A card game for two players
The classic pastime, playing cards—every household is sure to have at least one deck, right? They’re easy to play with, so some of you might even use them during work breaks or after school! They’re also great for killing time while traveling or when you can’t go outside—having a deck instantly livens things up.
In this article, we’ll introduce simple, easy card games you can play with two people.
We’ve carefully selected a wide range of games that even small children can enjoy, so you’re sure to find something that makes you think, “I want to try that!” and will get everyone excited.
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- Types of playing cards and how to play
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- Solitaire card games you can play alone [single-player]
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A Feature on Poker: The Card Game of Strategy and Tactics (1–10)
Indian poker
Indian Poker is a quirky card game.
It’s a contest of whose dealt card is stronger, but you place your card so that you can’t see it yourself—for example, by holding it to your forehead.
The same goes for two players: you draw one card from the deck and position it so you can’t see it, then bet and call whether yours is stronger or weaker than your opponent’s.
By the way, the weakest card is 2 and the strongest is Ace.
Since it’s decided in a single round, it’s a luck-based card game, and it’s simple enough that even older folks can enjoy it together!
pique
Piquet is a historic card game said to have originated in France.
It uses a 32-card deck with the 2–6 cards and jokers removed.
After deciding the dealer and the non-dealer, each player is dealt 12 cards.
The remaining 8 cards are placed face down as the stock.
If a dealt hand contains no K, Q, or J at all, you confirm this with your opponent and score 10 points.
Card ranks from high to low are A, K, Q, J, 10, 9, 8, 7.
Starting with the non-dealer, each player may discard up to 5 cards and draw the same number from the stock.
The dealer may also exchange up to 5 cards, but if there are 5 or fewer cards left in the stock, they may exchange only as many as remain.
After exchanges, beginning with the non-dealer, players alternately lead one card to the table; the higher card wins the trick, and the winner takes the cards played.
This continues until hands are empty.
Finally, each trick is worth 1 point, and the player with the higher total wins.
In practice there are many finer rules, so once you’re used to the basics, it’s fun to add more rules gradually.
Poker Feature: A Card Game of Intense Strategy and Tactics (11–20)
Scopa
Scopa is a popular card game in Italy.
It’s said to be similar to Japan’s Hanafuda, but the rules aren’t as difficult as you might think.
However, the way it’s played varies by region in Italy, and since there’s no official set of rules, a quick search will turn up a variety of ways to play.
In the common style, you try to infer your opponent’s cards from the cards on the table and vary the order in which you capture cards.
The play ends when both your hand and the deck are used up.
If there are any cards left on the table, they go to the player who last captured cards from the table, and then you score the cards each player has to determine the winner.
Gop
Gop is a Trump card game where strategy and bidding are key.
The game uses 39 cards, excluding hearts and jokers.
The cards are separated by suit: players use spades and clubs, while the diamonds are placed face down in the center as a draw pile.
You reveal the top diamond card from the pile, then secretly play one card from your hand to bid for it.
The higher number printed on the cards wins; the winner takes both their own card and the diamond card.
Repeat this process until the diamond pile is gone, then total the numbers on the cards you’ve won.
The player with the higher total wins.
Both the cards used for bidding and the cards won are kept visible to both players, allowing you to plan strategy and maximize your score based on the revealed information.
Mahjong Poker
Mahjong Poker, a game that combines hands from mahjong and poker, is a cerebral card game for two players that you can enjoy at a deliberate pace.
The dealer (oya) receives five cards and the non-dealer (ko) receives four; after the dealer discards one card, the non-dealer draws one and then discards one, and the game proceeds in this rhythm.
Like mahjong, you refine your hand to complete a combination, but the scoring is based on poker hands.
However, you cannot go out with just one pair or two pair, so you need a strategy that targets higher-scoring hands.
Points are assigned according to the completed hand; for example, a straight flush or four of a kind can net a big score all at once.
Reading each other’s intentions and choosing which card to discard is the key that often determines the outcome.
It’s a game packed with the thrill of bluffing and tactical exchanges.
eight
Also known as “Crazy Eights,” Eight is the playing card game that inspired UNO.
The game begins by dealing five cards to each player and placing the remaining cards face down in a draw pile.
Flip over the top card of the pile, then players take turns playing a card that matches the suit or the number of the top card, repeating this to reduce their hand.
However, eights are wild and can be played at any time; the player who plays an eight chooses the next suit.
If you can’t play, you draw from the pile until you can.
The first player to get rid of all their cards wins—just like UNO—so it’s a great option when you want to play UNO but only have a standard deck of cards.
Kreishut
Kreisut is a way to play standard playing cards like a trading card game.
Each player uses black cards (spades and clubs) and red cards (diamonds and hearts) as their respective decks, with a joker included in both.
The seven cards—Jack, Queen, King, and Joker—are “Fighter Cards,” while the Ace through 10 are “Power Cards.” Once per turn, a player can use a Power Card of the same suit to strengthen one of their three Fighters on the field by the value of that number.
You select one of your Fighters and one of your opponent’s Fighters to battle; the higher total wins.
The player who wipes out all of the opponent’s Fighters wins.
Since cards are initially set face down, there’s also a psychological element that makes the game exciting.
Mitch
Mitch is a card game developed in the 1980s by Mitch Gunzler, who taught at the University of California.
Using a 52-card deck without jokers, remove the four Aces first, then deal five cards to each player and return three Aces to the deck to start the game.
Players take turns drawing from the deck and then choose to either play a card to their tableau or discard it.
If an Ace is drawn from the deck, set it aside and draw an additional card.
When the third Ace is drawn, the game ends.
At that point, players score the cards they have played to their tableau, and the highest score wins.
Cards played to your tableau are arranged by suit, and any subsequent card you play to a suit must be a lower rank than the last card you played in that suit.
It’s a brain-teasing game of deciding the optimal order to play your cards so you can use as many as possible.
Texas Hold’em
Texas Hold’em is a variant of poker and is known as the most popular form of the game.
Players make hands using five cards and compete on strength, but the distinctive feature is that each player is dealt only two cards.
So where do the remaining three cards come from? They’re made up using the five community cards placed on the table.
Community cards are shared by all players: the first three are revealed at once, and then one additional card is revealed in order as the game progresses.
Each time community cards are revealed, players choose whether to continue or fold.
The game repeats in this way, and the player who accumulates the most points wins.
How many chips to bet and whether to continue or fold—these strategic decisions are the appeal of the game.
Jin Creek
Zinkreek is a playing-card battle game fought on a 3-by-3 grid of nine squares.
Both players place a Joker on the field and then put an Ace on top of it as a shield to finish setup.
The first player places cards from their hand into a cost area, then attacks with a card whose number matches the number of cards currently in that cost area.
If the attacker’s card is equal to or higher than the target card’s number, the target is destroyed.
In the opening example, because there is one card on top of the Joker and the first player has placed one card in their cost area, the numbers match, so the first player wins that exchange.
The destroyed card is moved to the cost area, and the first player may place one more card into the cost area, which lets the second player play a card worth 2 and destroy the first player’s earlier card.
Repeating this back and forth, the player who manages to successfully attack the opponent’s Joker four times wins.
While cost management and other elements can be complex, the depth of strategy makes this a playing-card game well worth trying.