13 best single player card games

Here are 13 of the best single player card games:

1. Solitaire
2. Freecell
3. Pyramid
4. Spider Solitaire
5. Golf Solitaire
6. Tri-Peaks Solitaire
7. Klondike Solitaire
8. Hearts
9. Blackjack
10. War
11. Crazy Eights
12. Rummy
13. Go Fish.

How to play Solitaire:

Solitaire is a classic single player card game played with a standard deck of 52 cards. The objective is to move all cards to 4 foundation piles (one for each suit) in ascending order, starting with Ace and ending with King.

Here are the steps to play Solitaire:

1. Shuffle the deck and lay out 28 cards face up in a tableau, 7 cards per row.
2. The top card of each tableau pile and the remaining 24 cards form the stock pile, face down.
3. The first foundation pile starts with Ace of any suit, and you must build it up in ascending order with cards of the same suit.
4. You can move cards between tableau piles or to the foundation piles.
5. When you run out of moves, turn over cards from the stock pile to the waste pile, and then use the waste pile cards to build on the foundation piles or tableau piles.
6. The game is won when all cards have been moved to the foundation piles.

Note: You can only move cards to the foundation piles if they are in ascending order and of the same suit, and you can only move cards from the waste pile to the tableau piles if they are in descending order and alternating colors.

How to play Freecell:

Freecell is a single player card game that uses a standard deck of 52 cards. The objective is to move all cards to the foundations, starting with the Aces and building up to the Kings in each suit.

Here are the steps to play Freecell:

1. Arrange the deck in a tableau of 8 columns with 7 cards in the first four columns and 6 cards in the last four columns.
2. Each foundation pile starts with an Ace and must be built up in suit to the King.
3. You can use the 4 free cells as temporary storage places for any single card.
4. You can move cards within the tableau columns in descending order and alternating colors.
5. You can also move entire sequences of cards in the tableau as long as they are in order and of alternating colors.
6. The game is won when all cards have been moved to the foundation piles.

Note: Only one card at a time can be moved from the free cells to the tableau columns or foundation piles.

How to play Pyramid:

Pyramid is a single player card game that uses a standard deck of 52 cards. The objective is to clear all cards from the pyramid by pairing cards that add up to 13.

Here are the steps to play Pyramid:

1. Arrange 28 cards in a pyramid shape, with 7 cards forming the bottom row, 6 cards in the second row, and so on until there is only one card at the top.
2. The remaining cards form the stock pile, face down.
3. The top card of the stock pile is turned over to form the waste pile.
4. Pair up cards that add up to 13 (e.g. Queen and 2, Jack and Ace, etc.) and remove them from the pyramid.
5. You can only pair cards that are not covered by any other cards.
6. If you cannot make any more pairs, draw cards from the stock pile and turn them over to the waste pile.
7. The game is won when all cards have been removed from the pyramid.

Note: Kings are worth 13 and can be removed on their own, without pairing with any other card.

How to play Spider Solitaire

Spider Solitaire is a single player card game that uses two standard decks of 52 cards each, for a total of 104 cards. The objective is to move all cards to 8 foundation piles, building up in suit from Ace to King.

Here are the steps to play Spider Solitaire:

1. Shuffle the 104 cards and deal out 10 columns of cards, each with 6 cards in the first four columns and 5 cards in the last six columns.
2. The remaining cards form the stock pile, face down.
3. The top card of each column is turned over to form the tableau piles.
4. Build down the tableau piles in suit, from King to Ace.
5. When a complete sequence of same suit cards has been created, it can be removed and placed in one of the 8 foundation piles.
6. If you cannot make any moves in the tableau piles, draw cards from the stock pile to the waste pile, and then use the waste pile cards to build on the tableau piles or foundation piles.
7. The game is won when all cards have been moved to the foundation piles.

Note: Only a King can be placed on an empty tableau pile, and you can only move a complete sequence of cards at once.

