Standard 52-Card Deck

Games played with the standard French-suited 52-card deck. Four suits (Spades, Hearts, Diamonds, Clubs), thirteen ranks per suit (A, 2-10, J, Q, K). Some games add 1-2 jokers or use multiple decks.

The Deck

Games

Climbing / Shedding

• Big 2 — Climbing card game where 2 is highest. Play singles, pairs, or poker hands to empty your hand first. 4 players.
• President — Multi-round climbing game with role-based card trading. Finish first to become President.

Partnership Trick-Taking

• Bridge — Rubber — Contract bridge for 4 players (2 partnerships). Bidding, declarer, dummy, and rubber scoring. Casting for a rubber requires winning 2 games.
• Euchre — 24-card trick-taking game (9 through Ace). Trump selected each round; Right Bower (Jack of trump) is highest. First to 10 points wins. 4 players.
• Spades — Partnership trick-taking; Spades always trump. Bid predicted tricks; bags accumulate penalties. First partnership to 500 points wins. 4 players.

Individual Trick-Taking

• Hearts — Trick-avoidance game; Hearts and Queen of Spades score penalty points. Shoot the Moon to score zero and penalise opponents. First to 100 loses. 4 players.

Draw-and-Discard / Melding

• Canasta — Partnership melding game using 2 decks + 4 jokers (108 cards). Build Canastas of 7+ cards. Wild cards may substitute. First to 5000 points wins. 4 players.
• Gin Rummy — Two-player draw-and-discard melding game. Knock when deadwood is ≤10; go Gin for zero deadwood bonus. First to 100 points wins.

Poker

• Texas Hold’em — Community card poker. Two private hole cards + five shared community cards; four betting rounds (preflop, flop, turn, river). Best 5-card hand wins. 2–10 players.

Pegging / Counting

• Cribbage — Two-player pegging game scored on a cribbage board. Features the crib, pegging phase, and the show. First to peg 121 points wins.

Banking / Casino

• Blackjack — Beat the dealer: get closer to 21 without busting. Blackjack (natural 21) pays 3:2. Multiple decks; player options include double down, split, and surrender. 1–6 players vs dealer.

Shedding

• Crazy Eights — Match the discard by suit or rank; Eights are wild. Direct ancestor of Uno. 2–5 players.

Partnership Trick-Taking (Classic)

• Whist — Classic trick-taking game and ancestor of Bridge. No bidding; trump set by last card dealt. Dominant 1750–1900. 4 players.

Draw-and-Discard / Melding

• Rummy — Classic draw-and-discard melding game. Lay melds during play; opponents may extend them. Going Rummy doubles penalties. 2–6 players.

Patience / Solitaire

• FreeCell — Open solitaire (all 52 cards visible). Four free cells for temporary storage. Nearly all deals solvable with correct play. 1 player.
• Klondike — Classic one-player patience game. Build four foundations by suit from Ace to King. Seven tableau columns; draw 1 or draw 3 from stock.
• Spider Solitaire — Two-deck solitaire with 10 tableau columns. Complete in-suit King-to-Ace sequences. 1, 2, or 4-suit difficulty. 1 player.

Children’s / Simple

• War — Pure-chance game for 2 players. Higher card wins both; ties trigger War. No decisions required.

Attribution

All games in this hub use public domain mechanics. Individual attribution in each game entry.