Card games

Before you literally fall asleep, hear me out; if you have a good enough group of people to play with, anything can be fun. These games are ideal for rainy days, when you and your friends don’t have money to go anywhere fun, parties, and even for ice breakers.

DISCLAIMER: Not everybody plays some of these games the same. Please do not get mad if I learned to play these games differently than you. Thanks.

1) Cards Against Humanity/Apples to Apples: Whether you play Cards Against Humanity or Apples to Apples strongly depends on who you’re playing with. Basically, one person draws a black card/green card. That card has a sentence on it, and the rest of the players must finish the sentence with the words or phrases on their white/red cards. “What’s the difference?”, you may ask. The difference is that Apples to Apples is the PG version of Cards Against Humanity. I strongly do not recommend playing Cards Against Humanity with your grandparents. So whether you want to keep it funny and innocent or racey and *mildly offensive* is up to you. Both games are fun to play with friends.

2.) Spoons: This particular game can get a bit aggressive, but in the best way possible. the players sit in a circle, each with a certain amount of cards (most people play with a hand of 5-7 cards). Spoons are placed in the middle of the circle, one less than the amount of players (ex. 6 people, put down 5 spoons) One person starts, pulling a card from the deck, and they keep pulling until they get a card that gives them a good hand (such as numbers in order, a flush, etc.). Cards are continuously passed, and it gradually gets quicker. Once somebody gets a good hand, they grab a spoon as fast as possible. Everyone else follows suit as fast as they can. Not unlike musical chairs, one person will be left without a spoon, and they are out of the game. Spoons are eliminated as people are. This game can get a bit stressful, so if you’re willing to jump across the circle and tackle your friends/family members for a spoon, then this game’s for you.

3)   Slapjack: This game also falls under the category of “mildly painful card games”. An ace is placed in the middle of the players. The starting player puts down one of their cards, and this goes around in a circle from player to player. Once the cards on the main deck are either a) 2 of the same in a row or b) a flush, anybody who is fast enough to notice, slaps their hand down on the deck before anybody else. This person then obtains the deck, and the game starts over. The goal is to obtain a lot of cards. Warning: you may or may not leave this game with a couple of bruises.

4)    Bullworm: Those who play this game know that the name of the game is just a tad bit different. Given that this is a school newspaper, we’re going to call it bullworm. This game is a game of intuition, so if you want to play something without having a ton of strategy, Bullworm is perfect. Everyone starts with a hand of cards (usually 6-8), and an ace is placed in the middle of the group. The starting player puts down a card(s) face down that is supposed to follow (a two). If one of the other players thinks that they’re bluffing and putting down different cards, they yell “bullworm”. If the accuser is right, the player bluffing takes the whole deck. If they guessed wrong, they have to take the whole deck. The goal is to have as little cards as possible. Like poker, bullworm is a game of how much you can trick the people around you into thinking you have a better hand than you actually do.

5)    Uno: Pretty much everyone knows how to play this game, but in case you don’t – players much match a card in their hand either the color or number of the card in the deck. If they cannot do that, they must draw cards until they can. Cards such as Draw Four and Reverse can switch up the game and add twists as well. Uno is a card game classic, and is perfect to play at practically any event (except for a funeral… you should probably avoid playing Uno at a funeral).