Cool Two-player Card Games

Slapjack is an easy game enjoyed by all.

✦ Here the stack of 52 playing cards is divided equally among the two players.

✦ Either player may start by drawing a card from his stack and placing it at the center. The opposite player will do the same.

✦ Whichever player draws and places a Jack (belonging to any suit) on the stack of cards, the entire pile goes to that player. The objective of the game is to collect all the cards to win.

This is an addictive game that can go on for hours. To make it fun and long lasting, use 2 stacks of cards.

Spit is one of the most popular card games that can be enjoyed by two.

✦ Divide a stack of 52 playing cards among both the players, so that each player has 26 cards. From this pile, lay down five cards, one next to the other, face down.

✦ Continue in a way that, one pile has one card, the next has two, the third has three, the fourth has four, and the fifth pile has five cards. The top card of each of these piles should be placed face up. The pile with one card will be placed face up with no cards below.

✦ You will be left with 11 cards in hand. These should be held face down, and neither player is allowed to look at these cards.

✦ Both the players will simultaneously spit and draw one card from the pile of 11 cards and place it at the center. These will form the base of the spit pile.

✦ From the stack of cards that they have laid out, each player will pick a card that is one less or one more than the value of any of the two cards laid on the table. Like, if 4 on the table, the player will play either a 3 or 5. If these cards are not available on the top of the stack, then the player will draw a card from the pile of 11 he/she is holding.

✦ If the cards are available at the top of the stack, after using these, the card below can be turned and placed face up. If there is an empty slot after a pile of cards has finished, the player may move the top card of any stack to that empty slot and turn up the card that was placed below.

✦ Continue until all of one player's piles have ended. Then, this player gets to choose from one of the spit piles on the table. The other player takes the other pile.

✦ Using these cards, the piles are laid out again in the aforementioned manner, and the game is continued until there aren't enough cards to make all the necessary piles. At this point, the player who does not have enough cards will lay out all the cards he has in the same way, irrespective of the number, and there will be only one pile to play upon.

War is perhaps one of the most popular games that can be enjoyed by kids and adults alike.

✦ A stack of cards (without the jokers) is divided among two players, held in each player's hand face down.

✦ The game starts by one player putting down a card and the opposing player putting down another immediately from the top of the stack they are holding. The player whose card value is lower will lose his card to the other player.

✦ If both the players happen to put down a card of the same value, the war begins.

✦ Three cards are laid face down by both players. Then both players draw a card and place it face up. The player who draws a card of a higher value takes away all the cards of the opposite player.

✦ The winner of the game is the player who collects all the cards.

War can be easily turned into a drinking game by asking players to take a shot of their drink every time they draw a card of a lower value. Good luck with that!

This is a game that is loosely based on the popular card game called 'Uno'.

✦ In this game, each player is dealt seven cards and remaining cards are placed in the center.

✦ One card from the top of the stack is turned and placed face up next to it. This card forms the base of what is known as the discard pile.

✦ Now, the first player (the person who did not deal) will place a card of the same suit (i.e., heart on heart, spade on spade, etc.) on the card that makes the base of the discard pile, as long as that card is not an 8 of any suit.

✦ If the card is an 8, the dealer will decide the suit of the cards to be played. If any player has an 8 in the cards dealt out to them, they may place it on the discard pile, irrespective of the suit it belongs to.

✦ This player will then choose the suit that will follow (preferably based on the number of cards of a particular suit he is holding).

✦ If an 8 is not available, and you do not have any cards of a similar suit left to play, you may draw a card from the pile that has been kept in the center. If it is still not the card you need, you will keep collecting these till you can play them. The person to end their cards first, wins.

The person left with the cards, however, is given penalty points. The card 8 holds a value of 50 points, all picture cards have a value of 10 points, and all the remaining cards are considered at face value.

Enjoy any of these games whenever you find yourself bored. You are sure to get addicted to these. Have fun!