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One of the best ways to pass the time is by playing card games, and there are a lot of popular ones out there.
There are a lot of card games that you can play now, and you can even play them on your smartphone.
The best part about card games is that they’re incredibly lightweight and portable. All you need to do is carry your own deck of cards, and when you find a spot, you can start playing.
They’re great for traveling or playing at a friend’s house since they can fit in your pocket or small bag.
We’ve split these games into categories, so you’ll know which one you prefer the most.
Most Popular Card Games: New Card Games
There’s really no replacing classic card games such as poker and Blackjack, but there are also a handful of popular modern card games.
The difference with these games is that they don’t use the standard deck of cards. Instead, they come with their own set.
Here are some of the most popular card games of the modern era.
1. Uno
At the top of the list is Uno. It’s one of the most popular card games for a reason. It’s a card game that’s easy to learn and play.
The goal of Uno is to simply empty your hand. However, many factors affect the flow of the game, as there are cards that can let players skip a turn or even draw more cards.
2. Sushi Go!
Sushi Go! is a card that’s for everyone, especially kids. It’s easy to understand, and games are quick, but you’re surely going to come back for more.
The goal with Sushi Go! is to create the best ‘meal’ possible from your cards. The deck is going to be passed around, and you’ll need to collect food cards that come with corresponding points.
Some are high-risk, high-reward plays that will get you the win.
There is some strategy involved, as you can block your opponents from getting the cards that they want.
3. Exploding Kittens
Exploding Kittens is one of those card games with friends that will offer tons of entertainment. It’s a quirky game with one primary goal, and that’s not to get the exploding kitten.
The other cards in the game should help you get to that goal as they allow you to skip your draw or defuse an exploding cat.
Other cards also allow you to take a peek at your next draw to give you the information ahead of time.
Each game only lasts 10 to 15 minutes, making it an excellent party game.
4. Joking Hazard
If you’re a fan of Cards Against Humanity, this alternative is right up your alley. Joking Hazard follows the formula of filling in the blanks with a funny response but uses pictures instead of words.
The graphics are modeled after the popular cartoons Cyanide and Happiness, making it a hilarious card game with friends.
To play Joking Hazard, you’ll need to start with a random card and another one chosen by a player.
This starts a story, and everyone has to finish it with a card of their own. The funniest one earns a point. You should have no problem creating the funniest one since all of the cards in Joking Hazard are absurd.
5. Marvel Champions
We see Marvel superheroes everywhere, and now they’re in card games, too.
Marvel Champions is a fun deck-building game with lots of strategy elements that makes for an excellent game.
Your aim is to get a villain’s health to 0 before they achieve their despicable goal. Players will need to work together and make use of their abilities to fight off the villain.
There’s also a lot of fan service since you’ll find a lot of heroes, from the popular to the obscure ones.
A Marvel Champions game does take a bit longer than most card games on this list, so just keep that in mind as you start playing.
6. Game of Phones
If you always have your phone with you at all times, this is one of the quirkiest card games to play with your friends.
Each card has instructions on it, and they all relate to your phone. All you need to do is follow the instructions and make everyone around you laugh out loud.
It’s a fun social game that you can enjoy at parties, but it does reveal a lot about your friends’ Google history.
7. Pokemon Battle Academy
Pokemon Battle Academy serves as an entry point to the popular Pokemon Trading Card game. It’s got everything you need to get started and is the perfect way to ease yourself into the world of Pokemon cards.
You can think of it as a supported game, so more players become interested in the trading card game.
Pokemon Battle Academy is a simple way to get you into the flow, and soon you’ll be building your own Pokemon TCG decks to battle with other trainers.
8. Boss Monster
If you enjoy classic dungeon crawlers, Boss Monster is the card game for you. You’re the villain in this game, and your job is to tempt adventurers and kill them for points.
The game’s mechanics are straightforward and simple enough, even though you’ll need a few math skills to compute multipliers.
