Now that we’ve covered two big groups of games, it’s time to hit some other random ones that I didn’t feel fit into the previous articles.
Beating as one
Hearts is a classic game, commonly (and incorrectly) considered a trick-taking game. It’s actually a trick avoidance game, with the quirk of “shooting the moon” adding a heavy risk/reward element to the experience. It can handle variable numbers of players with a little deck adjustment, removing cards to ensure even counts, but like many card games it’s at its best with four players.
That said, I’m actually personally not a huge fan of Hearts. Its punitive scoring system often makes for an unpleasant game, and it feels more luck-driven than even simple traditional trick-takers. But a lot of that is due to my own preferences for how games should feel at the table, rather than being Hearts’ fault.
Also note that Hearts is another one of those folk games where you’re going to want to get confirmation on the rules from everyone involved.
Pegging for points
Cribbage is another game of the ages, and almost certainly the oldest surviving game in this list; it’s been played in basically the same way for something like four hundred years.
Let that sink in: this game is older than almost every single modern settlement in North America.
It’s an odd beast, with ways of scoring that are not particularly intuitive to a newcomer (and ways for opponents to steal points you miss), and traditionally it uses side equipment in the form of a board with pegs that track your score. In the event of the Cardpocalypse, though, you should feel free to just use pencil and paper if you can’t find an appropriate board.
While it can be played by more than two (four-player partnership Cribbage is apparently very good, although I’ve never tried it), Cribbage is essentially a two-player game at heart; if you have a different count, play something else instead. But it’s probably one of the best two-player card games in existence. I’ve never managed to get any good at it… but don’t let that stop you.
The real multiplayer solitaire
(We’re going to assume that all copies of Race for the Galaxy were lost in the Cardpocalypse. Heh.)
Another excellent two-player game is Spite and Malice (although, like Cribbage, it can be forced into being for more players… although you shouldn’t.) It does indeed play much like a game of solitaire or patience, where you are in a race to shed your cards faster than your opponent. I’ll note that it is generally played with two identically-backed decks shuffled together, so there may be a bit of an equipment issue for this game compared to most of those listed here… but it’s too good of a game to not write about. Because of its solitaire-y nature, it feels quite different from most of the other games I’ve covered here. And, yes, it’s another folk game where you’re going to have to make sure that you’re playing the same thing your fellow post-Cardpocalyptic survivor thinks they’re playing.
The exploding psychological inevitable
I’m not going to write about Poker for a bunch of reasons. I don’t really think it’s a card game, for one; the play is in the psychology of the pot, not the cards themselves, which really just exist as a randomizer. And there are many vastly superior write-ups of the game online than anything I could bang out on my Chromebook in any reasonable time-frame. But I’m pretty sure that Poker (and in particular Texas Hold’em) is basically the cockroach of games now; even after the Cardpocalypse, people will still be shooting each other over cheating at the damn thing. They may have to use blow-darts or arrows because everyone’s run out of ammo, but Poker will be there. So it probably behooves you to learn it too. Sigh.
This is (almost) the end, my friends
I plan on writing one more main article for this series, covering solitaires. So now’s the time to speak up: are there any major games I missed that you feel are essential to the Cardpocalypse? Convince me and I’ll write a follow-up article to include them. I’d also love to know if this Guide caused you to take a second look at a game you had passed by before, or to try something completely new with your friends or family.
See you next time for the exciting maybe-conclusion!