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Campfire Card Games: A Guide to Fun and Easy Card Games for Unplugged Camping Fun
Are you planning a camping trip and looking for a fun way to pass the time around the campfire? Look no further than these exciting card game rules that are perfect for the great outdoors! From classic games like Old Maid to camping-themed games like Campfire and Lost Woods, there's something for everyone in this collection. With easy-to-follow instructions and minimal equipment required, these card games are sure to provide hours of entertainment for you and your camping companions. So grab a deck of cards and get ready to shuffle up and deal!
2 Player Game
Family Game
Party Game
Game Rules

Game: Egyptian Rat Slap

Number of players: 2+Setup: Determine if you are playing with the joker slap rule. If not, remove jokers from the deck before shuffling. Dealer deals shuffled cards facedown to players in a clockwise circle until all cards are distributed evenly. Players are not allowed to look at the cards. Play begins when player left of the dealer flips their first card face up and places it in the middle. If the card is a number card, then play continues in a clockwise fashion until a face card is played.How to win: Have all of the cards in the deck.Rules: When a face card is played, the next player must also play a face card within a set number of chances. If a(n):
  • Ace is is played, the next player has 4 chances
  • King is played, the next player has 3 chances
  • Queen is played, the next player has 2 chances
  • Jack is played, the next player has 1 chance
This continues until a player is unable to play a face card within the given number of chances. The last player to set down a face card wins the round and collects all the cards in the center to add to their deck. The next round begins with the winner placing the card from the top of their deck face up in the middle.There are other ways to win the round besides playing the last face card. These are referred to as slap rules. To win a round with a slap rule, be the first player to slap the card pile when one of the following slap rules occurs:
  • Double: two of the same number cards are played back to back, e.g. 4, 4
  • Sandwich: two of the same number cards are played with one card in between them, e.g. 3,8,3
  • Tens: when the sum of two cards played back to back (or with a face card in between) is 10, e.g. 7,3 or 8,K,2. Aces count as one for this rule.
  • Four in a row: when four number cards are played in row in either ascending or descending order, e.g. 2, 3, 4, 5
  • Marriage: when a King and Queen are played back to back in either order, e.g. K,Q or Q,K
  • Top bottom: when the most recent card played is the same value as the first card played. This rule is canceled if someone mis-slapped and had to add cards to the bottom of the pile.
  • Jokers: when a joker is played (if you’re playing with jokers)
If a player slaps the deck when a slap rule did not occur, they take the top two cards from their deck and place them at the bottom of the pile. Play continues.If a player runs out of cards, they shouldn’t give up. Any player is able to slap the pile and get back into the game.

Game: Spoons

Number of players: 3+ Setup: Place one less spoon in the middle than the number of people playing. Remove jokers from the deck. Dealer deals out shuffled deck, starting on their left, until each player has four cards. How to win: Be the last player left standing. Rules: Dealer draws a card and then either passes it to the person on their left or exchanges it for a card in their hand, then passes to the left. A player can not have more than 4 cards in their hand at a time. The dealer continues to draw from the deck while the rest of the players pass cards to their left. The last player places their card into a discard pile. If the deck runs out of cards, play pauses while the player reshuffles the discard pile, and then it becomes the deck. When a player gets four of a kind, they take a spoon from the middle. After the first spoon is taken, all players are allowed to get a spoon regardless of what is in their hand. The player left without a spoon is eliminated. The cards are collected, shuffled, and dealt. A spoon is removed from the game, and play begins again.

Game: Old Maid

Number of players: 2+Setup: Remove 3 Queens from a 52-card deck. Dealer shuffles deck and deals to their left until all cards have been passed out (not everyone has to have the same number of cards). All players check their hands for pairs and set all pairs in their hand facedown in front of them. How to win: Be a player at the end of the game without a queen in their hand. Rules: The player to the left of the dealer offers their hand to the player on their left without revealing their cards to anyone else. That player takes one of the offered cards; if it pairs with a card in their hand, they place the pair facedown. Play continues with each player offering their hand to the player on their left. When a player is out of cards, they are one of the winners. The game ends when only the queen is left in a player’s hand.

Game: Kings in the Corner

Number of players: 2-4 Setup: Shuffle a 52-card deck. Deal 7 cards to each player and place the rest of the deck in the middle. Flip the top 4 cards of the deck and place them on each side of the deck (North, East, South, and West). If one of the cards is a King, place it at the corner of the deck and flip a new card into its place. The 4 sides and king cards are referred to as anchor cards. How to win: Be the first player with no cards in their hand. Rules: The player to the left of the dealer goes first by playing a card on one of the anchor cards. In order to play a card, it must be the opposite color and one value less than the anchor card (like Solitaire). A player should play as many cards each turn as possible. If a player is unable to play a card, then they draw from the deck in the center. If they draw a card that they can plan, then they are able to do so. Anchor card rows can also be combined as long as it follows the rule of opposite color and one value lower. When a player combines anchor rows, they can then play a card from their hand to start a new anchor row. Play continues until a player has no cards in their hand.