Build your dungeon with treasures so that adventurers start exploring. You can even steal adventurers from another player’s dungeon by using the right reward to earn more points.
9. Death on the Cards
Agatha Christie’s Death on the Cards is a social deduction card game that’s going to challenge all your skills.
The premise of the game is there’s a murderer amongst you, and the other players have to catch them before they escape.
No one’s going to know who they are, except for the killer. They will be working to sabotage your investigation and give you a hard time.
Each player gets three secret cards at the start of the game, and if they all get revealed, you’re out. Bluffing is an essential part of the game, so you’ll need to be really good at it to not get caught as the killer.
Online Card Games
Card games now exist online. You don’t need physical cards to play, but they do come with the essence of a card game.
Here are the most popular online card games that you can play in the comfort of your home.
1. Magic: the Gathering Arena
Magic is arguably one of the most popular card games around. Magic: The Gathering Arena is undoubtedly one of the best digital versions created. It gives you an experience that’s as close to the paper version without holding actual cards.
It’s a game that’s going to appeal to new and current Magic players who are looking for a more comfortable way to enjoy their favorite game.
It’s also for collectible card game players who want a bit more of a challenge from other similar games like Hearthstone and Gwent.
TGArena is free to play, but you should spend a few to build up your collection and create a more competitive deck.
Play Magic: The Gathering Arena
2. Hearthstone
Hearthstone is the game that started it all. It’s one of the most popular card games online that you can play.
It’s beginner-friendly, with the rules simple enough for anyone to get started. Anybody can pick it up in a few games and start thinking about what decks to build.
There is a thriving competitive community that you can even get into once you know the nuances of the game.
The best part about Hearthstone is the constant updates, expansions, and even game styles that will spice up the way you play.
3. Legends of Runeterra
If you’re a League of Legends fan, then you’ll love Legends of Runeterra. It’s Riot Games’ venture into card games and is possibly one of the most popular card games out there.
League is similar to other collectible card games like Hearthstone. However, if you delve a bit deeper, you’ll realize that many elements make it different, like card abilities, effects, and keywords related to the League of Legends game.
If you want to play Legends of Runeterra and know the basics, here’s a quick guide we found so you can dive into the game in no time.
4. Slay the Spire
Slay the Spire is a deck-building game you haven’t seen before. The gameplay is incredibly simple, but the underlying nuances make it notoriously complicated.
Your goal is to go up the titular tower that’s packed with enemies, obstacles, and treasures. If you fail, you’ll end up at the base but looking up at an entirely different challenge.
There are synergies and counters that weave together, allowing you to build insanely powerful decks or ones that are duds.
A single wrong card pick can make or break your deck, but it also comes with ways to fix it with the right relics.
5. Gwent: The Witcher Card Game
If you have played The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, you’re going to be familiar with Gwent, the land’s most popular card game.
The game mechanics might have been a bit too deep for a quick distraction on your missions, but it’s now a full-fledged game.
It’s a free PC game and is the ultimate collectible card game for Witcher fans as it’s updated with more spells, units, and abilities compared to the in-game version.
There is surely going to be a learning curve, but it’s not as steep as that of Hearthstone or Legends of Runeterra.
Play Gwent: The Witcher Card Game
Classic Card Games
Classic card games are those that use the standard card deck. You’ve surely played a few of these in your life.
There are a lot of card games out there, but these are the most popular ones.
1. Poker
Poker is one of the most popular card games of all time. There are a lot of variations of poker, so you can quickly mix up what you want to play.
Its most popular version is Texas Hold ‘Em, and what makes it unique is that betting strategy is an essential part of the game.
One of the reasons why it’s so popular is that it’s a card game that translates easily online and even on mobile devices.
Poker is a popular card game, and there are even tournaments being held with professional players.
2. Rummy
Rummy is one of the most popular card games in the world. It’s a game that you can start playing with only two players, and you’ll only need one deck of cards.
There is some skill required to play Rummy since it’s a matching game where players aim to make sets or melds. If you have excellent memory and deductive skills, you’ll surely excel at playing Rummy.
