Games & Playing Cards

Picking card games for the people at your table

Start with how many are playing and how long you have. A card game is quick to set up and fits a coffee table, a café table or a picnic blanket, while a board game usually needs more room and more time. Good family games share a few traits: rules you can explain in a couple of minutes, rounds short enough that nobody waits long for a turn, and enough luck that a younger player can beat an older one.

Match the look to the person: bright and playful for a child, plain and traditional for a seasoned card player. A few of our games are mini games, handy when you want something to take on a journey.

What comes in a pack of playing cards

A standard pack of playing cards holds 52 cards in four suits: hearts, diamonds, clubs and spades. A suit runs from ace to ten, followed by the jack, queen and king, known as the court cards. Packs often include a joker or two for games that need a wild card. One pack plays hundreds of card games, from snap and go fish for a quick round to rummy and whist for a longer evening, with patience for when you are on your own. Among our games are a few packs of playing cards.

How a memory game is played

A memory game is usually played with pairs of picture cards laid face down in rows. Players take it in turns to flip over two cards, keeping them if they match and turning them face down again if they do not, so the trick is remembering what you have already seen. Whoever ends with the biggest pile of pairs wins. Because it rewards concentration more than reading, children can often beat the grown-ups. Our range has a few memory games, good for a quiet hour at the kitchen table.

Giving a game at Christmas or for a party

A game is a present that gets played straight away, often on the day itself. Christmas is the obvious time, and some of our games suit it well, whether as a stocking filler, a gift under the tree or something to play after lunch; a few are a good choice for a party, too. Many of our games are made with kids in mind, and you will also find a few gifts for him and a few for teenagers.

To put a gift together, pair a pack of playing cards with a memory game, or tuck a mini game into a stocking with a satsuma in the toe.

What our games are made from

Card and paper turn up in many of our games, and you will also find some made with plastic or metal and a few made with wood. A few come in a tin, which keeps the pieces together between games. Card is quick to shuffle and deal but marks if it gets wet, plastic can usually be wiped clean, and wood has a pleasing weight in the hand. For a game that will travel in a rucksack or live on a bedroom floor, a tin is worth weighing up.

Keeping cards flat and pieces clean

Card warps in damp air and fades in strong sun, so store games somewhere cool and dry, away from radiators, sunny windowsills and steamy kitchens. Play with clean, dry hands, keep drinks at the far end of the table, and cards stay crisp for longer. A card that picks up a curve will usually flatten overnight under a stack of heavy books.

Wipe plastic pieces with a damp cloth and dry them well, dust wooden pieces rather than wetting them, and keep a tin dry, as damp can mark the metal.