The 12 Best Card Games for Kids, Sorted by Age
Card games are the easiest way to get a kid to the table. They are cheap, they fit in a bag, and the best ones teach in a minute. The hard part is that most “card games for kids” stop being fun for the adults by the second round.
So every scored pick here passed two tests: a child of the listed age can play it, and the grown-up at the table still wants to. Ten of the twelve we have reviewed and scored on our Bamboo (quick to learn) and Pandas (fun) scales, and nine of those ten scored 4/5 Pandas or higher. The other two, Rhino Hero and Taco Cat Goat Cheese Pizza, we have not scored, and their entries say so.
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The Short Answer
- Ages 5 and 6: Happy Salmon, a shouting game where a six-year-old can beat the adults.
- Age 7: Cover Your Assets, 5/5 on both of our scales.
- Age 8: Sushi Go Party, the other double five, for up to eight players.
- Age 10 and up: Love Letter, a whole deduction game in 21 cards.
- No box at all: War or Go Fish with a standard deck.
Looking for board games too? Our best board games for kids sorts twelve more by age. Buying for the holidays? Our Black Friday board game deals page covers what usually gets discounted. Last verified: October 2026.
All 12 at a Glance
| Game | Age on box | Players | Time | Skill it uses | Our score |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Happy Salmon | 6+ | 3–8 | 2–5 min a round | Speed and matching | 5 Bamboo, 4 Pandas |
| Rhino Hero | 5+ | 2–5 | 5–15 min | Steady hands | Not scored |
| Cover Your Assets | 7+ | 2–6 | 20–40 min | Matching pairs | 5 Bamboo, 5 Pandas |
| Skip-Bo | 7+ | 2–6 | 20+ min | Counting 1 to 12 | 4 Bamboo, 5 Pandas |
| Phase 10 | 7+ | 2–6 | 45+ min | Sets and runs | 5 Bamboo, 4 Pandas |
| Throw Throw Burrito | 7+ | 2–6 | 15 min | Reflexes | 4 Bamboo, 3 Pandas |
| Sushi Go Party | 8+ | 2–8 | 20–30 min | Sets and simple scoring | 5 Bamboo, 5 Pandas |
| Taco Cat Goat Cheese Pizza | 8+ | 2–8 | 10–15 min | Reaction time | Not scored |
| 6 Nimmt | 8+ | 2–10 | 30–45 min | Number order | 5 Bamboo, 4 Pandas |
| Five Crowns | 8+ | 2–7 | 30–60 min | Sets, runs and adding | 5 Bamboo, 4 Pandas |
| Sea Salt & Paper | 8+ | 2–4 | 20–30 min | Pairs and risk | 5 Bamboo, 4 Pandas |
| Love Letter | 10+ | 2–6 | 5–15 min | Reading and deduction | 5 Bamboo, 4 Pandas |
Ages, player counts and times are the publishers’ figures. The skill column is our judgment of what each game asks a child to do.
Ages 5 to 7
Card games for younger kids need pictures instead of words and rounds short enough to end before attention does. Everything here works for a child who is just starting to read.
1. Happy Salmon — Where the Six-Year-Old Wins
Happy Salmon is a shouting game. Everyone flips cards at once and calls out the action, trying to find someone with a match: a high five, a fish bump, a switch, or the happy salmon itself. Match and you both discard. First to empty their deck wins.
We scored it 5/5 Bamboo and 4/5 Pandas in our Happy Salmon review, which says speed and volume beat experience, so a six-year-old can win against the adults. It is 3–8 players, ages 6+, and a round lasts two to five minutes.
Who should skip it: quiet households, and families of two. It needs three.
Check Happy Salmon price on Amazon →
2. Rhino Hero — A Card Tower for Small Hands
Rhino Hero is a stacking game played with cards. Players build a tower from folded wall cards and flat roof cards, and the first to play all their roof cards wins, unless they knock the tower over. A wooden rhino climbs the building as it grows.
HABA lists it at 2–5 players, ages 5+, and 5 to 15 minutes. There is nothing to read. We have not scored it; it is also on our best board games for 5- and 6-year-olds.
Who should skip it: kids who get upset when things fall down.
Check Rhino Hero price on Amazon →
3. Cover Your Assets — The Best Card Game for Kids and Adults Together
Cover Your Assets is about collecting matching pairs of assets, stacking them, and stealing the top of someone else’s stack. We scored it 5/5 Bamboo and 5/5 Pandas in our Cover Your Assets review.
