Card Games for Christmas Day (That Nana and the 8-Year-Old Can Both Play)

There's a bit of Christmas Day, usually around 3pm, when lunch is done, someone's asleep on the couch and one of the kids has already broken a present. That's when the cards come out. So these are the card games for Christmas Day I'd actually pick when the table goes from a five-year-old all the way up to Nana. Almost all of them need nothing more than a normal deck of 52 cards. No app, no box of plastic bits, nothing new to buy.

Quick disclaimer: I run Mimies, so yes, I'm biased towards cards. But this post is about the games, not the deck. Any old deck works.

Sort the house rules out before anyone deals

Honestly this is the most useful thing in the whole post. Every family plays these games a bit differently. Does a 2 make the next person pick up two? Can you finish on an 8? Decide before the first hand, out loud, with everyone listening. Otherwise you'll spend twenty minutes of Christmas arguing with your uncle about what "the real rules" are. (There are no real rules. There's just what your family does.)

When the youngest is about five

Snap. Everyone takes turns flipping a card onto their own pile, and when two piles show the same number, the first person to shout "snap" takes both piles. That's it. Downside: it gets loud, and the grown-ups need to slow their hands down or it's over in two minutes and someone's crying.

Go Fish. Deal 5 cards each (7 if it's just two of you) and put the rest in a messy pile in the middle. On your turn you ask one person for a number you already hold, like "Grandad, have you got any 9s?" If they do, they hand over every 9 they've got. If not, they say "go fish" and you take one from the pile. Get all four of a number and you put them down. Most sets wins. The little ones will show you their cards the whole time. Let them, it's Christmas.

Pig. Basically Spoons without the spoons, which is good if you don't want cutlery flying around a five-year-old. You need four of a kind per player, so for six people pull out six numbers (all the 2s, 3s, 4s and so on, 24 cards) and deal four each. Everyone picks one card to get rid of and passes it to the left at the same time. When you've got four the same, you quietly touch your nose. Last person to notice and touch theirs is the pig.

The best card games for Christmas Day with mixed ages

This is the main event. These work for roughly 8 to 80, and you can teach any of them while the pudding's being sorted.

Crazy Eights

If you only learn one, make it this one. It's UNO with a normal deck. Deal 7 cards each if there are two of you, 5 each if there are more. Turn one card face up. On your turn, put down a card that matches it by suit or by number. 8s are wild: play one any time and you choose the next suit. Can't go? Pick up one card. First person with no cards left wins.

Then add your family's extras. The common ones are 2 means pick up two and a Jack skips the next person, but see the bit above about agreeing them first.

Sevens

Also called Fan Tan, Parliament or Dominoes, depending on who taught you. Deal out the whole deck, even if some people end up with one more card. Whoever has the 7 of diamonds puts it down to start. After that, on your turn you can either put down another 7 to start a new row, or add the next card up or down to a row that's already going (so a 6 or an 8 of diamonds next to that 7, and on out to the King and the Ace). If you can't play, you knock and it goes to the next person. First one out wins.

It looks gentle. It isn't, quite. The sneaky bit is hanging onto a 6 when you've got the 5 and 4 behind it, so nobody else can get rid of their low cards. Kids work this out faster than you'd think.

Cheat

Also known as I Doubt It, or a ruder name I won't put on a gift blog. Deal out the whole deck. The first person puts one to four cards face down and says what they are, starting with Aces: "two Aces". The next person has to put down 2s, the next 3s, and so on up to Kings and round again. You can lie about what you're putting down. Anyone can shout "Cheat!" If the person was lying, they pick up the whole pile. If they were telling the truth, the person who shouted picks it up. First to get rid of everything wins.

Best from about 8 up. It's the game where you find out who in your family is a very good liar, and it's not always who you'd guess.

Spoons

The chaotic one. Put spoons in the middle of the table, one fewer than the number of players, and deal four cards each. The dealer takes a card from the deck, keeps or passes one card to their left, and everyone keeps passing one card left as fast as they can. When you get four of a kind, you grab a spoon. Then it's everyone for themselves, and whoever's left without a spoon gets a letter (S, then P, and so on). Spell SPOONS and you're out.

Downside: it gets physical. Move the gravy boat first, and maybe not the good spoons. Pair a little one up with Nana as a team if the age gap feels a bit much.