How to play Golf Solitaire

Golf Solitaire is a single player card game that uses a standard deck of 52 cards. The objective is to move all cards to the waste pile, starting with the lowest rank and going up.

Here are the steps to play Golf Solitaire:

1. Shuffle the deck and deal out 7 columns of cards, with the first column having 1 card, the second column having 2 cards, and so on until the seventh column has 7 cards.
2. The remaining cards form the stock pile, face down.
3. The top card of each column is turned over to form the tableau piles.
4. Move cards from the tableau piles to the waste pile, starting with the lowest rank and going up.
5. If you cannot make any more moves in the tableau piles, draw cards from the stock pile to the waste pile.
6. The game is won when all cards have been moved to the waste pile.

Note: Aces can be moved to the waste pile as soon as they are turned over, and you can only move one card at a time to the waste pile.

How to play Tri-Peaks Solitaire

Tri-Peaks Solitaire is a single player card game that uses a standard deck of 52 cards. The objective is to clear all cards from the tableau, by moving cards that are either one rank higher or one rank lower than the top card of the waste pile.

Here are the steps to play Tri-Peaks Solitaire:

1. Shuffle the deck and deal out 28 cards in a tableau of overlapping rows, with the first row having 1 card, the second row having 2 cards, and so on until the seventh row has 7 cards.
2. The remaining cards form the stock pile, face down.
3. The top card of the stock pile is turned over to form the waste pile.
4. Move cards from the tableau to the waste pile, if the card is either one rank higher or one rank lower than the top card of the waste pile.
5. If you cannot make any moves in the tableau, draw cards from the stock pile to the waste pile.
6. The game is won when all cards have been moved from the tableau to the waste pile.

Note: Aces and Kings can be played on top of each other, and you can only move one card at a time to the waste pile.

how to play Klondike Solitaire

Klondike Solitaire is a single-player card game played with a standard deck of 52 cards. Here’s how to play:

1. Shuffle the deck and deal 28 cards face down to form the tableau (7 stacks of cards).
2. Turn the top card of each stack face up.
3. The remaining cards form the stock pile, with the top card face up and the rest face down.
4. The objective is to move all cards to the foundation piles, which are four empty stacks in the upper right corner.
5. The foundation piles are built up in suit from Ace to King.
6. Cards in the tableau can be moved to the foundation piles or to other tableau piles in descending order and alternating color.
7. The top card of the stock pile can be moved to the foundation piles or to the tableau piles.
8. If there are no more moves, turn over the stock pile to form a new stock pile and continue play.
9. The game is won when all cards are in the foundation piles.

How to play Hearts

Hearts is a trick-taking card game for four players. Here’s how to play:

1. The game is played with a standard deck of 52 cards.
2. Deal 13 cards to each player.
3. The player to the left of the dealer starts the game by leading any card of their choice.
4. Each player must follow suit if they can; otherwise, they can play any card.
5. The player with the highest card of the led suit wins the trick and leads the next trick.
6. The objective is to avoid taking certain cards, specifically the hearts and the Queen of Spades.
7. At the end of each hand, players receive penalty points for the cards they have taken.
8. The player with the least amount of points at the end of the game wins.
9. The game typically continues until one player has scored 50 or more points.

Note: The rules and scoring can vary, so make sure to agree on a specific set of rules before starting the game.

How to play Blackjack

Blackjack is a casino card game where the objective is to have a hand value of 21 or as close to 21 as possible without exceeding it. Here’s how to play:

1. The game is played with one or more standard decks of 52 cards.
2. Each player places a bet before the game starts.
3. The dealer deals two cards to each player and two cards to themselves, with one card face up and one card face down.
4. The player’s goal is to have a hand value higher than the dealer’s hand value without exceeding 21.
5. Each card from 2 to 10 is worth its face value. Face cards (King, Queen, Jack) are worth 10 and Aces can be worth 1 or 11.
6. The player can choose to “hit” and receive additional cards to improve their hand, or “stand” and keep their current hand.
7. If a player’s hand value exceeds 21, they “bust” and lose the game.
8. After all players have finished their turns, the dealer reveals their face-down card and hits or stands according to a set rule (e.g. dealer must hit on 16 and stand on 17).
9. If the dealer busts, all remaining players win. If not, the player with the hand value closest to 21 wins.

