Easy Card Games for the Elderly

Easy card games for the elderly include War, Go Fish, and Rummy. Other games like Solitaire, Hearts, and Crazy Eights also use simple rules that can be learned quickly.

Apart from Solitaire, all of the above-mentioned games require other players. Fortunately, computerized opponents can take the place of real players and offer a serious challenge. Hearts is one such game.

At Hearts.co, anyone can play a Hearts card game online for free instantly. Because the other three players are computers, the games move quickly. To learn more, read our article providing tips to avoid getting thirteen points in Hearts.

Here are some other games that are great for seniors:

War

War is a simple game that can be played quickly. A standard deck of fifty-two cards is shuffled. Next, two players are each given twenty-six cards which they do not look at and keep face-down on the table.

Both players then flip over their top card, and the highest card wins. If there is a tie, the players play three cards face-down, then flip the next card. The highest-ranking card wins every card played, and the winning player puts the won cards on the bottom of their deck. This continues until one player has all the cards.

Go Fish

The goal of this game is to get four of a kind, such as four Kings. Players are each dealt five cards, and the remainder of the cards are placed face-down in the middle of the table as a stack.

Starting to the left of the dealer, one player asks another player for a certain card. For example, they may say, “Give me your Queens.” The player asked must give the other player all the Queens in their hand. If they do not have Queens, they will say, “Go Fish.” The player who asked must then draw one card from the top of the stack.

If a player receives one or more cards they asked for or if they draw a card they asked for, they get to take another turn and ask another player. If they don’t get the requested card, their turn is finished and the player to their left goes next.

If a player runs out of cards, they may draw a card and try to ask for another of that card from another player. If the card stack is finished, a player with no cards in their hand is out of the game. They still keep their played sets and can win the game.

Any time players have a set of four cards, they place them on the table in front of them. Play continues until all the thirteen sets are played. The player with the most sets wins.

Rummy

This game is similar to Go Fish in that players want to collect sets. They can collect three-of-a-kind, four-of-a-kind, or a sequence of cards like two, three, four, or nine, ten, Jack, Queen. Play begins by giving each player the following number of cards:

• Two players: ten cards
• Three to four players: seven cards
• Five to six players: six cards

The remaining cards are placed face-down as a stack with the top card turned face-up. This becomes the discard pile. Starting to the left of the dealer, a player draws from either the stack or the discard pile. They then place any set or sequence of three or four cards they have on the table. If they have a set but don’t want to play it, they must discard one card.

The game continues until one player has successfully played all their cards. They may also keep all their sets until their entire hand is made of sets and yell, “Rummy!” That player wins automatically.

Each other player then takes any remaining cards in their hand and counts them as points they owe the winning player. Face cards are ten each, Aces are one, and all others are their number value.

When a player successfully calls “Rummy,” the number of points each player owes is doubled. The game keeps going until a predetermined score such as 300 or 500 is reached.

Easy Fun

For more ways to add fun to these games, consider using wild cards. Learn more in our article on the many uses of the Joker card. Good luck, and happy gameplaying!