Top 10 Card Games to Play with Friends

A relative newcomer to the world of card games, “What Do You Meme?” is certainly a product of our times. Created by Instagram account turned marketing empire, F*ckJerry, “What Do You Meme?” translates the art of internet meme-making into the form of a card game. The rules of play are simple: pair caption cards from your hand with the photo card selected to make for the most memorable, topical or absurd meme possible. The game is most certainly NOT for young kids, and realistically, your parents probably aren’t going to get the appeal. For those deeply entrenched in internet culture however, this game is the perfect way to unplug withfriends.

It might be an oldie, but it’s a classic for a reason! Spoons is a fast-paced game that’s easy to learn and offers hours of entertainment. It uses a standard 52 card deck and as the name suggests… spoons! The goal of the game is to get four of a kind. Gameplay involves all players simultaneously taking one card from their hand and passing it to the left. When someone succeeds in getting four of a kind, they quickly take a spoon, at which point everyone else has to grab one, with the player who misses out getting eliminated. If you don’t have spoons, players can instead touch their noses or stick out their tongues.

Another game for a standard deck of cards, Crazy Eights has been around since the 1930s. Players are given eight cards each, and then take turns discarding from their hand by matching with the suit or rank of the last card played. When someone plays an 8, they can choose the suit that the next player has to match with. It’s a game that can support a large number of players, although if you’re more than 5, you’ll want to double the deck. For longer, more competitive gameplay, try Crazy Eight Countdown, which involves players picking up a new hand each time they finish, taking one less card than they did on the previous hand.

A true classic, Hearts can be traced all the way back to a game called Reversis, which was played in Spain as far back as 1750. The goal of this game is to keep your score as low as possible. Sounds simple enough, right? The thing is, there’s a lot of strategy involved in reaching that goal and you can continue to refine your playing style over countless games. The 2 of clubs leads, and then players follow suit when possible, discarding cards from their respective hands as dictated by various rules of play. If you like Hearts, be sure to try out Spades, which offers similarly strategic play.

You’ve surely seen your grandmother, grandfather, aunts or uncles playing this game together, but don’t let its popularity with older generations dissuade you from learning it yourself. This game has been the life of the party for decades. Rummy is a matching game with the purpose being to pair cards of like rank or sequences within the same suit. Rummy type games date back centuries, and they haven’t lost their appeal. If you’ve grown tired of standard rummy - or gin rummy - there are countless variants or other card games in the melding family for you and your friends to try.

Cute name, fun game! If you and your friends are tired of the standard deck of cards and looking to shake things up, Munchkin just might be a perfect match. Theming is a big part of this card-based roleplaying game, and it’s all about having fun, as made clear by the game’s tagline: “Kill the Monster - Steal the Treasure - Stab Your Buddy”. Whereas many tabletop RPGs can feel very serious, Munchkin is a lighthearted take on the genre that encourages a mischievous playing style and plenty of sabotage. There are even cheat cards! Should you and your friends enjoy it, there are literally dozens of themed variants and expansions.

While we’re on the subject of card games in which sabotage is the name of the game, how about this delightfully over-the-top Kickstarter success story? Exploding Kittens has a name you won’t soon forget and a gameplay experience to match. Your goal is simple, do anything and everything in your power to avoid being killed by one of exploding kitten cards. Last player standing… wins! In your hand, you’ll have defuse cards as well as a number of various power cards that can be used to diminish your chances of getting an exploding kitten by shifting draws onto your opponents. It’s ruthless, but also a LOT of fun and very easy to learn.

Uno is derived from the Crazy Eights family of card games, but creator Merle Robbins certainly gave Uno his own unique spin. Since becoming the property of Mattel in 1992, Uno has gone on to delight families and groups of friends around the world. The goal is to reach 500 points, and these points are gained by being the first to discard all your cards, at which point you earn the total value of all the remaining cards still held by the other players. Add in Action and Wild cards and you’ve got a seriously fun gameplay experience. On the subject of Mattel, you should also try their similarly addictive game, Skip-Bo.

One of the most popular card games in the world, Poker is the sort of game that can be as casual or serious as you want to make it. You can get some buddies together on the weekend, pass the time at a cottage with friends, or play competitively and - should you be skilled enough - get rich doing it. Poker does technically involve gambling, but no one says that you actually have to use money. Plastic chits, paper clips, candy, pretzels - whatever you’ve got a lot of, you can use! What makes Poker so much fun is that there is so much room for improvement in terms of your strategy and overall skill.

Before we unveil our top pick, here is an honorable mention:
Team up in pairs, or go it alone - Spades lets you do both, although pairing up is the more common option. This trick-taking game in the Whist family became popular with soldiers in World War II, thanks to its simplicity and exciting, strategic gameplay. Scoring is based on bidding at the start of play, and spades is always trump.

When you and some close friends just want to cut loose and have a good laugh, Cards Against Humanity is the game you’re looking for. It’s crass, it’s crude, and more often than not, absolutely absurd. Players take turns as the Card Czar, who plays a black card face up. It’s either a question or a phrase with a blank in it, and all the other players need to submit an answer from their available hand of options. The mixture of possible answers ranges from mundane or formal to downright bizarre or disgusting. The key is knowing the Card Czar’s sense of humor. If you’re looking for something less offensive, go with Apples to Apples.