There are some useful reviews at BoardGameGeek.

Rook^®

Rook is a deck of 57 cards and also the name of a group of games played with those cards. The cards are sold by Parker Brothers who copyrighted the game in 1906, and under licence by Winning Moves. Some people play Rook with a standard playing-card deck, and there are several other rather similar games played with standard cards in various parts of the world. It is not quite clear which of these are adaptations of Parker's Rook, and whether Rook itself was based on a pre-existing game played with ordinary cards. 93 years after its American debut in 1906 Rook has at last landed in continental Europe: the French branch of Hasbro is now marketing a game called L'Escroc (the Crook) which is Rook in another guise!	You can order from unclesgames.com:
	Rook	Deluxe Rook

Roolz

An expanded version of Rook using a pack of 100 cards. There are six suits numbered from 0 to 15 plus four special cards - two "roolers" and two blank cards. The game is for up to six players; with fewer than five some low cards are removed from the deck. There are two trump suits, one outranking the other, and the roolers are added to these suits as lowest trumps. The blank cards can be used as an alternative to following suit (rather like the fool in classic tarot games). The suits are distinguished only by colour, so the cards may be difficult for colour-blind players to use. the game can be obtained from the inventor Brandon Morris (bmorris@microsoft.com) and a computer version can be dowloaded from the web site.

Rummikub®

A set of 106 coloured and numbered tiles, consisting of two each of numbers 1 to 13 in red, orange, blue and black, plus two jokers, used to play rummy games. Rummikub is credited to Ephraim Hertzano, a Romanian-born Israeli who designed the game in 1955. It was later licenced to the German publisher Intelli and to the American publisher J. Pressman & Co. in 1980. It is striking that the equipment is more or less identical to that used for the traditional Turkish game Okey and for the traditional tile rummy games played in Romania and other south-east European countries.	From unclesgames.com you can order
	ORIGINAL RUMMIKUB®	RUMMIKUB® DELUXE EDITION

Rummoli

This is a North American (maybe Canadian?) version of Three in One or Poch, played with a standard 52 card pack, some chips for stakes, and a board on which to arrange the stakes. In this version each round consists of two games played with the same cards: first you select five cards with which to play Poker; then you play Michigan (Boodle), and collect chips whenever you play a card or combination corresponding to one of the sections of the board.

San Juan

This card version of the board game Puerto Rico was designed by Andreas Seyfarth and published by Rio Grande Games in 2004. The 110 cards can represent buildings, goods or money, depending on how they are placed or used. Players take turns to choose a role - to draw cards, place a card as a building, produce goods, sell goods, etc. Normally the choice allows everyone to perform the selected action, but the player who chose the role gets a privilege. The objective is to score as many victory points as possible by placing buildings, but these must be paid for by discarding cards from one's hand. Some are production buildings which allow goods to be produced and sold for cards, which in turn can be used to pay for more buildings, while others provide enhanced powers or discounts or extra victory points. The original play mechanism involving roles and multi-purpose cards has proved particularly successful and has been used in other games such as Glory to Rome and Race for the Galaxy.

You can order San Juan from UnclesGames.com.

Sequence

A commercial version from Jax games of a traditional American game, known by various names including Jack Foolery. It is played with two standard 52 card decks and a board containing two images of every card except the jacks. When you play a card from your hand you place a chip on one of the corresponding cards on the board, the aim being to achieve a row of five of your chips, known as a sequence. Jacks enable you to place a counter anywhere on the board or remove an opponent's counter. You can order Sequence from unclesgames.com

SET^®

Set is an original game using a deck of 81 cards. Players try to be the first to spot matching sets of cards within a layout. This game originated in the USA and has now also been released in Germany. You can order SET® from amazon.com

