Whether you’re on vacation or just enjoying the weekend, we all need a break from our mobile or PC games. One of the best ways to relax your brain and have fun in the process is by playing card games!
In this easy-to-read guide, we’ll be showing you the 10 best two-player card games for younger kids. 2 player card games are gaining in popularity as, in the world of high-end gaming and mobile gaming, people are losing the essence of human interaction.
However, card games are a great way to take a break from screen time and nourish your soul. So, take out your standard 52 card deck and get ready to play!
Navigation Table
Old Maid
The Deck
The standard 52-card pack is used.
The Objective
The basic rule of this game is to discard all pairs formed by each player until only the queen is left.
The players will first go through their cards and remove any pairs, laying them face down on the table. If a player has three of a kind, they should only discard two of them, as only pairs can be discarded.
Card Ranks
Ace (high or low), King, Queen, Jack, 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, Ace.
Card Values and Scoring System
Scoring in Old Maid is only applicable in games that are played across multiple rounds. The player that goes all out will be granted one point. The player who ends the game with the highest points can be considered the winner.
How to Deal
To play old maid with two people, you first have to remove one queen from the 52-card deck. Then distribute all remaining cards among each player.
In the two-player version, this means that one player will have one more card than the other player.
How to Play
Player one presents their deck, face down, to player two. Player two will then draw one card from player one without knowing what they’re drawing.
If the card drawn from player one makes a pair with player two’s card, then player two will put the pair face down on the table. Then player one will draw a card from player two’s deck and follow the same rule.
Play keeps going in this manner until all the cards are paired off, leaving only the odd queen card. The player that’s holding the odd queen at the end is the Old Maid and the game ends.
One oddball rule to know is that, either on purpose or by mistake, if a player discards two cards that weren’t a pair, which would result in three leftover cards at the end, that player then becomes the Old Maid.
Slapjack
The Deck
The standard 52-card pack is used.
The Objective
The object of the game is to win all of the cards by quickly slapping the deck whenever a Jack is played.
Card Ranks
Ace, King, Queen, Jack, 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2.
Card Values and Scoring System
Players who run out of cards can slap back. However, they’re out of the game if they miss the next jack. Whoever slaps the jack is the winner of the game and all the cards in the deck.
How to Deal
To play, you have to give an entire deck of cards to each of the players. The cards should be in a position that other players can’t see them. The hands don’t necessarily have to come out even. Each player squares up their hand into a pile in front of them without looking at the cards.
How to Play
The players will then draw one card at a time from the stack. Next, they’ll go back and forth until the card with the jack appears.
The real test of the game begins now. The first player to slap the jack will win the entire pile of cards. The player who wins the pile will add them to the bottom of his cards.
The game will then continue until another jack appears, and the same process will repeat. Once one player has collected all the cards, that player will be declared the winner.
Egyptian Ratscrew
The Deck
The standard 52-card pack is used.
The Objective
The object of the game is to win all of the cards through drawing and slapping.
Card Ranks
Jack, Queen, King, Ace, (10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2).
Card Values and Scoring System
The scoring in Egyptian Ratscrew is based on the winner of the most rounds. Each round awards 1 point to the winning player, assuming that the game consists of several rounds.
How to Deal
This game deals with cards one at a time to each player until the entire deck has been given out. Players cannot look at their cards and they must square the deck neatly after they receive their hand.
How to Play
A neat pile is put into the corner of the table, and player one takes the top card.
The card is placed face-up in the middle of the table. If the card is a number card, then the next player also takes the card from the deck.
Each player will keep taking the card until one of the players places an ace card (Jack, Queen, King, or Ace) or a face card.
When a face or ace card is played, the next player must also play an ace or face card for the game to go on. However, if this doesn’t happen, the person who last played the face or ace card wins the round and the pile goes to them.
The only thing that can override the face or ace card rule is the slap rule. The person who first slaps the deck of cards when the slap rule is valid wins the round.
The slap rule comes into effect when:
- Two cards of equal value are laid out, like 2 and 2. It also works if there’s a different number between them, like 2,3,2.
- When the top and bottom cards are the same.
- Anytime the joker card appears (this should be determined before the game).
- When you have cards with ascending or descending order like 2,3,4,5 or 8,6,3,1.
- When the queen appears under or over the king.
The player that gets all the cards first wins the game.
Golf
The Deck
The standard 52-card pack is used.
The Objective
The main purpose of this game is to reduce the total value of cards that are in front of you by swapping them with cards of lesser value.
Card Ranks
Queen, Jack, 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, Ace, King.
Card Values and Scoring System
The player with the highest score loses the game, and the lowest score wins it.
Scoring happens in the following way:
- Ace: 1 point
- Number cards 3 – 10: Points same as face values
- Jack or Queen: 10 points
- King: 0 points
- Equal cards in the same column will score 0 points for the whole column
How to Deal
Each of the players will be given 6 cards from the deck of cards, and the remaining will be kept in the corner of the table. Now, these 6 cards will be paired in groups of 2, and any one group should be face-up.
How to Play
Player one will draw a card from the deck. There are two choices: either swap the drawn card with one of your six-cards or discard it.
If the card is swapped with one of the six face-down cards, then the swapped card will remain face-up. If the drawn card is discarded, the player can either flip the card or make no move.
The play finishes when the player has six face-up cards. The player with the lowest score is declared the winner.
Concentration (AKA Memory)
The Deck
The standard 52-card pack is used.
The Objective
The object of the game is to be the player who collects the most matching pairs.
Card Ranks
The rank of the cards is unimportant in this game.
Card Values and Scoring System
A player must have more matched pairs than the other in order to be declared the winner of the round. All you need to do is look at how many pairs of cards each player has, since each pair is worth one point. The player that has the highest number of points is the winner of the game.
