You know the drill: it’s raining outside, even with a roof the wind makes it too cold to sit out undercover, and you’re free camping, so no TV or internet. What do you do? With space always precious, you’d be surprised just how much fun a deck or two of cards can be – and how much time you can kill playing them! So here are our top card games for travellers.
CRAZY EIGHTS
Players
2 to 4
Deck
Standard 52-card deck
Goal
To discard all of your cards
Setup
1. Choose a dealer.
2. In a two-player game, each player is dealt seven cards. In a game with three or four players, each player is dealt five cards.
3. The remaining cards are placed face down in the center of the table, forming a draw pile. The top card of the draw pile is turned face up to start the discard pile.
How To Play
1. The player to the left of the dealer goes first. Play moves clockwise.
2. On a turn, each player adds to the discard pile by playing one card that matches the top card on the discard pile either by suit or by rank (i.e. 6, jack, ace, etc.).
3. A player who cannot match the top card on the discard pile by suit or rank must draw cards until he can play one. It is allowed to pull cards from the draw pile even if you already have a legal play. When the draw pile is empty, a player who cannot add to the discard pile passes his turn.
4. All eights are wild and can be played on any card during a player’s turn. When a player discards an eight, he chooses which suit is now in play. The next player must play either a card of that suit or another eight.
How To Win
The first player to discard all of his cards wins.
or
With four players, it is possible to play partnership. If you do this, the game ends when both members of a partnership discard all their cards.
Multiple Games
To play multiple games, add up the cards remaining in the losers’ hands and give the points to the winner: 10 points for each face card, 1 point for each ace, 50 points for each eight, and the face value for the other number cards. Play to a set number, such as 150 or 200.
FRUSTRATION
Players
2+
Deck
Two packs of cards for up to four people. Three packs for six or more people. Remove jokers from the packs.
Setup
1. Choose a dealer.
2. Everyone is dealt 11 cards.
3. The remaining cards are placed face down in the centre of the table, forming a draw pile.
Premise
There are ten ‘games’ that everyone has to complete:
1. Run of 7
2. 2 sets of 3
3. 1 set of 3 & run of 4
4. 1 set of 4 & run of 4
5. Run of 8
6. 1 set of 5 & set of 2
7. two sets of 4
8. Run of 9
9. Set of 5 & run of 6
10. Set of 5 & set of 4
Runs can be of any suite and around the corner.
How To Play
1. The player to the left of the dealer goes first. Play moves clockwise.
2. The first player picks up one card from the draw pile. If they cannot complete a ‘game’ that hand, they must discard one card to a graveyard pile.
3. When a player has a completed a ‘game’ in their hand, they put those cards on the table.
4. The round ends when one person completes their ‘game’ PLUS gets rid of their remaining cards by either expanding onto their game by adding onto their runs or sets (set of four Jacks becomes set of six Jacks, e.g.), or by adding onto other people’s games in similar fashion.
5. You cannot add cards onto other people’s games until you have completed your ‘game’.
6. The person who wins the round then moves onto the next ‘game’. Remaining players must still complete that ‘game’ in the next round to move on.
7. The winner is the first to complete the ten ‘games’.
8. 2’s are wild cards.
Options
1. After each round ends, record the scores for end-of-Frustration assessment:
Cards 3-9 = 5 points
Cards 10-K = 10 points
Cards 2 or Ace = 20 points
2. ‘Knocking’ is optional but can be sweet: when one player knocks to indicate they have only one card left, others should then get rid of high-scoring cards (aces, mostly) to keep their score down.
3. Assessment at the end of Frustration should include a (negative) bonus for first to complete 10 rounds, or just an assessment of which ‘games’ people are on and the scores they accumulate.
RUMMY 500
Players
2+ players
Deck
Standard 52 card deck (for 2-4 players) or two standard 52 card deck (for 5+ players).
Setup
In a 2 player game each player gets 13 cards. In a 3+ player game each player gets 7 cards.
Object
The object of the game is to form sets (example: QQQ) and runs (example: 4s5s6s). At the end of the game points are awarded for cards put out and points deducted for remaining cards in the hands.
How To Play
1. When it’s a players turn, they must draw a card from either the stock pile or the discard pile and then discards a card at the end of their turn.
2. A player can draw any card from the discard pile, not just the top one. If a player chooses to draw a card from somewhere in the middle of the discard pile, they must take that card and all the cards on top of it. Also, they must use the bottom card drawn and form it into a set or run straight away. All other cards can remain in the hand for use later on.
Ending A Round
A round ends either when one player discards his last card or when the stock pile runs out.
Scoring
1. At the end of each round, each player adds up the value of the cards they have put out and then deducts the value of the cards still in their hand.
2. All face cards (K, Q, J) are worth 10 points. Ace is worth 15 points and all other cards are worth their face value.
How To Win
The first player to reach 500 points wins.