Die Sieben Siegel

"The Seven Seals" by Stefan Dorra, published by Amigo is one of the most successful of the many commercial games based on Oh Hell!. The pack consists of 75 cards numbered 1 to 15 in each of five suits, distinguished by colours and symbols, of which 15 are dealt to each player (with fewer than 5 players, the pack is reduced by removing cards equally from the suits). Players must predict not only how many tricks they will win but in which suits. This is done before the play by taking the appropriate "seals" (small coloured discs) from a central pool, to which they are returned as the promised tricks are won. Any seals you have left over at the end of the play count 2 penalty points against you, but if you win a trick for which you do not have a corresponding seal, you must take a black seal, worth 3 penalty points. The red suit is permanently trumps: a player who wins by trumping can choose to to count this as a red trick or a trick in the colour of the suit that was led. In each hand one player, instead of taking seals, can take the role of Saboteur, whose aim is to make sure that as many opponents as possible win unwanted tricks. The fact that all players can see the seals that the other players have chosen to take gives Die Sieben Siegel some extra tactical depth not found in other games of this family.

You can order Die Sieben Siegel from funagain.com

Six Generations

The pack consists of 72 cards representing people of six generations. There are couples from 20 countries of early 19th century Europe and five generations of American descendants (16, 8, 4, 2 and 2 cards) which can be laid out in various ways to form a family tree, the last generation of which is a brother and sister living at the start of the 21st century. Players are dealt 6 cards each and take turns to add a person to the family tree, starting from the European generation and adding descendants, and drawing cards when unable to play. The web site has rules for several other games that can be played with the same cards.

Sixteen

A straightforward two-player game from Alpine Games, using a 54-card pack with 13 cards in each of four colours plus two wild cards. In each colour there is a zero and two each of cards 1-6. Playing alternately, players aim to win the play pile by completing a set of three consecutive cards of the same number or colour or by hitting a total of exactly sixteen. Going above sixteen gives the pile to the opponent. You can order Sixteen from unclesgames.com

Skip-Bo

Skip-Bo was first designed and published by The Skip-Bo Company in 1967. In 1980 the licence was bought by International Games, the creator of Uno. Skip-Bo is a commercial version of Spite and Malice played with a special deck of 162 cards - 12 sets numbered 1 to 12 and 18 "skip-bo" cards which serve as jokers. Pablo Fuentes has written Skip98, a shareware version of SkipBo which can be played against the computer over over the Internet using ICQ or Chat. You can order Skip-Bo from unclesgames.com

Slamwich

A children's game from Gamewright. This is a game of fast reactions, similar to Egyptian Ratscrew but played with special cards. There are 55 cards, shaped like slices of bread; 40 are various types of food (four of each), 12 are munchers (numbered 1, 2 or 3; four of each) and three are thieves. At your turn you play your next card on the discard pile. If two identical food cards appear in succession or separated by just one other card (a sandwich) or whenever a thief appears, the pile can be claimed by the first player to slap it. Munchers work like the pictures in Egyptian Ratscrew or Beggar my Neighbour - the next player has to play the indicated number of cards, and if this happens without event the muncher gets the pile.	You can order from funagain.com:
	Slamwich Card Game	Slamwich Card Cuddler

Somerset

A reprint of a popular traditional game: Somerset is a four-player game of tricks, trumps and bidding with unequal length suits. Both the suits and the cards in each suit are numbers: the suits are 12s, 10s, 8s, 6s, 4s, 2s, and 0s, and the cards in each suit run from 0 to the suit number. The designations of the cards look like fractions: 5/8 is the 5 of the 8s suit, and so on. There is also one special card S/S, which is always the lowest trump, for a total of 50 cards in the deck. The highest bidder chooses the trump suit and points are scored for tricks and for certain scoring cards - the middle card of each suit and the S/S.

Space Beans

A game by Uwe Rosenberg, published by Rio Grande Games. The pack contains 105 cards: 7 suits of 15 cards, each with one each of 1-3 and 2 each of 4-9. Players form collections of cards of one suit, and the value of such a collection is equal to the number of cards in it, but only if it contains a card of that number. The mechanism is unusual and works surprisingly well: you have cards in your hand, you can optionally draw from the stock, you play as many cards as you like of one suit to one of your collections on the table, and then pass your whole remaining hand to your left hand opponent (who at this point has no cards). You can only have two collections on the table at a time - the older one face up and the newer one face down; if you want (or are forced) to start a collection in a third suit, you have to cash in your face up collection for what it is worth, if anything, and discard it. The theme of the card designs is an odd mixture of beans and science fiction. Here is a page with rules of Space Beans.