The old Christmas ones (bring these back)

These are the games a lot of grandparents grew up playing at Christmas, usually for pennies. Chocolate coins work better now, to be fair.

Newmarket

Also called Michigan, Boodle or Stops. It's a proper old British Christmas game and it deserves a comeback. You'll want a second deck for this, or just write the cards on bits of paper.

1. Put four cards in the middle of the table: the Ace of hearts, King of clubs, Queen of diamonds and Jack of spades. Everyone puts one chocolate coin on each, and the dealer puts two on each.
2. Deal out the main deck to everyone, plus one spare hand that nobody gets to look at or play.
3. The person left of the dealer plays their lowest card in any suit. Whoever has the next card up in that suit plays it, and so on.
4. When the run stops (because the next card is hiding in the spare hand, or someone just played an Ace), whoever played last starts again with their lowest card in a different suit.
5. Play a card that matches one of the four in the middle and you take the coins sitting on it.

First person out of cards wins, and everyone else pays them one coin for each card still in their hand. Coins left on the middle cards stay there for the next round, so the pile grows. That's when it gets serious.

Chase the Ace

Also Ranter-Go-Round, or Cuckoo. This is the one for the person who says "oh I don't really play cards". Everyone gets three lives (three coins works) and one card, face down. King is highest, Ace is lowest. Going round the table, you can keep your card or swap it with the person on your left, and they have to swap unless they're holding a King, in which case they show it and you're stuck with what you've got. The dealer goes last and can swap with the top card of the deck instead. Lowest card loses a life.

Thirty seconds to teach. Works with ten people. No reading, no strategy talk. I reckon it's the most underrated Christmas card game there is.

After the kids go to bed

If you're in Australia or New Zealand there's a decent chance someone in your family plays 500. Trumps, bidding, a Joker that beats everything. It's great, but it's not one to teach an 8-year-old on Christmas afternoon, so save it for the night.

Hearts is the other one. Four players, you're trying not to win any hearts or the Queen of spades. Simple to learn, mean to play.

And if the night's heading that way, I've written up some drinking card games with prompts you can make your own. Adults only, obviously.

Small stuff that helps on the day

• Bring two decks. One always loses a card down the side of the couch by Boxing Day.
• Write the house rules on a scrap of paper and leave it on the table. Saves repeating yourself for every new person who sits down.
• Let the youngest deal sometimes, even if it takes forever. They love it.

If you want the deck to be part of the present

Okay, this is where I plug us, just the once. We make decks from 14 of your family's photos, designed for you by us (no online editor), with a name or line on the back (if you're stuck on that bit, here's what 3,088 people wrote on theirs). Every card is a photo, so half the game ends up being "oh my gosh, look at Dad in that one". It's the kind of thing that works well for grandparents, and I've written more about photo gifts for grandparents if that's who you're buying for.

Each deck is made in 2 to 5 business days and shipped free with tracking, but honestly, order by mid-November so it's there for Christmas Day without any stress. Still stuck on everyone else? Here's my list of Christmas gifts for the family that has everything, and the FAQ page covers shipping times to each country.

FAQs

What card games can you play with a normal deck at Christmas?

Crazy Eights, Sevens, Cheat, Go Fish, Snap, Spoons, Chase the Ace and Newmarket all use a standard 52-card deck. Spoons also needs spoons, and Newmarket is easier with four cards from a second deck and some coins or lollies.

What's a good card game for kids and adults to play together?

Crazy Eights is the easiest crossover. Kids pick it up in one hand because it plays like UNO, and adults still enjoy it. Sevens is the gentler option if you've got young ones and grandparents at the same table.

What card games are traditionally played at Christmas?

In Britain, Newmarket (also called Michigan or Stops) is the classic family Christmas card game, usually played for pennies or sweets. Chase the Ace, also called Ranter-Go-Round, is another old favourite for big groups. In Australia and New Zealand a lot of families play 500 once the kids are in bed.

What card game works best for a big group?

Chase the Ace. Everyone only holds one card, it takes thirty seconds to explain, and it works with ten or more people. Cheat and Spoons also handle big groups well, but they get loud.

What's the quickest card game to teach on Christmas Day?

Snap for little kids, Chase the Ace for a mixed crowd, and Crazy Eights if you want something with a bit more to it. Agree on your house rules before you deal and you'll save yourself the arguments.