Game: Speed

Number of players: 2Setup: Use a 52-card deck. The dealer deals each player 20 cards facedown. They then make 4 piles in a row in the middle. The outside piles each have 5 cards, and the inside piles each have 1. Each player draws 5 cards from their deck of 20. Then each player flips over one of the inside middle cards. How to win: Be the first player to play all 20 cards. Rules: Players do not take turns; play happens simultaneously. If a player has a card either one value higher or one value lower than one of the faceup cards in the middle, then they play it and draw another card. This continues until neither player can play a card. At this point, both players flip over a card from the outside piles and place it on top of the middle piles, and play resumes. If all of the cards in the outside piles are played, then the middle piles are shuffled and placed face down as the new outside piles, and play resumes.

Game: Lost Woods

Number of players: 3+Setup: Shuffle the deck and deal four cards face down to each player. Then, place the remaining cards face down in the center of the playing area to create a draw pile. The top card of the draw pile should be turned over to start the discard pile.How to win: Be the first player to collect all four cards of the same rank, such as four aces or four queens.Rules: The player to the left of the dealer goes first and must draw one card from the draw pile or take the top card from the discard pile. The player then discards one card face up on the discard pile. On subsequent turns, each player must draw one card and discard one card. The objective is to collect all four cards of the same rank and then lay them down face up on the playing surface in front of you. Once a player has collected all four cards of a rank, they can no longer draw from the draw pile.If the draw pile runs out, shuffle the discard pile (excluding the top card) and turn it face down to create a new draw pile. The game ends when one player has collected all four cards of the same rank and lays them face up in front of them. That player is declared the winner.

Game: Campfire

Number of players: 3+Setup: Shuffle the deck and deal the entire deck evenly to each player. Players should keep their cards in a face-down pile in front of them.How to win: Be the first player to get rid of all of their cards.Rules: The player to the left of the dealer starts by placing any card face up in the middle of the playing area. The next player must then play a card of the same suit, or a card of the same rank, on top of the first card. If a player is unable to play a card, they must draw one card from the draw pile and add it to their hand. Optional rule: To make the game more challenging, players can agree to play a variant where they must also match the color of the previous card played. For example, if a player plays a red five, the next player must play a red card of the same rank or a card of any color with the rank of six.

Game: Rummy

Number of players: 2-6Setup: Remove all jokers in a standard 52-card deck. Each player is dealt with 7 cards, one at a time. The remaining cards are placed face down on the table to form a draw pile, and the top card from the draw pile is turned face up to form a discard pile.How to win: Form sets or runs of cards in your hand and be the first player to discard all your cards.Rules: The player to the left of the dealer starts the game. On their turn, players can either draw one card from the draw pile or take the top card from the discard pile. They can then form sets or runs using the cards in their hand and discard one card face up on the discard pile.Sets and Runs: A set is a group of three or four cards of the same rank, and a run is a group of three or more cards of the same suit in sequence. For example, 3 of hearts, 4 of hearts, and 5 of hearts form a run.Scoring: The player who discards all the cards in their hand ends the game. The remaining players add up the point values of the cards in their hand, and the winner is awarded the total score. Face cards (J, Q, K) are worth 10 points, and Aces are worth 1 point. Numbered cards are worth their face value.

Game: Go Fish

Number of players: 2-6Setup: Dealer shuffles the deck and deals 5 cards to each player (7 cards if there are only 2 players). The remaining cards are placed in a draw pile in the center of the table.How to win: Collect the most sets of matching cards (4 of a kind).Rules: The player to the left of the dealer goes first and asks another player, "Do you have any (rank)?" (e.g. "Do you have any 5s?") The player being asked must give all of the cards of that rank to the asking player if they have any. If the player being asked has no cards of that rank, they say "Go Fish!" and the asking player draws one card from the draw pile. If the asking player draws a card that matches the rank they asked for, they must show the card and then take another turn asking for a different rank of card. If a player collects 4 cards of the same rank, they place the set face-up in front of them on the table. Play continues clockwise around the table, with each player taking turns asking for cards until one player runs out of cards or there are no more cards left in the draw pile. The player with the most sets of matching cards (4 of a kind) is the winner.