There’s something special about gathering around the table with your loved ones, shuffling a deck of cards, and letting the conversation flow. The best card games for these moments aren’t the ones that require intense strategy or deep concentration — they’re the ones you can play almost on autopilot while sharing stories, laughing, and catching up. Maybe you’re hosting friends to watch a sports game, or perhaps you’re just looking for an easy activity that makes conversation a bit easier, these three simple card games are perfect for a relaxed atmosphere.

Find our favorite playing card decks here!

Sevens (also known as Fan Tan, or Parliament)

This game is perfect for all ages! It has mild hand management strategy and works well for 2-8 players.

Goal: Get rid of all your cards first by playing cards one at a time into the center layout.

Cards are ranked Ace low to King High

Using a single deck of cards with jokers removed, shuffle and deal out the entire deck as evenly as possible amongst all players. It’s okay if some players have more than others. 

The player to the left of the dealer begins.

On your turn, you must, if possible, play a card from your hand into the layout. You may play:

• Any Seven. A seven is placed into the center and starts a new row for its suit.

• Any card which is in sequence order either up or down to a card of the same suit that is already in the layout. Lower cards are added to the left of the seven, higher cards are added to the right. 

If a player has no moves available to them and is unable to play, they must pass. You can indicate this by either saying pass or knocking on the table. You cannot hold cards in your hand that could be played into the layout. 

The first player who succeeds in playing all of their cards is the winner. 

Play as many rounds as you’d like!

Chase the Ace 

This is an excellent game with minimal strategy for all ages that works well for 3-12 players.
Visual learner? Watch our reel!

Goal: Don’t be the one with the lowest card at the end of the round.

Cards are ranked Ace low to King High

Give all players a certain number of poker chips, quarters, or any type of counter to keep track of their lives in the game. We recommend playing with 3-4 counters for each player. 

Shuffle the cards and deal 1 card to each player. Players may look at their card but should not show it to anyone else. 

The player to the left of the dealer decides whether they’d like to keep their card, or pass their card to the player on their left. If they choose to pass their card, that player must trade their card with them unless they reveal a King. All King cards block trades.

When it gets back to the dealer, they can choose to either keep the card they have, or swap it with the top of the deck. (A king card revealed from the deck will still block this trade!)

All players then reveal their cards. The player or players with the lowest card loses a life. (If you’re playing with quarters you can add this to a center pot for the winner.)

Collect the cards, shuffle, and deal play the next round.

When you’re out of lives you’re out of the game. 
The last player left standing wins the game!

6 Card Golf

A family favorite!
Visual learner? Watch our reel!

Goal: Try to get the lowest score over multiple rounds. 

Using a standard deck with jokers removed, shuffle and deal 6 cards face down to each player. These cards are arranged in a 2×3 grid. 

Players look at two of their cards (without showing other players) and leave all other cards face down. 

(Another common way to play is to have players simply choose two cards to flip over. Just choose whichever works best for your group!)

On your turn, draw a card from the deck or discard pile and either: 

• Swap it with one of your face-down cards (no peeking!) and discard the replaced card. The card you drew remains face up in your grid.

• Discard it if you don’t want the card. 

Once a player flips all 6 of their cards face up, each player gets one more turn before the round ends. Then cards are scored.

Scoring: 

2 = -2 Points
King = 0 points
Ace, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, and 9 are worth their face value: A = 1 point, 3 = 3 points, 4 = 4 points , etc)
Jack and Queen = 10 points

Pairs in a column cancel out. Score 0 for that column.
(2s do not cancel out if paired in a column and would score -4 points.)

Winning

Play a set number of rounds. Usually 9 or 18, just like golf! 
The player with the lowest score wins the game!

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