Perhaps one of the most widely known of all game types when it comes the the tabletop game category, and certainly a huge part of many cultures all over the world, is the card game sub category. These games make use of some form of cards, generally the standardized deck of 52 playing cards that are well known in the Western world. The deck of cards is the central mechanism and tool set that gamers will use when they play any kind of card game and though some of these will include elements of pencil and paper or even dice games, they are primarily about the cards. The sheer range of these games is absolutely amazing with everything from the casino based poker or blackjack card games to cribbage, rook, rummy or even the collectible card game phenomenon known as Magic: The Gathering. No matter where one goes in the world there is likely to be a local favorite card game.
The portability and ease of use of cards has kept them popular and it is not uncommon to see such games being played in situations as different as country clubs, hospitals or even military barracks. They are generally a very easy to learn game that appeals to a wide number of players. These games can be played in pairs, groups or even by one’s self, such as is the case with Solitaire. Decks can include 32, 78, 36 or even 40 cards, depending upon the part of the world that one is playing a card game in. For instance, in Germany the popular card game skat is played with 32 cards, but in other parts of Europe the trick taking card games based on the Tarot deck will use 78 cards instead of the 52 card deck that is popular in the United States and United Kingdom.
Most interesting about this style of game is just how it will differ from one country to the next as each culture seems to take a very personal approach to the types of cards and games based on those cards, that they play. An example would be the 48 card deck of hanafuda that is native to the nation of Japan or the 40 card system that is native to the country of Italy. All card games tend to address the idea of dealing out the cards from the deck and usually have rules that are light and easy to remember in order to avoid conflicts between players during the game. This is especially important in games like poker or 21 where money is at stake.
The latest version of these games, even though the historic games are certainly still popular, is the introduction of collectible card gaming that leverages the power of the rare cards through scarcity and has thousands of cards available for players to create their own unique decks with.
