Copyright
"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." (See Testimonials. For more, see also BoardgamegeekInventing 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 like that idea have a look through the following. Against each entry is a note of how many it can be played by (red means it's ideal for that number and P = four players in fixed partnerships), followed by the type of game it is and a note of what it's all about. For type of game, I use these terms:
- plain tricks = all tricks are of equal value
- point tricks = tricks have point-values based on the cards they contain
- wild tricks = play to a trick simultaneously instead of in turn
- rummy-tricks = the aim is to win card-combinations (melds) in tricks
- trick-avoid = avoid winning tricks and/or penalty cards (Hearts family)
- rummy = draw and discard until you have a scoring combination
- layout = cards are laid out in a grid, making a quasi-board game
- shedding = get rid of all the cards from your hand (a going-out game)
- arithmetical = play cards out to make particular totals
- matching = play cards that match their immediate predecessors
| Abstrac | 2 | nim game | Pick up cards to make combinations (perfect information) |
| Addenda | 2 P | point tricks | Aim to win tricks counting 17 points each |
| Agony Aunt | 4 | trick-avoid | Avoid taking penalty cards (needs counters and a board |
| Anarchy | 3 4 5 | wild tricks | Play as you please and score how you like |
| Arm's Length | 4P | plain tricks | You take the high road and I'll take the low road |
| Bouncers | 3 | trick-avoid | A sort of cross between Gops and Hearts |
| Brain Drain | 2 3 4 5 | arithmetical | An equations-making game |
| Bravado | 2 3 4 5 6 | shedding | A fast fun game, published as Chicken Out! |
| Brummy | 2 3 4 5 | rummy | Two-dimensional Rummy |
| Bugami | 3 4 P 5 | trick-avoid | Choose which suit not to win cards of in tricks (& see Trigami) |
| Caterpillar | 2 | arithmetical | A fairly simple adding-up game |
| Cato | 2 | point tricks | A card-point adaptation of Ecarté |
| Centurion | 2 | arithmetical | Adding-up game for a couple of centenarians |
| Chwech | 4 5 6 | plain tricks | You needn't play to a trick if you don't want to (designed for six) |
| Cloud Nine | 3 4 5 | tricks & melds | Build your own nine-card meld while hindering those of others |
| Collusion | 4 | plain tricks | Hilarious game of (mis)alliances and double-crossings |
| Colour-blind | 2 3 | plain tricks | Choose whether to win red cards or black |
| Concerto | P | poker hands | Coöperatively construct poker hands |
| Copyright | 3 | plain tricks | Aka Favouritism: win tricks so as to favour your right-hand neighbour |
| Counterbluff | 2 | bluffing | Bluff with constantly-evolving Poker hands |
| Counterpique | 2 | tricks & melds | Contract Piquet - a classic game updated |
| Counterpoint | 2 3 | point tricks | Predict how many card-points you'll win in tricks |
| Cowpoke | 2 3 4 5 | collecting | A pokery sort of game with quasi-tricks |
| Crescendo | 2 3 4 5 | plain tricks | Trick values go up, then down, then up again... |
| Cross Purposes | 2 P | plain tricks | One party chooses a trump suit, the other a top rank |
| Crummy | 3 4 5 6 | rummy | Rummy with a trick-type method of play |
| Dilemma | 2 | quasi-tricks | Should you play second or fourth to a four-card trick? |
| Dividend | 4 P | plain tricks | In which you divvy up the cards you win in tricks |
| Doubleduck | P | plain tricks | Partnership version of Duck Soup |
| Dracula | 2 3 P | arithmetical | An arithmetical game with a bloodthirsty count |
| Duck Soup | 2 | plain tricks | Game for a couple of quacks (& see Doubleduck, Trebleduck) |
| Dumbo | 3 | plain tricks | Three-player version of Collusion |
| Dupe | 2 | wild tricks & melds | A game to test your memory. No trick-playing skill required! |
| Equator | 2 3 4 | arithmetical | For contortionists in mental arithmetic! |
| Farrago | 3 4 5 | plain tricks | There's a different trumping rule at every deal |
| Flashpoint | P | trick-rummy | Play tricks to win card combinations |
| Flunk | 3 | plain tricks | Any relation to three-handed Bridge is purely fortuitous |
| Fosco | 2 P | arithmetical | A game of perfect information with another villainous count |
| Galapagos | 2 | hybrid | 3 games in 1: win tricks, make melds, get rid of your cards |