Note: There are many variations of Blackjack, with different rules and betting options, so make sure to check the specific rules for the game you are playing.

How to play War card game

War is a simple card game that can be played with two or more players using a standard deck of 52 cards. Here’s how to play:

1. Shuffle the deck and deal all the cards evenly among the players.
2. Each player places their top card face up on the playing surface.
3. The player with the highest card value wins the trick and collects all the cards played.
4. The winner of the trick leads the next round by playing a card.
5. If two or more players play cards of the same value, a “war” is declared.
6. In a war, each player plays three face-down cards followed by a fourth card face up. The player with the highest face-up card wins the war and collects all the cards played.
7. The game continues until one player has collected all the cards.

Note: The number of face-down cards played during a war can vary, so make sure to agree on a specific set of rules before starting the game.

how to play Crazy Eights

Crazy Eights is a simple card game that can be played with two or more players using a standard deck of 52 cards. Here’s how to play:

1. Shuffle the deck and deal 5 cards to each player.
2. Place the remaining cards in a draw pile, with the top card turned over to start the discard pile.
3. The player to the left of the dealer starts the game by playing a card of the same suit or rank as the top card on the discard pile.
4. Each player must play a card of the same suit or rank as the top card on the discard pile, or a card with the rank of 8.
5. If a player cannot or chooses not to play a valid card, they must draw cards from the draw pile until they can play a card.
6. The first player to get rid of all their cards wins the game.
7. The player who runs out of cards first becomes the dealer for the next game.

Note: The specific rules for Crazy Eights can vary, so make sure to agree on a specific set of rules before starting the game.

How to play Rummy:

Rummy is a card game where the objective is to form sets of three or more cards of the same rank or runs of three or more cards of the same suit. Here’s how to play:

1. The game is played with a standard deck of 52 cards plus one or two jokers.
2. Shuffle the deck and deal 10 or 11 cards to each player.
3. Place the remaining cards in a draw pile, with the top card turned over to start the discard pile.
4. The player to the left of the dealer starts the game by taking a card from the draw pile or the discard pile.
5. The player then discards one card onto the discard pile.
6. The objective is to form sets of three or more cards of the same rank (e.g. three Kings) or runs of three or more cards of the same suit (e.g. 6 of Hearts, 7 of Hearts, 8 of Hearts).
7. A player can lay down sets and runs at any time during their turn.
8. The first player to use all their cards in sets and runs wins the game.
9. Points are scored for any cards remaining in a player’s hand, with face cards and aces worth 10 points and all other cards worth their face value.

Note: The specific rules for Rummy can vary, so make sure to agree on a specific set of rules before starting the game.

How to Play Go Fish:

Go Fish is a simple card game that can be played with two to six players using a standard deck of 52 cards. Here’s how to play:

1. Shuffle the deck and deal 7 cards to each player.
2. Place the remaining cards in a draw pile.
3. The player to the left of the dealer starts the game by asking any other player for a specific rank (e.g. “Do you have any sixes?”).
4. If the player being asked has any cards of the rank asked for, they must give them all to the player who made the request.
5. The player who received the cards continues their turn by asking another player for a specific rank.
6. If the player being asked does not have any cards of the rank asked for, they must say “Go fish!” and the asking player draws a card from the draw pile.
7. The game continues until one player has all four cards of the same rank (i.e. four sixes, four Kings, etc.).
8. That player must lay down the cards and continue their turn.
9. The player with the most sets of four cards at the end of the game wins.

Note: The specific rules for Go Fish can vary, so make sure to agree on a specific set of rules before starting the game.