If you’re looking for a way to get the whole family together and make it enjoyable for all, then a game night is for you. Most people enjoy games, especially games that are easy to learn. You don’t have to go out and buy expensive board games to entertain everyone in your family. There are several games that only require a deck of cards, and they are appropriate for most ages. Below you will find three games that have been loved for decades, and they are easy to learn and setup.
Everyone Loves a Good Game of “Slap Jack”
Slap Jack is one of the easiest games to teach, and all you need to play is one or two decks of regular playing cards. The object of the game is to get all of the cards of the opposing player or players. With at least two people:
. Shuffle one or two decks of cards and equally divide the cards to each player.
. Each player alternates placing a card from the top of his or her deck into the middle.
. When a jack face card is played, the first player to slap the piles gets to take all the cards in the pile.
. This is repeated until one player has obtained all the cards and is the winner.
Everyone Loves the Memory Game of “Match”
Match is a game that will test a player’s memory. You only need one person to play this game, but you can bring in as many players as you want. Some families will break up into teams and have players rotate taking turns for his or her team. Teams can also work as a collective group to remember where various cards are placed. This is how the game is played:
. Take a deck of face cards, shuffle the deck, and place all the cards face down in several rows, forming a square.
. Once the cards are down, players alternate choosing two cards to be turned over. If two cards match, they remain turned over, and the player who found the match–or the team–gets a point.
. If a player or team gets a match, they get to choose again.
. The team with the most matches in the end wins.
The most important thing to remember is which cards have been turned over, so you can match cards you turn over with the right cards that have already been chosen.
War is another game that most people can learn quickly, and it only requires regular playing cards. This game is usually more fun if two or three decks of cards are used, otherwise it will go by too quickly. This is a game that is fun with at least two player, but three or four players can join the fun. Once you have shuffled together a few decks of cards, the rest of the game is easy to start and enjoy:
1. Divide the shuffled decks evenly between players.
2. Each player puts down a card, and whoever has the higher card takes the pile (a 10 beats an 8, a queen beats a jack, etc.).
3. Similar to Slap Jack, the object of the game is for one person to end up with all the cards.
This game can take a long time, but often a game can be played and finished within a half an hour. It’s
simple enough to learn that most family members will have fun playing.
Introducing the new, fun, and easy-to-play games into a planned game night will help you develop a family tradition that will bring you all together. With fun games, your family members will want to gather for game nights every week.