The cards flatten skill, so a seven-year-old holding the right pair can take an adult’s whole stack. It is 2–6 players, ages 7+, and 20 to 40 minutes, and our two-player guide covers the special rules for a parent and one child.
Who should skip it: a child who melts down when something is taken. Stealing is the game.
Check Cover Your Assets price on Amazon →
4. Skip-Bo — Counting From 1 to 12
Skip-Bo is a race to empty your stock pile by building shared piles from 1 to 12, with wild cards to fill gaps. We scored it 4/5 Bamboo and 5/5 Pandas in our Skip-Bo review, which names families with kids 7 and up.
It is all numbers and no reading, which makes it good counting practice that does not feel like practice. It is 2–6 players and works just as well at two as at four.
Who should skip it: families who want a short game. A full game can run long, though the rules include a short version.
Check Skip-Bo price on Amazon →
5. Phase 10 — Sets and Runs Without the Reading
Phase 10 is a rummy-style game where everyone works through ten phases in order, like a set of three plus a run of four. We scored it 5/5 Bamboo and 4/5 Pandas in our Phase 10 review, which calls it the cheap card game a seven-year-old and a seventy-year-old can play at the same table.
It is 2–6 players, ages 7+, and 45 minutes or more for all ten phases. With younger kids, play five phases and call it a game.
Who should skip it: kids who lose interest after half an hour, unless you shorten it.
Check Phase 10 price on Amazon →
6. Throw Throw Burrito — A Card Game With Dodgeball
Throw Throw Burrito is a card game where matching sets triggers a battle, and battles mean throwing squishy rubber burritos at each other. We scored it 4/5 Bamboo and 3/5 Pandas in our Throw Throw Burrito review, the lowest Pandas on this list.
It makes the list anyway because the review calls it the rare game that burns kid energy, and recommends it for families with kids 7 to 12. It is 2–6 players and about 15 minutes.
Who should skip it: households with breakables near the table, or kids who want strategy.
Check Throw Throw Burrito price on Amazon →
Ages 8 to 10
Card games for kids from 8 can ask for real decisions. The four scored games in this band all got 4/5 Pandas or higher, and the fifth is a ten-minute slapping game.
7. Sushi Go Party — Pick a Card, Pass the Rest
Sushi Go Party is a drafting game. Take one card from your hand, pass the rest, and score the sushi you kept. We scored it 5/5 Bamboo and 5/5 Pandas in our Sushi Go Party review, tied with Cover Your Assets for our highest combined score.
It is 2–8 players, ages 8+, and 20 to 30 minutes, and Gamewright’s page shows every dish. The scoring is simple sets and counting, and our scoring guide covers the two bonuses that trip up new tables.
Who should skip it: two-player families. Our review calls it fine at two, not great.
Check Sushi Go Party price on Amazon →
8. Taco Cat Goat Cheese Pizza — The Slapping Game Kids Already Know
Taco Cat Goat Cheese Pizza is a reaction game. Players flip cards onto a pile while saying the next word in the chant, taco, cat, goat, cheese, pizza, and when the card matches the word, everyone slaps the pile. The last hand down takes the pile, and the first player out of cards wins.
Dolphin Hat Games lists it at 2–8 players, ages 8+, and 10 to 15 minutes, and the official rules cover the three special cards that add actions before the slap. We have not scored it.
Who should skip it: anyone with sore hands. There is a lot of slapping.
Check Taco Cat Goat Cheese Pizza price on Amazon →
9. 6 Nimmt — Ten Players and a Lot of Groaning
6 Nimmt is a card game for up to ten. Everyone picks a card, everyone reveals at once, and cards slot onto four rows in number order; play the sixth card in a row and you take the row as penalty points. We scored it 5/5 Bamboo and 4/5 Pandas in our 6 Nimmt review.
It needs only number order, and the simultaneous reveal gets a whole room of kids groaning together. It is 2–10 players, ages 8+, and 30 to 45 minutes. Wikipedia’s entry covers its 1994 debut.
Who should skip it: two-player households. Our review calls it a different, worse game at two.
