Fun and Simple Card Games for Beginners of All Ages

Getting into card games is a fantastic pastime. There are so many variations to choose from for any kind of player. Card games are easy to pick up, simple to learn, and endlessly replayable.

If you are looking for some of the best beginner-friendly card games that anyone can play with just a single deck of cards you've come to the right place!

What makes a card game beginner-friendly?

There are a few factors which can make a card game more difficult for beginners. While it's true many card games use a single pack of 52 playing cards, some require more rules than others. For example, keeping track of every Poker hand is going to be substantially harder for a new player than a simpler game. Other factors such as the length of the game, the method of scoring, or the amount of teamplay can also complicate games.

In this list, our criteria for an easy beginner card game are games which are relatively easy to set up or play online. These are all beginner games with simple rulesets, shorter lengths, and a varying amount of moment-to-moment complexity.

Many of these games don't require an intensive knowledge of every suit and value of a 52-card deck, so they can be easily approached by players who've never even used these cards.

Top card games for beginners of all ages

This list will include 6 popular and easy-to-play beginner card games suitable for any age, as well as a few bonus games for more challenging attempts! We've included a mixture of:

• Easy Solitaire card games
• Easy single-player card games
• Easy multiplayer card games
• Challenging card games to test your skills

Each game listed will contain a brief description of the objective, number of players, difficulty rating, and how to play. Let's dive in and find your new favorite simple card game!

Klondike Solitaire

Number of players: 1 player.

Objective: Form 4 foundational piles of cards, organized by suit.

Difficulty Rating: Suitable for beginners and easy to learn. Not always possible to win.

How to play: Create a tableau of 28 cards -- seven piles which increase proportionally -- and use the rest to create your stockpile. Start the game with the first card of each tableau pile flipped. Then, rearrange cards to reveal more cards and build your tableau.

Go fish

Number of players: 2-5 players

Objective: Win as many "books" as possible to be the highest scorer of the game. A book is a four-of-a-kind.

Difficulty Rating: Easy for anyone to play, with quick gameplay. Suitable for beginners of all ages and skill levels!

How to play: Each player is given an equal number of cards and must attempt to "fish" the cards of other players which match cards in their own hand. If you cannot find those cards from the selected player, you must draw from the center deck and end your turn, so long as you don't find the card you were looking for.

Crazy eights

Number of players: 2-5 Players

Objective: Discard every card in your hand before anyone else.

Difficulty Rating: Easy and quick to play, but might take a little bit to understand the rules because of card values.

How to play: Crazy Eights is quite easy to understand if you're familiar with the next game in this list. Each player is given a hand of cards, the rest forming a stock and a single card placed in the middle. Each player must sequentially either place a card from their hand matching the middle's suit or number value. If you cannot play, you must draw until you can. Eights are wild, meaning they can reset the middle pile!

Uno

Number of players: 2-10

Objective: Reach "Uno!" to discard your entire hand.

Difficulty Rating: Easy and quick to learn, with easy-read colored cards.

How to play: Unlike Crazy Eights, Uno uses custom cards, which means you'll be matching cards using their color or number value, and no suit. Play your cards in sequence to get them out of your hand, or else you'll have to draw. If you are holding one final card in your hand, "Uno!" what to do!

Hearts

Number of players: 4 players.

Objective: Earn the lowest score while winning as many tricks as possible, until reaching the agreed-upon score to end the game.

Difficulty Rating: Potentially a little tricky for players not familiar with the 52-card playing deck, but generally easy to play.

How to play: Hearts is a "trick-taking" game, winning a trick being winning a hand or a round of play. Players are dealt an equal hand of cards -- depending on player count -- and sequentially play a card to match the suit of a leading card, the highest card for that leading suit wins the trick. All heart cards and the queen of spades are to be avoided, as they negatively impact your score.

Spoons

Number of players: 3-5 Players

Objective: Four of a kind? Grab that spoon!

Difficulty Rating: Incredibly simple and easy to play; speed is to your benefit.

How to play: You're going to need spoons (yes, actual spoons!) -- one spoon less than the number of players. Draw cards in sequence to attempt to create a four of a kind. When a player gets four of a kind, each player must rush to grab a spoon. Too slow? For each time you don't grab a spoon, you'll gain one letter from the word "SPOON". Once you've spelled the whole word, you're out! The player to win is the last player standing.

Fancy a challenge? Try these card games

Spider Solitaire

Number of players: 1 player.

Objective: Form 8 foundational piles of cards, organized by suit.

Difficulty Rating: Quite challenging.

How to play: Spider Solitaire is similar to classic Solitaire but using two decks of cards. Double the cards, double the foundations, and a much bigger tableau. Organize your tableau with efficiency and luck to win.

Bridge

Number of players: 4 Players.

Objective: Cooperating with your partner, win the most tricks to win the game!

Difficulty Rating: Difficult and team-oriented. You'll need to rely on your partner to succeed.

How to play: Another game in the "trick-taking" family. Two opposing teams compete to score points by bidding on the tricks each player believes they'll be able to win. The highest bidder attempts to achieve the desired trick, while the opposing team does anything they can to prevent them.

Play beginner card games online

There you have it! These games are natural entry points into the card game genre and can be easily played online or in your own home.

Many of these games, including dozens more variations of Solitaire, can be found online for free at 247 Solitaire! There you'll find leaderboards, unique ways to play, and endless replayability for some of your favorite card games.

DISCLAIMER: The games on this website are using PLAY (fake) money. No payouts will be awarded, there are no "winnings", as all games represented by 247 Games LLC are free to play. Play strictly for fun.