You can order Space Beans from funagain.com

Speed

Speed was invented by Reinhard Staupe and published in 1995. In North America it is known as Blink and in Israel it is Sprint. It is not quite the same as the traditional game of Speed or Spit played with the 52-card pack, though both games are a race to get rid of cards by playing to two face up discard piles. In the proprietary game of Speed or Blink each card you play must match the previous card on the pile where it is played, either in the shape, colour or number of symols on the card. There are 6 symbols, 6 colours and 5 numbers, but only 60 cards in the pack, 12 of each number 1 to 5, including two of each number/colour and number symbol combination. Details of the rules and history of various editions of can be found on the Let's Speed site.

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Spellarama

A word game played with a deck of 112 cards showing letters of the alphabet and their scores. Players draw and discard cards, using a mechanism similar to that of 500 Rum, the valid melds being words of 3 or more letters. There are also 24 'sound cards', and players get an extra bonus for melding words that include certain sounds.

Stack 21

As the name suggests, the aim is to form stacks of cards adding to 21. Each player has four stacks, each begun with a face down card. At your turn you draw a card and must play it face up on a stack. A stack of exactly 21 is complete and will score at the end of the game; a stack which goes over 21 is bust and cannot be played on or score. You cannot bust an opponent's stack; if you try to play a card on an opponent's stack that makes it more than 21 the opponent rejects the card and you must play it on your own layout. The deck consists 104 cards: there are numeral cards from 0 to 10, plus four "instant 21" cards which immediately complete a stack by making its total 21. Some of the numerals are "bonus" cards which increase the score if included in a completed stack; some are "keepers" which must be played on your own layout if you draw them. Simple and elegant; well designed cards; easy to learn. Made by Enginuity.

Stanley Hero

A hockey simulation card game, offered in the form of a computer game. English and French language versions available.

Stone Soup

An enhanced version from Gamewright of the traditional game Cheat (sometimes known as "Bullshit"). The cards represent seven types of soup ingredients, and there are extra cards representing stones and salt. As in Cheat, players try to get rid of their cards by playing them face-down to a discard pile (soup), adding ingredients in a fixed order. A player who is caught adding the wrong ingredient has to pick up cards from the pile. The stone cards can never be played legitimately - the only way to get rid of them is to claim they are a valid ingredient and hope not to be challenged. The salt cards can be used to enable a player to pass their turn, thus passing the responsibility of adding the next ingredient to the next player in turn.

You can order Stone Soup from funagain.com

Suds - now renamed Fling

Summon the Dragon

This is a game with trumps, tricks and bidding for four players in fixed partnerships. It is slightly reminiscent of Bid Whist, though this may be a coincidence as the author says he has never played that game. The deck has four 13 card suits representing the four elements, plus a dragon card which is the permanent highest trump, or highest or lowest card of any suit at the holder's choice in a "no trump" bid. The high bidder has the choice of exchanging the four card kitty or "summoning the dragon", in which case the holder of the dragon card must give it to the bidder, who discards one card; the original holder of the summoned dragon gets the kitty as compensation and discards three cards. In the play, trumping is compulsory if you do not have the led suit, and the last trick counts as two tricks.

Supersquads (archive copy)

Supersquads is a two-player card game based on (Association) Football. The basic play is similar to Top Trumps: the cards represent players with various amounts of skill in five categories. Each player draws a card, one chooses a skill category, and the more skilful player in this category wins both cards. The game is made more interesting by being able to pick teams from the available players and allocate your players as forwards, midfielders and defenders in your chosen formation. By winning a sequence of plays you earn a shot at goal: you choose the type of shot and its success is determined by a "shoot!" card drawn by your opponent. There are also red cards, yellow cards and goalkeeper cards which can be added for a more advanced game. The set contains three teams (each with 20 ordinary players, two goalkeepers, a red card and a yellow card), plus a pack of 24 different "shoot!" cards.

Swap

This game is similar to Eights or Uno, but more lively and with even less scope for thought or tactics. It is only necessary to match the colour of the previous play - the cards have no ranks. Some cards have special effects: there are cards that allow players to change the colour that must be played, cards that require players to swap hands, and cards that require the other players to slap the discard pile, the slowest player having to take a card from the person who played the slap card.

