 Original Card Games first published 1977  Spanish edition "Anarchy and other sociable card games" in 1993  German edition "Duck Soup and 53 other games" in 2008 |
You can teach an old dog new tricks!
Original card games
by David Parlett
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Latest additions Bouncers Caterpillar Flashpoint Flunk Hamlet Tracktrick |
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Unsolicited testimonials "Parlett's creativity is as ordered and precise as a Swiss watch. His games mesh so well with the structure of playing-cards as to give the impression that the pack was created specifically for his inventions." |
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"[David Parlett is] a British game researcher who has written the best books on card games
I've ever seen. I highly recommend his books to anyone interested in learning the good games.
Aside from his extensive research and cataloguing of games, he has invented some good ones, too.
Worthy of mention is Ninety-Nine, a three-handed trick game with an unusual bidding and scoring
system. If you're a card player, check it out." "Jeeves" at Everything.com |
Inventing card games is one of my favourite recreations. It's a relaxing hobby: it means I can think up the basic ideas without having to get out of bed - or even, if I'm very lucky, without having to wake up - which is more than you can say for actually playing cards.
My idea of a good game is one that uses an ordinary 52-card pack and has very simple rules, but gives you plenty to think about. If you find that idea appealing, just click on the name of the game that you like the sound of and see how you get on with it.
| Inventing games with ordinary cards is fun but doesn't pay the rent. These games are free, but if you think any of them worthy of recompense and would like to make a donation then clicking on "Thank you!" will enable you to contribute securely through Paypal (whether or not you have a Paypal account). |
| Abstrac | A dead simple picking-up game - for 2 dead simpletons |
| Addenda | A quasi-trick adding-up game for 2 players or 4 in partnerships |
| Agony Aunt | A Hearts-type game with a board and counters, four 4 players (solo) |
| Black Hole | Patience (card solitaire) - a sort of cosmic golf, for 1 player |
| Bouncers | A relative of Hearts, for 3 players |
| Bugami | Or "Bleeding Hearts": a Hearts-type trick game for 4 to 6 players |
| Caterpillar | A deceptively simple adding-up game game for 2 players |
| Collusion | Or "Dangerous Liaisons" - a shifty trick game for 4 double-crossers |
| Chwech | A trick game designed for 6, but playable by 4 or 5 |
| Concerto | A 4-player game with Poker hands and an ingenious signalling system |
| Counterbluff | A strange way of playing Poker for 2 or 3 |
| Counterpoint | A more fiendish point-trick version of Ninety-Nine, for 2 or 3 |
| Cross Purposes | A two-dimensional trick game for 2, with a partnership version for 4 |
| Crummy | A flawed trick-and-meld game for 3 to 5 players (best for 4) |
| Doubleduck | A partnership version of Duck Soup, for 4 |
| Dracula | An arithmetical game with a bloodthirsty count. For 2 (best), 3, 4 |
| Duck Soup | A trick game for 2 (or 4) that'll drive you both quackers |
| Flashpoint | Give your neighbour a quick flash in this partnership game for 4 |
| Flunk | Not quite another version of Contract Bridge for 3 players |
| Ganderpoke | An interactive version of Poker Squares for 2, 3 or 4 |
| Galapagos | A leisurely, three-part compendium game for a couple of tortoises (2) |
| Garbo | Avoid placing like cards together in this tableau game for 2 |
| Get Stuck | A card-board game for 2 (or 4) positional players |
| Gooseberry Fool | Divide and rule by winning the middling number of tricks: for 3 |
| Hamlet | A game for 3, with supporting roles for Rosencrantz and Guildenstern |
| Memoranda | An unmitigated memory game for 3 to 6 players |
| Minimisère | A miniature game of skilled trick-play for 3 to 6 (best for 5) |
| Mismatch | The anti-combination game for 4. No partnerships allowed |
| Ninety-Nine | A tricky game designed for 3 but with versions for 2, 4 and 5 |
| Parity | A trick-taking game of perfect information for 2 |
| Penguin | A patience that usually comes out, but only with perfect play |
| Rummage | A cross between trick and Rummy for 3 to6 players (5 best) |
| Plonk | A deceptively simple trick-taking game for 4 (in partnerships) |
| Seconds | The second-highest card wins the trick in this partnership game for 4 |
| Sneak | A silly bluffing game for 2 to 6 silly bluffers |
| Spec | A silly guessing game for 2 to 4 extra-sensory perceptionists |
| Squint | A sort of Solo Whist, for 5 |
| Stucco | A Nim-type game of perfect information for 2 |
| Tantony | Win tricks and give them away! For 4 (partnership), or 3 (alone) |
| Tracktrick | A three-in-a-row quasi-board game for 3, requiring accurate trick-play |
| Throps | Two variations on Gops for 3 players |
| Trigami | An advanced version of Bugami (see above) specifically for 3 |
| Twyst | A modern derivative of Solo Whist for 4 players |
| Who's Who | A trick game for 3 in which you have to find out who your partner is |
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July 2010 |  |
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