Card games split into six broad families — trick-taking, rummy, casino, shedding, solitaire, and dedicated-deck — and no single list is truly exhaustive because variants are effectively unbounded.
A single authoritative “complete list” doesn’t exist, and every serious reference admits why: card games span traditional, casino, trick-taking, rummy, solitaire, collectible, and dedicated-deck titles, and regional house rules multiply the count without limit. What the category actually contains is knowable, though. Below you get the major families, the real games inside each, and the deck each one demands — including the games that quietly break the 52-card assumption.
What Counts As A Card Game?
Britannica defines card games simply: games played for pleasure or gambling with one or more decks of playing cards. That definition is broader than most players assume. It covers the standard French-suited 52-card deck, shortened decks like 24-card Euchre, stripped decks like 48-card Pinochle, multi-deck games like Canasta, and proprietary decks like Dominion.
Two corrections matter before any list makes sense. First, poker is not a synonym for card game — it’s one family inside a much larger set. Second, solitaire is a category, not a game. Both are subtypes.
The Major Families And The Games In Them
Trick-taking is the largest broad family, per Britannica, and it covers the games most often played around a US kitchen table: Bridge, Spades, Hearts, and Euchre all live here, with Euchre running on a shortened 24-card deck. Rummy games form a separate family — Gin Rummy heads it, with the wider Rummy variants branching from there.
Casino and poker-family games include Draw Poker, Five-card Stud, Seven-card Stud, Texas Hold’em, Omaha, Caribbean Stud Poker, Let It Ride, Pai Gow Poker, Three-card Poker, and Video Poker. Shedding games — where the goal is emptying your hand — cover Go Fish, Crazy Eights, Old Maid, and Slapjack, while War sits in its own low-decision corner. Cribbage blends shed-and-peg play; Solitaire runs the single-player family.
Dedicated-deck games use proprietary cards rather than standard playing cards. Love Letter (2012), Fluxx (1997), Dominion (2008), Munchkin (2001), and Monopoly Deal (2008) all fall here, and collectible card games — Magic: The Gathering, Pokémon, and Yu-Gi-Oh! — form their own major category alongside them.
If you’re weighing which to buy rather than which to learn, our tested roundup of the best card games to buy sorts the strong picks by player count.
What Deck Does Each Game Need?
Most games run on a standard pack, but the exceptions trip people up. Euchre needs only 24 cards, Pinochle a stripped 48, and Canasta typically two decks plus jokers. Five Crowns uses two combined 58-card five-suit decks. Pagat’s alphabetical index tracks the player count and deck design for each traditional game, which is why it stays the most useful public rule list despite not being exhaustive.
| Game | Deck Required | Family |
|---|---|---|
| Bridge | Standard 52-card | Trick-taking |
| Euchre | Shortened 24-card | Trick-taking |
| Hearts | Standard 52-card | Trick-taking |
| Gin Rummy | Standard 52-card | Rummy |
| Cribbage | Standard 52-card | Shed-and-peg |
| Canasta | Two decks plus jokers | Rummy |
| Pinochle | Stripped 48-card | Trick-taking |
| Five Crowns | Two 58-card five-suit decks | Dedicated-deck |
| Dominion | Proprietary deck | Dedicated-deck |
Why No List Is Truly Complete
Governing bodies set rules for tournament play, but Britannica makes clear that “official rules” vary by that context rather than existing universally for every game. A home game of Spades and a tournament game of Spades can diverge on scoring entirely, and neither is wrong.
Deck variance reinforces the point. A standard 52-card pack covers most games, but some remove cards or require special decks — “stripped” packs may drop the deuces and treys for certain play situations. Add regional variants and house rules, and the tail of the list never closes.
The practical takeaway: treat any card game list as a curated map of major families and representative titles, not a census. Britannica’s card game overview and Pagat’s index together cover far more ground than any single published list, and even they frame their coverage rather than claiming the final word.
FAQs
Is poker a card game or its own category?
Poker is a card game family, not a separate category. Britannica lists Draw Poker, Texas Hold’em, Omaha, and Seven-card Stud among the principal poker forms, all sitting inside the larger card game taxonomy. Treating every card game as a poker game, or every poker game as interchangeable, misses how the family actually divides.
Do all card games use a standard 52-card deck?
No. Euchre uses a shortened 24-card deck, Pinochle a stripped 48-card deck, and Canasta typically two decks plus jokers. Dedicated-deck games like Dominion, Fluxx, and Love Letter use proprietary cards instead. Standard 52-card packs cover most traditional games, but the exceptions are common enough that deck size should be your first check.
Where can I find rules for a specific card game?
Pagat’s alphabetical index is the most comprehensive public rule list for traditional multiplayer games, showing player count and the deck design each one needs. Britannica’s card game overview covers the history and family structure. For tournament-specific rules, check the governing body for that game, since official rules vary by context.
References & Sources
- Encyclopaedia Britannica. “Card Game.” Defines card games and identifies trick-taking as the largest broad family.
- Encyclopaedia Britannica. “Card Game: Rules and Hoyles.” Explains that official rules vary by governing body and tournament context.
- Pagat. “Alphabetical Index of Card Games.” Comprehensive public rule list with player count and deck design per game.