Check 6 Nimmt price on Amazon →
10. Five Crowns — Rummy With a Wild Card That Moves
Five Crowns is rummy with five suits and eleven hands. Each hand deals one more card than the last, and the wild card changes with it, from threes in the first hand to kings in the last. We scored it 5/5 Bamboo and 4/5 Pandas in our Five Crowns review.
Our review says any kid who can recognize numbers and suits can play. Adding up the cards left in each hand is real arithmetic, so an adult may want to check the score sheet at first. It is 2–7 players, ages 8+, and 30 to 60 minutes.
Who should skip it: kids who do not enjoy adding up scores.
Check Five Crowns price on Amazon →
11. Sea Salt & Paper — The Small Box for a Parent and Child
Sea Salt & Paper is a set-collecting card game with origami art. Draw, play pairs for their effects, and decide when to end the round with “Stop” or “Last Chance.” We scored it 5/5 Bamboo and 4/5 Pandas in our Sea Salt & Paper review.
It is 2–4 players, ages 8+, and 20 to 30 minutes, and our two-player guide calls it a genuinely good game at two. The pairs have effects to learn, so the first game needs an adult to explain them.
Who should skip it: groups of five or more. It stops at four.
Check Sea Salt & Paper price on Amazon →
Ages 10 and Up
One pick here, because at 10 most kids are ready for the card games on the adult shelf too.
12. Love Letter — A Deduction Game in 21 Cards
Love Letter is a deduction game. Hold one card, draw a second, play one, and try to be the last player standing or hold the highest card when the deck runs out. We scored it 5/5 Bamboo and 4/5 Pandas in our Love Letter review, which calls it the gentlest on-ramp to counting cards in gaming.
Every card has a line of rules text, which is why it is rated 10+. It is 2–6 players and 5 to 15 minutes, and it fits in a pocket.
Who should skip it: younger kids who cannot read the cards yet.
Check Love Letter price on Amazon →
Free Card Games for Kids With Any Deck
Card games for kids do not have to cost anything. A standard deck runs the classics most of us learned first, and our card games with a deck of cards page has the full rules for each.
- War is the first card game most kids learn: flip, compare, higher card wins.
- Go Fish is the family classic for matching sets.
- Crazy Eights is the game Uno was built on.
- Slapjack and Spoons are the loud ones for a big group.
- Old Maid works for younger kids who can match pairs.
Also Often Recommended
Spot It! (sold as Dobble outside the US), Sleeping Queens and Dutch Blitz turn up on most lists of card games for kids. We have not reviewed them yet, so they are not ranked here. Monopoly Deal now has its own review, which covers whether it suits kids.
Two Kids’ Favorites We Scored Low
Uno and Exploding Kittens are the two card games most kids already own. We scored both 5/5 Bamboo and 2/5 Pandas: kids love them, and the adults stop enjoying them first. See our Uno review and our Exploding Kittens review; Skip-Bo is the step up for an Uno family.
Frequently Asked Questions
What card games can kids and adults play together?
Cover Your Assets and Sushi Go Party are the best card games on this list for a mixed table, because both scored 5/5 Pandas with us. Cover Your Assets flattens skill so a seven-year-old can take an adult’s stack, and Sushi Go Party seats up to eight. Happy Salmon is the pick when the kids are younger.
What card games are good for a 5-year-old?
Rhino Hero is rated 5+ and needs no reading, and Happy Salmon is rated 6+ but uses pictures rather than words. With a standard deck, War and Go Fish are the usual first games, and our card games with a deck of cards page covers how to play both.
What card games help kids with math?
Skip-Bo and 6 Nimmt are both about number order: Skip-Bo builds piles from 1 to 12, and 6 Nimmt places cards in rows from low to high. Five Crowns adds up the cards left in your hand at the end of each round, which is real arithmetic practice. Sushi Go Party has simple set scoring.
Is Uno a good card game for kids?
Kids like it, but we scored Uno 5/5 Bamboo and 2/5 Pandas because most turns play themselves and games can drag. Skip-Bo and Phase 10 are the closest step up for an Uno family, and both scored 4/5 Pandas or higher with us.
What card games work for a big group of kids?
Sushi Go Party and Taco Cat Goat Cheese Pizza both seat up to eight, and 6 Nimmt seats up to ten. For a classroom-sized group with a standard deck, Spoons and Slapjack work with as many players as you can fit around a table.
For older kids, our best card games for adults picks up where this list ends, and our best 2-player card games covers a parent and one child.