The Best Card Games for Two People with a Deck of Cards
Nov 7, 2026 · The Editors
The best card games for two players with one ordinary deck: quick games, thinking games and racing games — what each is like, how long it takes, and where to find the full rules.
A deck of cards and two people is enough for years of evenings. These are the best two-player games that need nothing else — sorted by the kind of game they are.
The classics: thinking games
Gin rummy. The definitive two-player card game. Ten cards each, build sets and runs, knock when your leftover cards are low. Hands take five minutes; a game to 100 takes an evening. Full rules for gin rummy.
Cribbage. Three hundred years old and still played on pub tables and kitchen counters everywhere. It needs a cribbage board for scoring, and once learned it is never forgotten. How to play cribbage.
Two-player spades. You draft your hands from the deck card by card, then bid and play tricks. Clever, and quite different from four-player spades. Spades rules, including two-handed.
Rummy. Simpler than gin, with cards laid down as you go. A good first game. How to play rummy.
Fast and frantic
Speed. No turns — both players play at once, slapping cards onto two piles as fast as they can. Two minutes a hand. How to play Speed.
Spit. Speed's rougher cousin, with stockpiles laid out like solitaire and a slap to end every round. How to play Spit.
Egyptian Ratscrew. Players turn cards onto a pile in turn and slap it on doubles and sandwiches to win it. Pure reflexes.
Easy and relaxing
Crazy Eights. Match the suit or rank, eights are wild, first to empty their hand wins. Crazy Eights rules.
Kings in the Corner. Solitaire played together. Gentle, sociable and good for a mixed-age table. Kings in the Corner rules.
War. No decisions at all — just flipping. Fine for a long journey. How to play War.
A step up
Casino. An old fishing game: capture cards from a layout of four face-up cards by matching or adding up to them. Simple to learn, surprisingly deep.
German Whist. A two-player trick-taking game in two halves: the first half you play for the cards you want, the second half you play them. A favourite of serious card players.
Heads-up poker. Texas hold'em with two players — a different game from the full table, all aggression and nerve. How to play hold'em.
Which to start with
- For an evening of conversation: gin rummy or cribbage.
- For a laugh: Speed or Spit.
- For someone who has never played cards: Crazy Eights.
What makes a good two-player deck
Two-player games are played often and hard — the same deck every night. A plastic deck lasts many times longer than paper, shuffles the same in its hundredth game as its first, and wipes clean. A small deck in the coat pocket means a game is always possible.
