Get The Game on Game Crafter (external link)

Games to play:

Help your neighbor:

You can have any number of players from 4 to 8. I wouldn’t recommend it with more than 8, just because it would get a little crazy, and the wait for turns would be longer.

Here’s what you’ll need to play Help Your Neighbor:

• 1-2 decks of cards. You’ll need one full suit for each player.

• 2 dice

• Poker chips – 10-15 for each player (can use pennies or pretzels)

• A bowl to be the “pot” for the poker chips

Setting Up the Game

Remove the kings, aces, and 7’s from the deck. You won’t need the jokers either.

Each player will get 10 cards from the same suit. They should arrange them face up in front of them.

Each player will also get some poker chips. You can decide how many, and it depends on how long you want the game to last. I would recommend 10- 15.

Each player will put a chip in the pot to start the game.

The first player will roll the dice. Then they will flip over the card that matches the number rolled. Jacks are 11, Queens are 12.

Here’s the help your neighbor part! During game play, if a player rolls a number that they do not need (because that card is already flipped over), it will go to the next person who needs it, going clockwise around the table. This ends that player’s turn, and play resumes with the player who accepted the roll. The player who accepted the roll also gets to roll and take their own turn. (So if the person next to you can't flip the card, their turn gets skipped)

As the game progresses, a player will likely roll a number that everyone has already flipped over. If that happens, they keep rolling until they get something that they can use, or someone else can use.

During game play, anyone who rolls a 7 puts a chip in the pot. This ends their turn.

The first person to turn over all of their cards wins! Each player puts a chip in the pot for every card left face up. Then the winner gets ALL the chips in the pot!

Then you can continue to round 2, etc. Once a player is out of poker chips, they are out of the game.

California Speed :

2 player card game

Shuffle a deck of cards. Deal all the cards out between two players, so each player ends up with half the deck. The object of the game is to get rid of all your cards. Whoever does so first wins the game.

To begin, each player lays out four cards, face up, in front of themselves. Look at all eight cards to see if there are any matches (two fours, two Queens, etc. – color and suit don’t matter). If you can see cards that match, immediately cover each of them with a card from your hand. Now that there are new cards down, continue to look for new matches, and continue to cover any cards that match with new cards from your hand. You should be maintaining 8 piles as you play.

Both players are trying to cover matches at the same time; whoever is faster will be able to play more cards. When all 8 piles are topped with cards that DO NOT match each other, each player picks up the four piles directly in front of him or her and adds them to the bottom of the stack in their hand. Continue playing until one player’s cards are gone.

Tips:

• If there are three cards that match, you (and your opponent) may cover all three.

• If you cover a card with another card that matches it (say, you are covering a 2 and you play another 2 on top of it), you can consider that a match and cover it again with a new card.

• It’s a good idea to play as much as possible on the cards in front of your opponent, so he or she will have more cards to pick up when there are no more matches. However, you also want to play on the cards in front of you in order to prevent your opponent playing on them. So basically, cover any matches you see as quickly as you can!

Spoons:

1. Gather a deck of cards and a bunch of spoons. You’ll need one less spoon than the number of players.

2. Take a complete set (all 4) of the same rank of cards for each of the players. For example, for the 5 of us we use all of the 2s, 3s, 4s, 5s, and 6s.

3. Have all the players sit in a circle with the spoons in the middle.

4. Shuffle and deal 4 cards to each player. The players can look at their cards, but not show anyone else.

5. During the game each player passes one card to the player to their left, so cards are constantly being passed in a circle at the same time. You can only ever see 4 cards at once so you have to make sure you pass your card before picking up the next one.

6. The goal of the game is to collect 4 of a kind.

7. Once you have 4 of a kind you can grab a spoon from the pile. Once one spoon is taken everyone else takes one too.

8. Whoever doesn’t get a spoon is out and the play continues with one less spoon until there is one winner.

Go fish :

Gather the deck of 52 cards and shuffle them, face down. Deal seven cards to each player if you are only playing with two or three players. For four or five players, deal five cards each.

Lie the remaining cards face-down in the center of all of the players, forming the draw deck.

Avoid allowing any other player to see the cards you currently have in your hand — if she does, it will give her a better chance of winning.

Start with the dealer. Ask any player of your choice for a card you would like to match with a current one in your hand. If you currently have a 2, you may ask the person next to you for a 2 to complete your pair.

Accept the opposing player's card if she has the card you requested, and lay the matching pair down to show your collected pairs off to the other players (and to keep score with ease). Ask another player of your choice for a card you require to create another match. Continue until you ask a player who does not have the card you need. When she does not have the card you asked for, she will say "Go Fish" as you draw a new card from the draw deck, passing play counterclockwise to the next player, who takes her turn in the same way.

Continue playing until there are no cards left in the draw deck.

Complete the game by continuing play as normal, but without the draw deck, until all possible pairs have been laid out in front of those playing.

Count the number of pairs each player has. The player with the most pairs is the winner of the game.