Tack

A 60-card pack from Gameyex with an unequal distribution of denominations 0-9 (5s, 6s and 7s predominate) in two "suits" (black and white). Each card has various other attributes including a "lens" usually divided into three coloured sectors and somtimes an "archaic icon" in the centre. These can be used for a range of games, some original and some based on traditional games. Rules are available on the Gameyex web site, along with computer implementations of some of the games.

Target

A draw and discard game in which players collect and score for various types of card sets (straight, flush, three of a kind, etc). There are two decks: the larger deck consists of 82 playing cards: there are numerals 0 to 9 in four suits (cards 2 to 8 duplicated) plus ten wild cards numbered 0 to 9 which can count for any suit; the smaller deck has 28 "target" cards, each of which defines a type of combination which the players can try to make, and the score available for the first who succeeds. Five target cards are turned up and five cards dealt to each player. Whenever a player achieves a combination corresponding to any of these cards, they win the target card and a new one is turned up in its place.

You can order Target from funagain.com

Tichu

This game is published by the Swiss firm Fata Morgana Spiele, and seems to be quite closely related to the Chinese game Zheng Fen. The special pack for this game contains 56 cards, and is essentially like a standard pack with four jokers. The normal suits are replaced by suits of jade, sword, pagoda and star, and the four jokers, each of which has a special property, are the sparrow, the phoenix, the dragon and the dog. Tichu has become quite popular among games enthusiasts in Switzerland and Germany. The Fata Morgana Tichu Spezial page has further information, including details of tournaments. There is also a German Association of Tichu Players. An English translation of the rules is available from the Tichu page at Game Cabinet

You can order Tichu from funagain.com

Top Trumps

This group of games use a mechanism similar to that of War, but using special cards each of which has various attributes such as speed, weight, length and so on. Each player has a hand of cards. The starting player plays a card and chooses an attribute; then each of the other players play a card, and whoever's card has the highest value of that attribute wins the played cards and becomes the new starting player. In case of a tie, the played cards remain on the table for the next winner and the same starting player plays a new card. Decks have been published based on many different themes. The Ultimate Top Trumps site has information on the history of the game and the various decks that have been published. Top Trumps cards can be ordered from Winning Moves UK.

TraveLight

A draw and discard travel game in the tradition of Touring and Mille Bornes but with a self-help theme. The aim is to score 1000 by playing "light years" cards - there are 24 of these in the 74-card deck with values of 50, 100 and 200. Your progress can be delayed by "baggage" and "wrong turn" cards and assisted by "reality check" and "movin' on" cards.

Triple Topper

This is a pack of 125 cards containing 5 suits, 5 numbers and 5 colours in all combinations. This 'three dimensional' pack can be used to play a variety of games, which are explained on the rules page. They include: Craziness (a version of Crazy Eights), Memo-Match (a version of Memory / Pelmanism), Bust the Dafuhzit (a version of Spite and Malice), Caffeine (a version of Speed) and Six Suit (an original game in which you try to give the opponents six cards with a common suit, number or colour). Some of the games are available in Java versions to play online against computer opponents.

TRIPOLEY^®

A commercial version of Three in One, containing a deck of cards, chips for the stakes, a cloth layout on which to place the stakes, and rules. In each round three games are played with the same cards: first chips are won for holding cards on the layout, then you select five cards with which to play Poker, and you end the round with a game of Michigan (Boodle). Rules are available at the Central Connector site.
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Tri-Virsity

A rummy game in which the melds are words. The pack has 132 cards - three suits of different colours each contain 41 letter cards and two wild cards and there are three wild cards that can be used with any suit. Players can meld words of three or more letters of one colour, or extend words that other players have melded. Players score for cards melded according to the point values printed on the cards, and are penalised for unmelded cards when another player goes out.

Twilight

A point trick game for 4 players (2 against 2) with an original trick taking mechanism. The pack has 28 cards - 14 sun and 14 moon, and one suit belongs to each team. When it is your turn to play to the trick, a card of your su