5 Addictive Single Player Card Games You Haven’t Tried Yet!

Are you tired of endlessly scrolling on your smartphone and looking for something more engaging and challenging? Well, here are five fun and challenging single-player card games that will test your skills and stimulate your mind.

5 Addictive Single-Player Card Games

1. Accordion

Accordion is an easy-to-learn game played with a single deck of cards. The name is derived from the musical instrument, the accordion, or squeezebox. The objective is to pile all the cards into one stack. You deal cards one at a time, left to right, and continue down into rows as space permits. A card or pile of cards can be placed onto another card or pile if the top card matches either that suit or value. Cards and piles can only be matched to their immediate left or three to the left. There are two variations: dealing out every card first or starting to pile up cards as they come.

2. Devil’s Grip

Objective

• The goal is to build up piles in sequences and limit the number of cards in your stock.

Setup

1. Use two decks of cards, removing all aces.
2. Shuffle the decks together.
3. Lay out a 3×8 grid of face-up cards.
4. The remaining cards form the stock and are placed face down at the bottom of the grid.

Gameplay

• You need to build up piles in a specific sequence:
  • Top row: 2, 5, 8, Jack (of the same suit).
  • Middle row: 3, 6, 9, Queen (of the same suit).
  • Bottom row: 4, 7, 10, King (of the same suit).
• You can swap the locations of any two cards on the grid.
• Move cards on the grid onto other cards in the correct sequence.
• When you create a space in the grid, the top card from the stock is flipped face up and fills the spot.

Stock Management

• If you can’t move any cards in the grid, discard cards from the stock in sets of three (like in solitaire).
• Use the top card showing to try and add it to the grid.
• If you create an empty spot in the grid while having face-up stock cards, the top card of the stock fills the space before you continue.
• Once the stock runs out, flip the discard pile over (without shuffling) to form a new stock.

End Game

• The game ends when no more moves can be made.
• Count the remaining cards in your stock to determine your score. The closer to 0, the better.

3. Pyramid

Pyramid is a matching game where the objective is to clear a pyramid of cards by collecting pairs that add up to a value of 13. You shuffle the deck and deal out 28 cards face-up into a pyramid pattern. Match two cards from the pyramid that are fully exposed or choose a card from the stock to match with a card in the pyramid. Face cards have specific values, and you can go through the stockpile one card at a time to find more matches.

4. Monte Carlo Solitaire

Overview

• Game Type: One-pack solitaire game
• Objective: Clear the tableau by eliminating pairs of cards
• Difficulty: Easy to learn, challenging to master
• Win Rate: High

Setup

1. Deck: Use a standard 52-card deck.
2. Shuffling: Shuffle the deck thoroughly, ideally seven times for maximum randomness.
3. Tableau Layout: Deal 28 cards in a tableau of four rows with seven cards each.

Gameplay

1. Finding Pairs: Eliminate pairs of cards that are arranged:
   • Horizontally (e.g., two kings next to each other in a row)
   • Diagonally (e.g., two queens in a diagonal line)
   • Vertically (e.g., two jacks one above the other)
2. Eliminating Pairs: Once you find a pair, remove them from the tableau.
3. Compressing the Tableau: After removing pairs, compress the tableau by moving the cards forward to fill the gaps, maintaining their order.
4. Replenishing the Tableau: Draw new cards from the remaining deck to refill the tableau back to 28 cards.
5. Continuing the Game: Keep finding and eliminating pairs, compressing, and replenishing until you clear the tableau or run out of moves.

5. Bowling Solitaire

For bowling enthusiasts, this solo card game variant uses the ace through 10 of two suits from a deck of cards. Create a bowling scorecard on paper. The game mimics bowling, where you attempt to remove ‘pin’ cards using ‘ball’ cards. Pins can be knocked down if the ball card has the same value, two or more pin cards equal the ball card’s value, or the last digit of the pin cards equals the ball card’s value. Play through 10 frames, scoring strikes and spares as in traditional bowling.

Final Words

These games are perfect for relaxing with a cocktail at the bar or hanging solo at home. They not only provide entertainment but also enhance strategic thinking and logical skills. So, grab a deck of cards and enjoy these single-player card games!