8 Great card games

I love playing cards and we own several games. I like the fact that cards are compact and easy to carry around, especially if you're traveling. Besides that, playing cards is great fun. I'll describe a few of the games I enjoy in this hub. Card games can make great Christmas presents too, and I've listed a few of my favorite. Some of these games are for adults, but some are for kids too.

So, here are 8 card games for all ages.

1. Scrabble Slam. I adore playing this version of Scrabble with cards. You have to come up with 4 letter words as quickly as possible using all the cards. The person who uses all their cards up first wins. This is a great family game.
2. Scrabble Word Play Poker. This game is also a lot of fun. The main objective being to get the most points by spelling words from 7 cards in your hand. You play it like poker and get to draw up to 3 cards every turn. Sometimes you don't score many points, but other times you can get a really high scoring word and jump into the lead.
3. Phase 10. This popular game is always enjoyable. It's kind of like Spades where you try to win tricks (a group of cards). There are 10 phases of which each level has a required amount and type of cards you must lay down. The person who completes all phases first is the winner. If you get behind in the phases it can be hard to catch up, but that is the challenge.
4. Spades. One of the earliest card games I remember playing with my family was Spades. I would always try to win and did pretty good. It's a very entertaining game and you learn how to bid how many tricks you think you can take or not take. It's a fairly advanced game, not for young children.
5. Hearts. A similar game to Spades, although you don't want to take tricks. Any heart cards count as points against you and the Queen of spades count as 13 points! Ouch. You try to avoid getting any hearts or the Queen of spades, and the person with the lowest score wins. It is sometimes possible to score a zero, but it's really hard to do.
6. Uno. A classic game that I grew up playing with my family and very challenging. You pick cards and have to discard them according to what has been played in the deck. The first person to reach a certain number of points is the winner.
7. Zigity. This is a fairly new game by Cranium. The deck of cards are translucent because you will need to see through them to match cards. Each card has an action or direction you follow and the next person does the same. The first person with no cards in their hand wins. A very good family game for all ages.
8. Old Maid. We have a Hello Kitty Old Maid deck, that my daughter enjoys playing. She never gets the Old Maid of course, but she has fun matching the cards. It is a really colorful deck with pictures of Hello Kitty in several different occupations, such as a Yoga Instructor, Rock Star and Doctor. The person left with the Old Maid loses.

That's my review of popular card games. I know there are a lot of other games I love to play but I can't fit them all on here, nor can I remember them all. So, go get some cards and start playing. You can give your brain a workout and it's better than watching t.v!