Don’t you ever wish you had something easy to play when you’ve got a little free time, or when you want to get absorbed in something at your own pace? In this article, we’ll introduce solo card games that enrich those in-between moments using a deck of playing cards.
We’ve gathered a variety of ways to play: brain-teasing games, simple card fortune-telling, and even card tricks that test your dexterity.
Taking a short break from digital screens to enjoy analog play can be a great way to refresh yourself.
If any of these catch your interest, grab a deck of cards and give them a try!
- Single-player games: a roundup of time-killing games
- Recommended ways to kill time that you can do alone at home
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- [Fun For Solo Adults] How to Enjoy Your Time at Home
- A card game for two players
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- Cool playing card magic. Card tricks of various difficulty levels.
- Easy to play! A card game you and your kids can get hooked on together
- [Elementary School] Quick and Easy! Indoor Recreational Activities Perfect for Lower Grades
- [Easy] A Beginner’s Guide to Card Magic: Tricks Even Elementary School Kids Can Do Right Away
- [By Difficulty] Simple Card Magic Tricks Using Playing Cards
- [For Elementary School Students] Cipher Quiz: Fun Puzzle Riddles
- Simple card magic. Tricks you can do with self-working methods or a little sleight of hand.
[Solo Play] Trump Card Games You Can Get Lost In and Forget the Time (1–10)
clock
Let me introduce a solo card game called “Clock.” Remove the jokers and thoroughly shuffle the 52-card deck.
Place all cards face down in a circle to match the numbers on a clock face: twelve positions around the circle and one in the center, with exactly four cards at each position.
Start by turning over the top card of the center pile.
Place that card at the clock position corresponding to its rank, then take the bottom card from that position, turn it over, and place it at the correct position for its rank.
Repeat this process to complete the clock.
If you reveal a king (13), place it in the center.
However, if all four kings are placed in the center before the clock is completed, the game ends there.
four-leaf clover
This is a solo playing card game called “Four-Leaf Clover.” It uses the 52 cards excluding the jokers.
Shuffle the cards well, then lay out 4 cards face up, and another 4 cards beneath them, making 4 rows of 4 cards (16 cards total).
Ignore suits and look for cards whose values add up to 15; if you find any, remove them from the layout.
You may remove combinations of two cards totaling 15 or three cards totaling 15.
Fill any empty spaces with cards from the remaining deck.
Continue removing sets that total 15, and if you manage to remove all the cards, you win.
Trump boomerang
It’s a game where, if you throw a playing card just right, it twirls back into your hand—almost like throwing a boomerang.
The key to making it return is the way you throw the card and the angle, making good use of spin and air resistance to guide it back to you.
You hook it with your index finger to impart spin, and control its motion depending on whether you throw it to the left or right.
Once you figure out the direction it comes back from, you fine-tune the aim, and if you catch it well, it looks just like a boomerang.
Simple card fortune-telling
It’s a simple fortune-telling method.
While many playing-card readings focus on love, this one is versatile: it estimates the percentage chance that what you’re currently attempting or wishing for will come true.
You use two 13 cards and a total of twelve cards numbered 1 through 10.
Shuffle the 12 numbered cards well and lay them face up in a row of twelve.
Then, determine your success rate by how many numbered cards appear between the two 13s.
For example, if there are 6 cards between the 13s, that means a 60% chance.
Pyramid
The card game “Pyramid” gets its name from the way the cards are arranged in a pyramid shape.
The game uses a standard 52-card deck with the jokers removed.
Place one face-down card at the top, then beneath it place two cards so that they overlap the top card by half, then three cards in the same way, and so on.
The bottom row has seven cards, which are placed face up.
Suits do not matter; you can remove two cards from the layout if their values add up to 13.
When overlapping cards are cleared, the newly uncovered cards are turned face up.
You succeed if you manage to remove all the cards from the layout.
FreeCell
This is a game where you focus on the order of the cards laid out on the tableau and aim to play them onto the foundations in ascending order starting from 1.
You can only play a card to the foundations if it’s on top of a pile in the tableau, so you’ll rearrange the tableau as allowed to move the layout closer to the ideal shape.
Since there are also rules for rearranging the tableau, it’s important to think about how to use the free spaces where you can temporarily store cards.
Consider which card movements will lead to the next step, and aim for smoother gameplay.
couple
This is a card game called “Couple.” Using a 52-card deck without jokers, place four cards face up from left to right.
Then place another row of four cards beneath them, and a third row of four, and so on.
Whenever two cards with the same rank appear vertically, horizontally, or diagonally, remove them as a “couple.” When cards are removed, close the gaps by shifting cards leftward or upward in order, remove any new couples that form, close the gaps again, and if none are available, deal the next row below and repeat.
If you manage to clear all the cards on the table, you succeed.
It’s also played as a kind of love fortune-telling game.