I am looking for a simple card game that would be fun for the elderly and at the same time would break the monotony of traditional card games, that they are currently playing. Preferably something internationally popular so it is easy to buy in the EU.
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The crew! Both versions of it allow for replayability as you have different objectives every game. It is a trick taking game, so they might be a bit familiar with it due to other games like bridge. And it is cheap. Only thing that might take them a bit to get used to is that it is coop.
Another simple one would be take 6 (nimmt 6).
The crew looks interesting, will check it out. Thank you
I would recommend The Crew: Mission Deep Sea over
The Crew: The Quest for Planet Nine, same idea, but with more polish.The crew is amazing, you could play this with about any card deck as long as you have the missions somewhere.
- Bohnanza is a good recommendation. It’s very easy to learn and doesn’t fall into the usual brackets of shedding or trick taking.
- Scout is my favorite combo shedding game (ie. you’re shedding multiple cards at once). The way you’re always either drawing or shedding keeps the play much more dynamic than in Daihinmin or the Great Dalmuti
- Frantic from GameFactory isn’t widely available but in the EU you can probably get it. UNO on steroids. More exciting special cards and you can play them against any player, not just the one following you.
- Tichu a team based trick taking game that has a lot of fans around here. I personally have never really taken to it. It’s fine but I don’t get the rabid fandom some have for it.
- The Crew is ridiculously difficult with 5 and cumbersome with 2. Would only recommend it in between. But there it is a very clever game.
Good suggestions.
Although Frantic might not be elderly friendly due to the card design being quite hard to read at times. Huge Roman numerals with tiny text in front is just a terrible design choice.
Bohnanza is a modern classic.
Scout is supposed to be great.
Tichu is a bit more complex (and somewhat similar to Doppelkopf, which as I am just learning is apparently rather specific to Germany).
Arboretum is also nice, somewhat similar to Lost Cities.
We often play “6 nimmt” with our Grandma. That is always a blast. Simple to learn, quick to set up and a lot of Schadenfreude from my Grandma when she tricks somebody into taking cards!
Exploding Kittens is always a winner when I break it out.
I would also echo the Crew is great, especially for people that are familiar with traditional card games.
- Sea Salt & Paper is set collection with some rummy elements. Some simple but fun card abilities mix it up. One of our favorites. Available in the EU (Philibert, probably others too)
- in Cabo you are trying to minimize the value of your face down cards. Has a memory element but not too bad. Widely available.
Our current favourite The Crew was already mentioned.
Phase 10 used to be the staple to bring out at gatherings, both with family and friends. I personally have outgrown it a bit, but it’s easy to learn and it’s probably the game in our household that has been played for the most hours.
Point Salad has been a big hit and I’ll back up what others have said about Bohnanza.
I’m tempted to recommend Cat in the Box as a new take on trick taking but I haven’t had the chance to introduce it to non boardgamers yet. It’s a very cool concept but the abstraction of suits could be a bit much for some folks.
Card games that aren’t too hard to learn:
- Star Realms / Hero Realms
- Yomi
- Ascension
- Keyforge
- Love letter
- One Night (needs a phone app)
Second Love Letter. You can learn to play in 10 min, a game is over in 20 min, but you’ll play for hours. By name, it doesn’t grab you (me, anyway,) but I genuinely don’t know anyone that doesn’t like it. Also, Sheriff of Nottingham
Both of these break the traditional mold, are crazy simple to learn and are way more fun than they have any right to be.
I introduced Love Letter to some friends and we all had a blast playing it during the lockdown. Before playing it sounds kind of bland and unstrategic, but the more you play the more tactics and things to look out for you see (like the closer you are to the ending the more likely someone is holding the princess).
I have so many good memories of this game, friends shouting at me “DO YOU HAVE THE PRINCE?” even if the prince was already revealed.
Uno has many variations. My current favorite is Uno Flip.
Cribbage is often paired with a board & pegs, though doesn’t technically require one as it’s meant for tracking points and sometimes victories.
CRIBBAGE!!!
Sushi Go, Hanabi, Coup
Sushi go is one of my favorites!
31 is simple, and you only need a standard deck of cards.
Checkout Dutch Blitz, it’s kinda like multi-player solatire. Up to 4 people.
Love Dutch Blitz. Also, you can get an expansion up to 8 people, but imo 4 is the sweet spot. More than that gets too hectic and the rounds end too quickly with that many piles to play on.
As a side note, it’s the laziest expansion I’ve ever seen. Was hoping for different images on the backs or different colors, but they just switch up the color-image pairings.
I had fun with regicide: https://www.regicidegame.com/ You can buy it or just download the rules nad play it with any old poker deck.
With the right group of elderly, it could be fun
“No Thanks!” is super easy and fun.
But I’ve also found with a lot of oldies that they actually like playing the same old games. They often have more depth and complexity than you might think at first glance, and it’s difficult to learn a new game of similar complexity later in life and might be dull to swap out for a simpler game. Like, if some whippersnappers were to go “granny, put those delvers and cantrips away and come play some fun Cards Against Humanity with us” I’d probably immolate myself on the spot 🤷🏻♀️
