The Best Card Games for Family Fun

Below, we've compiled a list of the best card games to have a good time with your family. Start planning your next game night!
The Best Card Games for Family Fun

Last update: 22 June, 2021

For years, traditional card games have served as a form of entertainment for young and old alike. Over time, these have been modernized and, today, there’s a multitude of new options to choose from. They’re addictive and use a specific and very original deck of cards, rather than your classic deck of cards.

Do you want to know which games we are referring to? Below, we’ll recommend some of the best card games for family fun anytime, anywhere. Pay attention because you’ll want to collect them all!

The best card games for family fun

A couple playing UNO in the grass.


Uno

Uno is a card game that’s recommended for ages seven and up and requires concentration, speed, and skill. This particular deck of cards is made up of:

  • Normal cards: numeric cards from zero to nine that can be green, blue, red, or yellow
  • Special cards: skip, change directions, draw two, draw four, and color change joker

One person deals the cards and leaves a pile to draw from in the middle, flipping one over to begin a discard pile. Depending on what card remains face-up on the table, each participant plays and discards the cards from their hand.

The objective of the game is to eliminate all the cards you got at the beginning of the game, saying the word, “Uno” when you only have one card left in your hand.

Virus!

Virus! is the name of one of the best-selling card games of recent years. And no wonder, since it’s a very intuitive and simple game that guarantees great moments of fun for all participants.

This game rewards mental agility and strategy. To win, you need to build a human body, with four completely healthy organs (heart, kidneys, brain, and bones), while trying to prevent rivals from infecting, destroying, or stealing the organs you have on the table. Virus! contains a deck of 68 cards divided into the following types:

  • Organs
  • Viruses
  • Medicines
  • Treatments

Cheating Moth

Cheating Moth is one of the few existing card games in which cheating isn’t only allowed but is an almost essential requirement if you want to win the game.

The objective’s to be the first to run out of cards. To do this, you have to take turns throwing a card on the table, depending on the card that was placed previously, since the card that’s placed on top must have a value of one point higher or one point lower than the value of the card below it.

A teen holding a hand of cards.

In principle, it seems simple. But there’s something else that you must take into account, and it’s that there are cards that you can’t eliminate by following this rule. Therefore, you must look for other alternatives to get rid of them. In other words, you have to cheat without being discovered by the watcher.

The deck of cards is composed of:

  • Action cards
  • Numerical cards
  • Cheating moths
  • Guardian bedbug

Card games and their benefits

It’s clear that the card games we’ve recommended are a good option if you want to have a good time with family or friends. But, in addition, they serve to stimulate certain capacities or cognitive abilities such as attention, the establishment of hypotheses, decision making, etc.

You should also note that, in these times, these types of games are ideal for children, adolescents, and young people to help them disconnect from the virtual world in which they’re usually immersed. Playing card games and board games help them value having fun the way their parents or grandparents did. Although these cards are somewhat more modern and different from those of a lifetime, the fun you’ll have together will be just as beneficial.


All cited sources were thoroughly reviewed by our team to ensure their quality, reliability, currency, and validity. The bibliography of this article was considered reliable and of academic or scientific accuracy.


  • Pérez-González, M. C. (2011). Los juegos de mesa en la educación infantil. Pedagogía Magna, (11), 354-359.

This text is provided for informational purposes only and does not replace consultation with a professional. If in doubt, consult your specialist.