Card game facts for kids

The Card Players, a painting from the 1600s by Theodoor Rombouts.

A card game is any game that uses playing cards. These cards can be traditional ones, like the 52-card deck, or special cards made just for a specific game. There are so many different card games! Some are very old, and new ones are still being invented.

Many card games use a standard deck of 52 cards. This deck has four groups called suits: clubs, diamonds, hearts, and spades. Each suit has 13 cards, called ranks. These ranks go from two (sometimes called a deuce) up to ten, then jack, queen, king, and ace. Some popular card games you might know are poker, blackjack, and solitaire.

What Are Card Games?

Card games are a fun way to play using special pieces of paper or plastic called cards. These games can be played by one person, or by many people together. Some games are about luck, while others need a lot of skill and strategy.

How Do Card Games Work?

Most card games involve players taking turns. You might draw cards, play cards, or try to collect certain cards. The goal of the game depends on its rules. For example, in some games, you want to get rid of all your cards first. In others, you want to collect the most points.

Standard Playing Cards

The most common type of cards are the ones in a standard 52-card deck.

• Suits: There are four suits: clubs (♣), diamonds (♦), hearts (♥), and spades (♠).
• Ranks: Each suit has cards from 2 to 10, plus a Jack, Queen, King, and Ace. The Ace can sometimes be high or low, depending on the game.
• Jokers: Some games also use one or two extra cards called Jokers. These cards can often be used as any other card.

Special Card Decks

Not all card games use the standard 52-card deck. Some games have their own unique cards. For example, games like Uno or Phase 10 use decks with different numbers, colors, and special action cards. These games are still called card games because they use cards as their main way to play.

Types of Card Games

There are many different kinds of card games. They can be grouped by how they are played or what their goal is.

Trick-Taking Games

In these games, players try to win "tricks." A trick is a round where each player plays one card. The player who plays the best card wins all the cards played in that round.

• Examples: Bridge and Preferans are popular trick-taking games.

Matching Games

These games involve matching cards by rank, suit, or color.

• Examples: Crazy Eights (similar to Uno) is a good example where you match the previous card played.

Shedding Games

The goal of shedding games is to be the first player to get rid of all your cards.

• Examples: Uno and Go Fish are fun shedding games.

Gambling Games

Some card games involve betting money or chips. These games are often played for fun, but can also be played for stakes.

• Examples: Poker and blackjack are well-known gambling card games.

Solitaire Games

These are card games played by a single person. They are great for passing the time and challenging your mind.

• Examples: The classic Solitaire (also known as Patience or Klondike) is a very popular single-player game.

Trading Card Games

Trading card games (TCGs) are a special type of card game. Players collect unique cards, often in booster packs. They then build their own decks to play against others. These games often have a story or "lore" behind them.

• Examples: Pokemon and Yu-Gi-Oh! are very popular trading card games. These games often feel like a mix of a card game and a role-playing adventure.

History of Card Games

Playing cards have a long and interesting history. They are believed to have started in ancient China.

Early Cards

The earliest playing cards might have been used in China around the 9th century. These early cards were different from the ones we use today. They were often used for games that involved money or betting.

Cards Spread Around the World

From China, playing cards traveled to other parts of Asia, like India and Persia. Later, they came to Europe, possibly through the Mamluk Empire in Egypt, around the 1300s. European cards then developed into the suits and ranks we recognize today.

Cards in Europe

In Europe, cards became very popular. Different regions developed their own styles of cards. The French deck, with its clubs, diamonds, hearts, and spades, eventually became the most common design worldwide. Card games became a popular way for people to socialize and have fun, as shown in old paintings and photos.

Images for kids

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  Preferans, a trick-taking card game popular in Croatia.

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  The Card Players – a painting by Paul Cézanne, 1895.

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  Historically, card games like whist and contract bridge were chances for quiet socializing, as shown in this 1930s photo from Seattle, Washington.

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  A Chinese playing card from around 1400 AD, Ming dynasty.

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  Mamluk playing card (king of cups), from about the 15th century.

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  Chinese mother-of-pearl gambling tokens used for scoring in card games.

See also

In Spanish: Juego de naipes para niños