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What are Matching Card Games?
Matching card games are a genre of card games, involving the process of creating melds or groups of specific cards. These games involve the process of drawing and discarding cards in order to create the required sets of cards to win. Card matching games are some of the most popular genres to date, with Rummy being the most popular play-styles.
Matching card games are popular due to their ease of play, only requiring a single deck to play most of the variations. The simple rules are also a massive draw.
How to Play Card Matching Games?
Matching card games are simple to understand, and only require the standard 52-card Anglo American deck to play. Certain games originating from European countries might use the Spanish 40- or 48-card decks native to Spain. These decks can, however, be easily obtained by modifying the standard 52-card deck by removing certain cards.
Matching card games revolve around making melds, which are specific groups of cards. These groups tend to fall into sets and sequences.
Sets
Sets are groups of cards of the same rank but from different suits. For example, a group of 5 consists of the following 4 cards, 5 ♥, 5 ♦, 5 ♠, 5 ♣. Certain game types allow sets of 3 cards.
Sequences
Sequences are also known as straights. These require a minimum of 3 cards, and need cards to be from the same suit. For example, a sequence of hearts is as follows, 5 ♥, 6 ♥, 7 ♥, 8 ♥, 9 ♥.
Dealing
Each round has a dealer, who is determined through deck-splitting. The dealer will be responsible for shuffling the deck and dealing cards to each player. The number of cards dealt per player is set as per the game rules. After dealing, the remaining cards are set aside to form the draw pile.
Gameplay
The goals in matching card games are to assemble the required combinations to win the game. The first player who manages this is the winner
The non-dealer usually goes first. Each player will then need to make an action, normally either asking for a card (like in Go Fish), or replacing a card with a card from the draw pile (like in Rummy games).
Matching card games tend to be less interactive than other card game genres like trick-taking. The player who achieves the win condition first will be the winner regardless of external factors.
The card values are normally only valid in multiple-round games. These values will be used in final point calculations. For example, 2 players play a game of Rummy, and Player 1 wins by completing his hand. Player 2 has 3 unmatched cards, 2 ♦, 8 ♠, J ♣. This means Player 1 is awarded 2+8 +11=21 points. The points are the sum of the card values of each remaining card. Card values vary based on game type.
Winning
The player who has the highest score after multiple rounds will be the winner of the game.
Frequently Asked Questions
What are the most popular matching card games?
The most popular matching card game is Rummy, having a following across the world, and being commonly played online.
What is the oldest card matching game in history?
The oldest card matching game is possibly Conquian, which is the earliest instance of a Rummy-style card game.
How do I play games requiring the 40-card or 48-card decks?
For 40-card games, remove the 8, 9 and 10 cards from the standard 52-card deck. For 48-card games, remove the 10 cards from the standard 52-card deck.