20 Popular Card Games Ranked From Easiest To Hardest

Some card games are easy for anyone to pick up. Others take a lot more time and patience. Just which card game is the simplest? And which is the most challenging? In this post, we’ll rank 20 of the most popular card games by difficulty.

These are all card games played with a traditional 52 deck of playing cards (no Pokemon or Uno). The difficulty rating of each one is based on how long it takes the average player to understand the rules and how well it is to play competently. How many of these card games do you know?

Difficulty: Very easy

1. Snap

Kicking off our list is snap. This simple test of reaction skills requires both players to turn over cards until there is a match, and then the first one to put their hand on the matching cards and yell ‘snap!’ wins. The perfect introductory card game for young kids!

2. War

War is a simple game of chance in which both players flip over a card from the deck and the highest card wins (Ace is high). If there’s a drawer, each player draws three cards, and the player that has the highest from those three cards wins.

3. Higher or Lower

Higher or Lower introduces a bit of strategy by challenging players to guess if the next card drawn will be higher or lower than the last. However, it’s otherwise very easy to play - young kids will love it, while adults can turn it into a drinking game.

4. Go Fish

The easiest set-collecting game is Go Fish. The aim is to collect as many 4 card sets of the same rank as possible. Each player takes it in turn to ask another player if they have a certain card (e.g. ‘John do you have a 5?’). If they do have that card, they hand it over. If they don’t have that card, they tell the player to ‘go fish’ and they must pick up a card from the deck.

5. Memory

Also known as ‘Concentration’, this game involves placing all the cards face down on a table.  Each player takes it in turn to pick up two cards from the table. If they are the same rank, they win that pair of cards. If not, they place them back face down. The aim is to try to remember each card picked up (hence why it’s called ‘memory’) and find as many pairs as possible. Check out the video below to see it in action.

Difficulty: Easy

6. Crazy Eights

We now move into some of the family classics which require a bit more strategy and concentration, but otherwise still pretty easy. Crazy Eights is the inspiration behind Uno, and requires players to get rid of all their cards by matching the rank or suit of the previous card played. 8s are wild cards and can be played at any time. If you can’t play a card, you pick one up from the deck.

7. Cheat

The game that encourages you to cheat! Also known as BS or I Doubt It, Cheat challenges players to get rid of all their cards, declaring which cards they are getting rid of each turn and placing them face down. You can lie about which cards you place down, but if someone calls you out, you have to pick up all the played cards in the pile.

8. Palace

This is a popular backpacker game with many alternative titles. The goal of Palace is to play all your cards (ending with cards assembled on the table into a ‘palace’) by playing a card equal or higher in rank to the last card played. However, there are several wild cards to spice things up (such as ‘2’ which resets the sequence and ‘10’ which destroys all the played cards in the pile).

9. Blackjack

Blackjack involves trying to beat the dealer by getting a hand as close to 21 as possible without exceeding 21 (going ‘bust’). It’s one of the most popular casino games and typically involves betting money (but you can always play with Monopoly money or peanuts).

10. Solitaire

Looking for a solo card game? Solitaire is the perfect solution, challenging players to sort cards into ascending sequences. Klondike is the most popular version played with a physical deck, while Spider Solitaire is commonly played on a computer.

Difficulty: Medium

11. Rummy

The rules for these following ones are a bit harder to explain in a short summary, however they’re still not too hard to learn and older kids will be able to grasp them. Rummy is probably the most famous card game that involves making ‘melds’ (three cards of the same rank or suit), and requires keen observation and strategy.

12. Gin Rummy

Similar to Rummy, Gin Rummy involves creating melds, but they’re kept in your hand until the end and not played on the table. Ace is always low in this variant, and jokers are not used. The video below explains more:

13. Hearts

Hearts is a trick-taking game in which the objective is to finish with the lowest score by avoiding heart cards (worth 1 point each) and the Queen of Spades (worth 13 points). Rules like ‘shoot for the moon’ add an extra layer of complexity.

14. Spades

Spades is another trick-taking game, where the goal is to be the first to reach a score of 500 by bidding on tricks. It introduces the idea of ‘trumps’, with spades winning over any trump. Card counting and partner communication play an important part.

15. Trumps

Another trick-taking game, Trumps challenges players to win as many rounds (tricks) as possible by playing a high value card of the lead suit or by using a designated ‘trump’ card. It requires risk assessment and a good memory to win.

Difficulty: Hard

16. Euchre

Now we start to get into the trickier card games to learn and master. Euchre is a partnership-based trick taking game that requires players to score a certain amount of points (usually 10) by winning tricks in a series of rounds. Getting to grips with all the terms like ‘makers, ‘march’ and ‘euchring’ can take a little time, but it can otherwise be a very fun family game.

17. Canasta

Part of the ‘rummy family’ of card games, canasta originates from Uruguay and requires players to partner up and reach a score of 5000 by playing various melds. It is played with 2 decks which allows for larger melds known as ‘canastas’ (7 or more cards). Many players find it intimidating to learn, but it’s actually quite easy when you get the hang of it.

18. Cribbage

Cribbage requires a bit of math - the objective is to be the first player to score 121 points. Points are scored through various combinations totalling 15 (including pairs, runs, flushes and ‘nobs’). A pegboard and scoresheet is often used with it. It combines the thrill of trick-taking, set collection and adding up games.

19. Poker

The ultimate casino game alongside blackjack, poker requires players to score the highest ranking 5 card hand. Learning the basic rules and combinations can take a little time, but the real challenge comes in learning how to bet and bluff. It’s a difficult game to master, requiring a lot of psychology in order to take calculated risks.

Difficulty: Very hard

20. Bridge

Topping the difficulty ladder is Bridge - a game that’s notoriously challenging to learn and master. It’s a trick-taking game played in partnerships that derives from an older game called ‘whist’, with the objective being to win tricks and reach the highest score. The phases of bidding and executing can be complex, and it requires a good memory and good strategy skills to play well. But that shouldn’t put you off - like chess, it can be very rewarding once you get the hang of it, and it has the advantage of being a very social game. Check out the guide below on how to play Bridge.