Card Games to Play With Two People

Two players and one deck: press Pick 3 new games, or choose a kind of game from the menu.

Schnapsen1. Use 20 cards: the ace, ten, king, queen and jack of each suit. Deal five each and turn up a trump. 2. Play tricks and draw back up to five after each one. 3. A king and queen of one suit shown together score extra. 4. The first player to 66 card points wins the deal and earns up to 3 game points. 5. Seven game points win. Time: 10 min. Score: game points, on paper.
War, Card Against Card1. Split the deck in half, face down. 2. Both players turn their top card. The higher card takes both, and aces are high. 3. On a tie it is war: each lays one card face down and one face up, and the higher face-up card takes everything. 4. The player who wins all the cards wins. Time: 15 min. Score: none to keep.
Cribbage on Paper1. Deal six cards each. Both players put two face down into the crib, which belongs to the dealer. 2. Cut the deck for a starter card. 3. Play cards in turn, counting up to 31 and scoring for fifteens, pairs and runs on the way. 4. Then count each hand and the crib with the starter. 5. The first player to 121 wins. A tally on paper stands in for the board. Time: 30 min. Score: on paper, to 121.

Next step Print a cribbage score sheet Card games for three players and up

How it works

These are card games to play with two people and one ordinary deck. Each is a traditional game in numbered steps, from the deal to who wins, and ends with its time and how the score is kept.

Read the full guide

Two person card games to play, by kind

The All games menu sorts the list. Rummy and matching games are the easiest to teach. Trick-taking games for two reward memory. Capturing and counting games are Cribbage, Cassino and their cousins, and Fast games, both players at once are over in minutes.

On a tray or at a table

Card games to play on a plane need a hand each and a small space for a stock and one trick, so they also suit a train or a sofa. More filters narrows by time and by whether a game needs a full table.

Tips

Several games use a short deck. Set the unused cards aside in the box so they do not creep back in.
Cut for the first deal, then take turns. In most of these games the dealer plays second.

Questions and answers

What is a good card game to play with 2 players?

Gin Rummy is the usual answer: ten cards each, build sets and runs, and knock when your loose cards count 10 or less. German Whist and Cassino are good second choices that use the whole deck.

What card games can you play on a plane?

Games with a hand each and little on the tray: Gin Rummy, German Whist, Go Fish, War, GOPS and Cribbage scored on paper. Games that spread cards out, such as Concentration, need more room than a tray gives.

Can you play Cheat with 2 players?

Not well. With two, each player knows every card the other holds, so no bluff can work. Cheat, also called I Doubt It, needs three or more and is on our list of card games for adults.

Which two-player card games use the whole deck?

Most of them: Gin Rummy, Cribbage, German Whist, Cassino, War, Speed and Spit all use 52 cards. Piquet, Ecarte and Klaberjass use 32, Briscola and Scopa 40, Durak 36 and Schnapsen 20.

All 25 games

Rummy and matching games 6

Basic Rummy for Two 1. Deal ten cards each and turn one card up to start the discard pile. 2. On your turn draw from the stock or the discard pile. 3. Lay down sets of a rank or runs in a suit, and add cards to sets already on the table. 4. End the turn with a discard. 5. The first player to get rid of every card wins the hand. Time: 15 min. Score: on paper, the cards the loser still holds.
Concentration With the Whole Deck 1. Spread all 52 cards face down in rows. 2. On your turn, turn over two cards. 3. If they match in rank, keep the pair and turn two more. 4. If not, turn them back where they were. 5. When the table is clear, the player with more pairs wins. Time: 15 min. Score: pairs, counted at the end.
Gin Rummy, Knock at Ten 1. Deal ten cards each and turn one card up beside the stock. 2. On your turn take the top card of the stock or of the discard pile, then discard one. 3. Build sets of three or four of a rank and runs of three or more in one suit. 4. Knock when your unmatched cards count 10 or less, with face cards as 10 and aces as 1. 5. The knocker scores the difference between the two unmatched counts. Going gin, with nothing unmatched, adds a bonus of 25. Time: 15 min. Score: on paper, to 100.