Similar to poker, it does have a number of variations, with Gin Rummy as one of its most popular versions.
3. Hearts
Hearts falls in the category of a trick-taking card game. You’ll need four players to start the game, and it is also one of the most popular card games in the world.
Instead of taking tricks, you’ll want to avoid it in Hearts. A card with a heart suit is something you don’t want to get, together with the Queen of Spades.
The player with the most points is the loser, while the person with the lowest points wins.
Microsoft included Hearts in their Windows operating system, allowing it to gain even more popularity.
4. Solitaire
Solitaire is a card game that’s mainly played by a solitary person. You only need a deck of cards, and that’s it. There are a lot of versions of solitaire like Klondike, FreeCell, and Spider.
The goal is simple, and it’s to organize the cards on the table into four stacks. The stacks need to be one for each suit in ascending order.
Depending on the version you’re playing, you’ll need a little bit of skill, luck, and a ton of patience to win.
5. Blackjack
Blackjack seems like one of the easiest card games out there since a lot of chance and luck are involved. However, there’s also a bit of strategy involved.
One of the main differences between Blackjack and other card games is that the player is usually against the dealer rather than other players.
The goal of Blackjack is to get your cards as close to 21 without going over. If you’re closer to 21 than the dealer, you win.
6. Belote
Belote is a trick-taking French card game. It uses a 32-card piquet deck and can be played with 2 to 4 players. The goal is to win by taking tricks or completing special sets.
It’s an incredibly popular card and is even the national card game of France. It’s also widely popular in other European countries like Bulgaria, Croatia, and Greece.
7. Bridge
Bridge is not the easiest card game, but it’s one of the most common card games with lots of players. There are a lot of different forms of the game, from those that are beginner-friendly to ones with scoring rules for tournaments.
It’s the classic trick-taking card game and is usually played in partnerships. It’s one of those card games that rely heavily on skills, so it does take quite some time to learn.
8. Crazy Eights
Crazy Eights is a unique game that originated in Venezuela. It’s not the easiest one to get into the world of card games, but with some practice, you’ll get the hang of it in no time.
The goal of the game is to be the first player to get rid of all the cards in your hand. Each card is assigned a point, with eights being 50.
Just like other card games, Crazy Eights does have a lot of variations you can try out.
9. Euchre
Euchre is another one of those trick-taking games similar to Hearts. The game uses a deck of 24 cards, from 9s to As, and is played by four players divided into teams of two. The winner is the team that scores 10 points first.
One of the main differences between Euchre and Hearts is that it uses a much smaller deck, so there are differences in scoring.
It’s also different in the sense that you want to score the most points compared to Hearts, where you want the least points.
Conclusion
In today’s world, there’s a lot of popular card games to go around. Whether you’re looking for the classics with a standard set of cards, something new, or even online, there’s bound to be one that you’ll enjoy.
Each presents a different challenge, like going pro in poker or winning it big at a blackjack table.
You can even enjoy card games with friends with Exploding Kittens or play at the comfort of your home with games like Magic: the Gathering Arena or Hearthstone.
FAQs
If we’re talking about classic card games, then poker is the most widely played card game in the world. You’ll even find a lot of poker tournaments, whether it’s live or online.
Classic card games like Poker and Blackjack are popular right now. However, there are also a few modern card games that everyone enjoys playing.
Uno is an easy game to learn, and even kids can get into it. Another one is Cards Against Humanity, a fun party game anyone can play and enjoy.
From the card games on this list, the hardest card game to learn is Bridge. It’s an incredibly complex game with tournaments being held around the world. It’s one of those classic card games that rely on a lot of skill to win.
Magic: the Gathering is also another hard card game to learn with its deep mechanics and always changing environments.
Lastly, Texas Hold ‘Em Poker is one of those games that’s easy to learn but hard to master. Even though it relies on a bit of luck, betting strategies and bluffing can make all the difference.