How to Deal
A player must take an entire deck of cards and put them face-down on the table in a grid-like pattern to play this game.
How to Play
Take turns flipping the cards. The goal is to find a match.
Once the match has been found, the player will then keep the cards. If the match is found, then the cards will be returned to their original position.
As the name suggests, the players must remember about the flipped cards that weren’t matched in order to strategically flip them in the next turn and get the most matched cards as possible.
The gameplay will continue like this from one player to the next until all the cards in the grid pattern are finished. The player with the most number of matched cards will ultimately win the game.
Crazy Eights
The Deck
The standard 52-card pack is used.
The Objective
The main objective of the game is to get rid of all the cards in your hand with the given set of rules.
Card Ranks
Ace, King, Queen, Jack, 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2.
Card Values and Scoring System
At the end of the round, players get the point value of the cards left in their hands. Cards have the following values:
- 8: 50 points
- Face Card: 10 points
- 2 – 10: Face Value (except for 8’s)
- Ace: 1 point
How to Deal
Each player will get 5 cards from the dealer, and the rest of the cards will be placed in the corner of the table as a stockpile. The top card on the stockpile is picked, turned face-up, and put in a separate pile. This card will be the starter card.
How to Play
Player one will play the first card and try to match the starter card in a suit or denomination, for example:
- If the jack of diamonds is the starter card, then either the jack in any suit or diamond of any kind may be played.
- If 5 of hearts is the starter card, then the player can play another 5 or another diamond of any number.
If the player isn’t able to play on their turn, that player can take a card from the pile until the pile runs out. The player who plays all their cards in the first round will be the winner of the game.
War
The Deck
The standard 52-card pack is used.
The Objective
The object of the game is to win all of the cards.
Card Ranks
Ace, King, Queen, Jack, 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2.
Card Values and Scoring System
Each player turns up a card at the same time and the person with the higher card takes both cards. Aces are the highest, while twos are the lowest.
How to Deal
War is played by distributing a standard 52 card deck equally to each player. In other words, each player gets 26 cards.
How to Play
The play begins when each of the players turns the top card from their decks. The player who gets the highest card will then collect both the two cards and win the round.
The game will then continue in the same manner until both of them turn over the card with the same value, then the war begins.
Each player will then take 3 cards from their pile and put them facedown. They will then turn over the fourth card. The player with the highest card wins all the 10 cards of the round.
The player who manages to get all 52 cards wins the game.
Blackjack
The Deck
The standard 52-card pack is used.
The Objective
The goal of the game is to be as close as 21 as possible.
Card Ranks
King, Queen, Jack, Ace, 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, Ace.
Card Values and Scoring System
All the numerical cards have the same numerical values. Jacks, Queens, and Kings all are worth 10 points. Aces can be either 1 or 11 (it’s best to decide the ace value before the game begins).
How to Deal
To get started with this game, player one gives player two one card face-up and the other face-down. Then, player one must repeat this process with themselves.
How to Play
Players have to add the value of face-up and face-down.
The players now have to decide whether they want a hit or to stay where they’re at. A hit means that you want another card, so the dealer will then give you a face-down card. Stay means that you want to keep the number of cards you have.
The winner is determined by whoever gets closest to the number 21 without going over.
Gin Rummy
The Deck
The standard 52-card pack is used.
The Objective
The object of the game is to be the first to reach the agreed upon score, usually 10 points.
Card Ranks
King, Queen, Jack, 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, Ace.
Card Values and Scoring System
Aces are scored at one point, face cards are scored at 10, and the other cards are scored according to their numerical values.
How to Deal
To play gin rummy, the dealer will distribute 10 cards to each player. The pile is then put down in the middle of the table. The dealer will also take the top card from the deck and place it next to the pile (otherwise known as the discarded pile).
How to Play
The game starts when player one replaces the top card from the discarded pile with either one of their own cards or by passing on their turn.
Player two then has the option of replacing the card from the pile, the discarded deck, or passing on their turn. The game will continue like this, and players will try to form combos of minimum three cards of the same rank or runs of the same suit.
The ideal situation is to make a gin that’s created when all 10 cards are in an appropriate combination.
If a player is left with 10 cards that can’t be matched, they can fold the cards to end the match. The player who gets to 100 points first wins the game.
Double Solitaire
The Deck
This game requires 2 standard 52-card decks.
The Objective
The object of the game is to move all cards from the tableau and from the stockpile into four build piles.
Card Ranks
King, Queen, Jack, 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, Ace.
Card Values and Scoring System
The scoring in double solitaire is based on how many cards each player is left with. When both players are out of moves and agree to end the game or when one person wins a round, that’s when the final scores are tabulated.
How to Deal
Each player deals their layout-28 cards into seven piles, and the cards are dealt facing down, with the top card facing up. The first pile has a single card, the second pile has two cards, and so one until the seventh pile that has seven cards. There are four foundation piles between the layouts of the two players that may be played upon by each player.
How to Play
The winning move for this game is to build eight “foundation” piles that begin from an ace and go in ascending order.
The players can then use the deck to lay seven piles of cards facedown. The first pile will hold one card, and the seventh pile will hold seven.
Each player will then turn the first card over from their respective piles, and these will be played throughout the game.
The remaining cards are called stockpiles, and players can choose to reveal them in sets of three. Players also have the right to play their cards upon other players’ foundations.
The winner is determined by whoever is the first person to use all of their cards to build the foundations.
Conclusion
These are some popular card games that you can enjoy with your family and friends!
We hope that this guide has helped you learn about how to play the 10 best two-player card games for younger kids. If you have any questions about any of the games we’ve listed here, or have a great idea for a unique card game, please don’t hesitate to leave us a comment below!