Show all 25 games (22 more)

Rummy and matching games, continued

Go Fish, Seven Cards Each 1. Deal seven cards each and spread the rest face down as the pond. 2. Ask your opponent for a rank you already hold. 3. If they have any, they hand them all over and you ask again. If not, they say go fish and you draw one card. 4. Four of a rank is a book: lay it down. 5. The first player to lay down every card wins, though many tables count books. Time: 10 min. Score: none to keep.
Kings in the Corner for Two 1. Deal seven cards each. Lay four cards face up around the stock, to its north, south, east and west. 2. On your turn, play cards from your hand onto those piles in descending order, in a suit of the opposite color. 3. A king starts a new pile in an empty corner. 4. Whole piles may be moved onto each other, and an empty space takes any card. 5. End by drawing a card. First out of cards wins. Time: 15 min. Score: none, or penalty points on paper.
Old Maid for Two 1. Take one queen out of the deck and deal the other 51 cards. 2. Both players lay down every pair they hold. 3. Take turns to draw one unseen card from the other player's hand, and lay down any pair it makes. 4. The player left holding the odd queen loses. Time: 10 min. Score: none to keep.

Trick-taking games for two 8

Briscola for Two 1. Use 40 cards: take out the 8s, 9s and 10s. Deal three each and turn up a card for trumps. 2. Play one card each to a trick. You need not follow suit. 3. The winner draws first from the stock, then the loser. 4. The cards hold 120 points in all, with an ace worth 11. 5. More than 60 wins. Time: 25 min. Score: card points, counted at the end.
Durak for Two 1. Use 36 cards: take out the 2s to 5s. Deal six each and turn up a trump. 2. The attacker leads a card. The defender beats it with a higher card of its suit or with a trump, or picks it up. 3. The attacker may add cards of ranks already played. 4. Both draw back up to six. 5. When the stock is gone, the last player holding cards loses. Time: 15 min. Score: none to keep.
Ecarte 1. Use 32 cards. Deal five each and turn up the eleventh card for trumps. 2. The non-dealer may propose an exchange of cards. If the dealer accepts, both discard and draw. 3. Play five tricks, following suit. 4. Taking three tricks scores a point, and all five scores two. 5. Five points wins the game. Time: 15 min. Score: on paper, to 5.
German Whist 1. Deal 13 cards each and turn the next card face up on the stock: its suit is trumps. 2. Play a trick, following suit if you can. 3. The winner of the trick takes the face-up card, the loser takes the face-down card under it, and the next card is turned up. 4. When the stock is gone, play out the last 13 tricks. 5. Whoever takes more of those tricks wins. Time: 15 min. Score: tricks, counted at the end.
GOPS 1. Each player holds one whole suit. A third suit is shuffled as the prizes, and the fourth is set aside. 2. Turn up a prize card. 3. Both players choose a card from their hand in secret and show it together. 4. The higher card wins the prize, with the ace low and the king high. 5. When the prizes are gone, the higher prize total wins. Time: 10 min. Score: prize cards, counted at the end.
Klaberjass 1. Use 32 cards and deal six each. 2. Bid for the right to name trumps. 3. In trumps the jack is highest, worth 20, and the nine is next, worth 14. 4. Score for sequences held and for cards taken in tricks. 5. The first player to 500 wins. Time: 30 min. Score: on paper, to 500.
Piquet 1. Use 32 cards: take out the 2s to 6s. Deal twelve each and leave eight as the talon. 2. Both players exchange cards with the talon. 3. Declare your longest suit, your best sequence and your sets of three or four, and score them. 4. Play twelve tricks at no trumps. 5. A game is six deals, and the higher total wins. Time: 30 min. Score: on paper, over six deals.
Schnapsen 1. Use 20 cards: the ace, ten, king, queen and jack of each suit. Deal five each and turn up a trump. 2. Play tricks and draw back up to five after each one. 3. A king and queen of one suit shown together score extra. 4. The first player to 66 card points wins the deal and earns up to 3 game points. 5. Seven game points win. Time: 10 min. Score: game points, on paper.

