Card game rules
Short rules for every game on this site. We follow the standard rules described by Bicycle and Pagat.com; where house rules differ, we say so on the game page.
Gin Rummy · Euchre · Spades · Hearts · Crazy Eights · War · Go Fish · Klondike Solitaire · Spider Solitaire · FreeCell
Gin Rummy
2 players · 52 cards · first to 100
Goal
- Make melds: sets of 3 or 4 of a kind, or runs of 3 or more in one suit. Unmatched cards are deadwood.
The play
- Each player gets 10 cards. On your turn draw from the stock or the discard pile, then discard one card.
- Knock when your deadwood is 10 or less; with no deadwood at all you go gin.
Scoring
- The knocker scores the difference in deadwood. Gin scores 20 more (25 in some rules), an undercut 10 more for the defender (25 in some rules). The game is to 100.
Play Gin Rummy · Full rules on ginrummygame.app
Euchre
4 players in 2 teams · 24 cards · first to 10
Cards
- A 24-card deck: 9, 10, J, Q, K, A of each suit. The jack of trump (right bower) is highest, then the other jack of the same color (left bower), then A, K, Q, 10, 9 of trump.
Making trump
- Each player gets 5 cards and one card is turned up. In round one, players may order it up as trump. If all pass, in round two players may name another suit.
- The team that makes trump can also choose to go alone.
Scoring
- Makers who win 3 or 4 tricks score 1, all 5 (a march) score 2, a lone march scores 4. If the makers take fewer than 3 tricks, they are euchred and the other team scores 2. The game is to 10.
Play Euchre · Full rules on euchreonline.app
Spades
4 players in 2 teams · 52 cards · first to 500
Bidding
- Each player gets 13 cards and bids how many tricks they will win. Partners add their bids. Nil means you promise to win no tricks.
The play
- Follow suit if you can. Spades are always trump and can’t be led until spades are broken.
Scoring
- Make your bid: 10 points per trick bid, plus 1 per extra trick (a bag). Miss it: lose 10 per trick bid. Nil is ±100, blind nil ±200. Every 10 bags cost 100 points. The game is to 500.
Play Spades · Full rules on spadesonline.co
Hearts
4 players, each on their own · 52 cards · lowest score wins
Goal
- Avoid taking hearts and the queen of spades. Each heart you win costs 1 point, the queen of spades (Q♠) costs 13.
- The game ends when someone reaches 100 points. The lowest score wins.
The pass
- Everyone gets 13 cards and passes 3 of them: to the left in hand 1, to the right in hand 2, across in hand 3, no pass in hand 4. Then it repeats.
The play
- The player with the 2♣ leads it to the first trick. Follow suit if you can; if you can’t, play any card. The highest card of the suit led wins the trick and leads next. There is no trump.
- On the first trick you may not play a heart or the Q♠, unless you have nothing else.
- Hearts can’t be led until a heart or the Q♠ has been played on an earlier trick (hearts are broken), unless you only hold hearts. The Q♠ can be led any time.
Shooting the moon
- If one player takes all 13 hearts and the Q♠, they score 0 and every other player gets 26 points.
Crazy Eights
2 to 4 players · 52 cards · first to empty their hand
Goal
- Be the first to play all the cards in your hand.
The deal
- With 2 players each gets 7 cards; with 3 or 4 players, 5 cards. The rest is the stock. The top card is turned up to start the discard pile. If it is an 8, it is put back in the stock and a new card is turned.
The play
- On your turn play one card that matches the top card by suit or rank. A 7♥ can go on any heart or any 7.
- Eights are wild. You can play an 8 at any time and name a suit; the next player must follow that suit (or play another 8).
- If you can’t play, draw from the stock until you can. When the stock is empty and you can’t play, you pass.
Scoring
- The winner scores the cards left in the other hands: each 8 = 50, K, Q, J and 10 = 10, ace = 1, other cards their number. If no one can play, the lowest hand wins and scores the difference. A match is played to 100.
War
2 players · 52 cards · win all the cards
Goal
- Win all 52 cards.
The deal
- Deal the whole deck, so each player has 26 cards in a face-down pile.
The play
- Both players turn over their top card. The higher card wins both cards (ace is high). Won cards go to the bottom of your pile.
- If the cards are equal, it is war: each player puts one card face down and one face up. The higher face-up card wins all the cards on the table. If they tie again, war again.
- If you don’t have enough cards for a war, your last card is played face up. A player with no cards left loses.
Quick game
- A full game can take a long time. In a quick game, the player with more cards after a set number of battles wins.
Go Fish
2 to 4 players · 52 cards · most books wins
Goal
- Collect the most books: all four cards of one rank, such as four 9s.
The deal
- With 2 or 3 players each gets 7 cards; with 4 players, 5 cards. The rest is the pond (stock).
The play
- On your turn, ask one player for a rank you already hold: “Do you have any jacks?”
- If they have any, they must give you all of them, and you ask again.
- If not, they say “Go fish!” and you draw a card from the pond. Then the turn passes.
- When you get all four of a rank, lay the book down. If your hand runs out, draw a card on your turn.
End
- The game ends when all 13 books are made. The player with the most books wins.
Klondike Solitaire
1 player · 52 cards · build four foundations
Goal
- Move all 52 cards to the four foundations, one per suit, from ace up to king.
The layout
- Seven columns of 1 to 7 cards; only the top card of each column is face up. The other 24 cards are the stock.
Moves
- Build down in the columns in alternating colors: a red 6 on a black 7.
- You can move a face-up run (such as 9♣ 8♥ 7♠) as a unit. When a face-down card is uncovered, it turns face up.
- Only a king, or a run starting with a king, can go in an empty column.
- Turn cards from the stock to the waste, 1 at a time (draw 1) or 3 at a time (draw 3). Only the top waste card can be played. When the stock is empty, turn the waste over and go again.
Spider Solitaire
1 player · 104 cards (two decks) · clear eight runs
Goal
- Make eight full runs from king down to ace in one suit. Each finished run is removed.
The layout
- Ten columns: four of 6 cards and six of 5, with only the top card face up. The 50 cards left are the stock. Choose 1 suit (easiest), 2 suits or 4 suits (hardest).
Moves
- Put a card on any card one rank higher, whatever the suit.
- A run can only be moved together if it is all one suit.
- Any card or run can go into an empty column.
- Tap the stock to deal one new card to each of the ten columns. You can’t deal while a column is empty.
FreeCell
1 player · 52 cards · almost every deal can be solved
Goal
- Move all 52 cards to the four foundations, one per suit, from ace up to king.
The layout
- All cards are dealt face up into 8 columns (four of 7 cards, four of 6). Above are 4 free cells, each holding one card.
Moves
- Move the top card of a column to a free cell, to a foundation, or onto a card one higher in the other color.
- Any card can go into an empty column.
- Moving a run is a shortcut for moving its cards one at a time through free cells and empty columns. The most cards you can move at once is (empty free cells + 1) × 2 for each empty column; an empty column you move into doesn’t count.
Deal numbers
- Deals are numbered from 1 to 32,000 with the classic numbering, so you can replay a deal or compare with a friend. Only deal 11,982 has no solution.