| Ganderpoke | 2 3 4 | layout | A five-by-five square game with Poker hands |
| Garbo | 2 | layout | A 4x4 square game where each card "vants to be alone" |
| Get Stuck | 2 P | layout | A quasi board game on a grid of seven by seven cards |
| Give or Take | 2 | arithmetical | aka More or Less - another way of playing with numbers |
| Go for it! | 2 3 4 5 6 | shedding | aka Angst - dare you play your next card? |
| Good Cop, Bad Cop | 4 | plain tricks | Two Jokers, a trump suit, a penalty suit, and who's your partner? |
| Gooseberry Fool | 3 | plain tricks | Divide and rule by winning the middling number of tricks |
| Hamlet | 3 | plain tricks | With supporting roles for Rosencrantz and Guildenstern |
| Hindsight | 2 | tricks+melds | In which you might have done better with a bit of foresight |
| Hoodwink | 3 | plain tricks | With at least two ways of hoodwinking your opponents |
| Key of the door | 2 3 4 P 5 | arithmetical | In which you construct "keys" counting exactly 21 |
| King Priam | 2 - 5 | arithmetical | Win face cards by making prime numbers from numeral cards |
| Limbo | 2 | arithmetical | Get lowest under the bar by deducting and dividing |
| Memoranda | 4 5 6 | memory | Can you remember which cards were you originally dealt? |
| Minimisère | 3 4 5 | trick-avoid | If you can't lose every trick, win as many as possible |
| Mismatch | 2 4 | trick-avoid | The antidote to Rummy: avoid winning card-combinations |
| Naughty Nun | 3 | plain tricks | Like Ninety-Nine, but with silly additions and variations |
| Nimbly | 3 4 5 | layout | Pick up nine cards that make scoring combinations |
| Ninety-Nine | 2 3 4 P 5 | plain tricks | Bid to win an exact number of tricks |
| One Up | 2 3 4 5 | arithmetical | Game for a number of totalitarians |
| Packnstack | 2 | patience | A patience-like card/board game for two players |
| Parity | 2 | plain tricks | Odd or even? A skilled game of perfect information |
| Paved with Gold | 2-3 | memory | An elaborate form of Pelmanism/Concentration |
| Plonk | P | point tricks | Win tricks containing cards of different suits. Not so easy... |
| Prime Time | 2 3 | arithmetical | Make primes from three-card combinations |
| Romeo & Juliet | 2 | layout | A romantic card-board game on a grid of 7x7 cards |
| Rummage | 3 4 5 6 | trick-rummy | Rummy with a trick-type method of play (designed for 5) |
| Same Difference | 2 | plain tricks | Win tricks by playing two cards as far apart as possible |
| Seconds | 4 | plain tricks | In which only the second-best card wins the trick |
| Secret Agent | 4 | plain tricks | In which you also score for tricks won by your secret agent |
| Slapstick | 2 3 4 5 6 | shedding | Like Bravado but without all that adding up |
| Snail Space | 2 | layout | Spiral Cribbage, or Cribbage for Snails |
| Snark | 3 4 5 | wild tricks | A wilder version of Anarchy (designed for 5 Boojums) |
| Sneak | 2 3 4 5 | bluffing | If you've got it, flaunt it; if not, bluff it |
| Sockjaw | 2 3 | winning matched pairs | Also known as Sock Drawer |
| Spec | 2 3 4 | layout | A silly guessing game - or is it? |
| Squint | 5 | plain tricks | Twist a card to find your partner (& see Twyst for four) |
| Stucco | 2 | matching | A match-and-go-out game of perfect information |
| Suitability | 2 3 4 5 | tricks | In which each suit is allocated a specific role to play |
| Swap Three | 4 | rummy | In which you gift cards to one another |
| Tantony | 3 4 P | point tricks | Win tricks, then give them away! |
| Throps | 3 | wild tricks | A three-player variant of Gops ("Game Of Perfect Strategy") |
| Tracktrick | 3 P | plain tricks | A quasi-board game requiring accurate trick-play |
| Trebleduck | 3 | plain tricks | Three-player version of Duck Soup |
| Triathlon | 3 | plain tricks | In which you aim to perform three trick-taking feats |
| Trigami | 3 | trick-avoid | Choose which suit not to win cards of in tricks (& see Bugami) |
| Twyst | 4 | plain tricks | Twist a card to find your partner (& see Squint for five) |
| Umbridge | 2 | plain tricks | A perversion of Bridge for two |
| Welsh Whist | 3 4 5 | point tricks | A fun game with Jokers and bluffing. No cheating allowed! |
| Who's Who | 3 | plain tricks | Which of the other two players is your secret partner? |
| Yoyo | 2, 3 | patience | A competitive patience game based on Black Hole |