Capturing and counting games 5

Cassino 1. Deal four cards each and four face up to the table. 2. On your turn play one card: capture a table card of the same rank, or table cards that add up to it, or leave your card on the table. 3. When hands are empty, deal four more each. 4. Points go to the aces, the ten of diamonds, the two of spades, the most cards and the most spades. 5. The classic game is 11 points, and many play to 21. Time: 15 min. Score: on paper, to 11 or 21.
Cribbage on Paper 1. Deal six cards each. Both players put two face down into the crib, which belongs to the dealer. 2. Cut the deck for a starter card. 3. Play cards in turn, counting up to 31 and scoring for fifteens, pairs and runs on the way. 4. Then count each hand and the crib with the starter. 5. The first player to 121 wins. A tally on paper stands in for the board. Time: 30 min. Score: on paper, to 121.
Scopa for Two 1. Use 40 cards: take out the 8s, 9s and 10s. Deal three each and four to the table. 2. Play a card to capture a table card of the same value, or cards that add up to it. 3. Clearing the table is a scopa, worth a point. 4. Points also go for most cards, most diamonds, the seven of diamonds and the best sevens. 5. The first player to 11 wins. Time: 20 min. Score: on paper, to 11.
Six-Card Golf for Two 1. Deal six cards each, face down in two rows of three, and turn any two face up. 2. On your turn draw from the stock or the discard pile and swap it for one of your six, or discard it. 3. Kings count zero, aces 1, twos minus 2, jacks and queens 10, and other cards their number. 4. Two equal cards in one column count zero. 5. The lowest total after nine deals wins. Time: 20 min. Score: on paper, nine holes.
Tablanette 1. Deal six cards each and four face up to the table. 2. Play a card to capture table cards of the same rank or cards that add up to it. 3. Clearing the whole table is a tablanette and scores extra. 4. Score a point for each ace, king, queen, jack and ten and for the two of clubs, two for the ten of diamonds and three for most cards. 5. Game is 251. Time: 30 min. Score: on paper, to 251.

Fast games, both players at once 6

Beggar-My-Neighbor for Two 1. Split the deck in half, face down. 2. Take turns to play your top card onto a middle pile. 3. An ace, king, queen or jack makes the other player pay four, three, two or one cards. 4. If the payment is all number cards, you take the pile. If a face card or an ace turns up, the payment stops and you must pay instead. 5. The player who wins every card wins. Time: 15 min. Score: none to keep.
Slapjack 1. Deal the whole deck into two face-down stacks. 2. Take turns to flip your top card onto a middle pile. 3. When a jack lands, the first hand to slap it takes the pile and adds it to the bottom of their stack. 4. The player who collects every card wins. Time: 10 min. Score: none to keep.
Snap for Two 1. Deal the whole deck into two face-down stacks. 2. Take turns to flip your top card onto your own face-up pile. 3. When the two face-up cards match in rank, the first to call snap takes both face-up piles. 4. The player who collects all the cards wins. Time: 5 min. Score: none to keep.
Speed, Five-Card Hands 1. Deal each player a hand of five and a face-down draw pile of 15. Put two piles of six face down in the middle. 2. Both flip one middle card at the same moment. 3. Play any card that is one higher or one lower than a middle card, both players at once, and refill your hand to five. 4. If nobody can play, flip two new middle cards. 5. The first player out of cards wins. Time: 5 min. Score: none to keep.
Spit 1. Split the deck in half. Each player lays five stacks of one, two, three, four and five cards with the top card face up, and keeps the other eleven as spit cards. 2. Both turn a spit card into the middle at once. 3. Play stack cards onto either middle pile, one rank up or down, as fast as you can. 4. The first to clear their stacks takes the smaller middle pile. 5. The first player with no cards at all wins. Time: 10 min. Score: none to keep.
War, Card Against Card 1. Split the deck in half, face down. 2. Both players turn their top card. The higher card takes both, and aces are high. 3. On a tie it is war: each lays one card face down and one face up, and the higher face-up card takes everything. 4. The player who wins all the cards wins. Time: 15 min. Score: none to keep.

How this list was compiled: Written by the Game Night Generator editors on 2026-10-03 for two people and one standard deck, in our own words; only traditional games are listed, no boxed card game, and nothing is played for stakes. Playing times are our estimates, and which games fit a tray table is our judgment. Deals, card values and winning scores were checked on 2026-10-03 against English Wikipedia (https://en.wikipedia.org), licensed CC BY-SA 4.0, in these articles: Gin rummy; Rummy; Go Fish; Old maid (card game); Concentration (card game); Kings in the Corner; German whist; Piquet; Écarté; Briscola; Schnapsen; Klaberjass; Goofspiel; Durak; Cribbage; Cassino (card game); Scopa; Tablanette; Golf (card game); Speed (card game); Spit (card game); War (card game); Beggar-my-neighbour; Slapjack; and Snap (card game). Traditional games vary from table to table, and each entry gives one common way to play. Licence: own work