The House That Cards Built

A deck of cards plus you and your friends can equal "The House That Cards Built!" This game can be tricky -- you don't want your card house to fall over -- but with a little skill and a little luck, you'll be the winner.

The House That Card Built
©2007 Publications International, Ltd.
Find the cards in your chosen suit and build a house of cards.

Before play starts, each of the players must pick a suit to use­ as his or her own: hearts, diamonds, clubs, or spades. If you're not playing with four people, there will be some cards that no one needs. If you play with only two people, you can vary the game by each choosing two suits.

What You'll Need:

  • Deck of cards
  • Large table or floor space

How to Play "The House That Cards Built":

Step 1: Pull the jokers from the deck, and then deal out all the cards to the players. The game is played in rounds.

Step 2: If a player has three cards of his or her own suit right after they are dealt, that player may put the three cards together to begin to build a house. (Try holding two cards upright and placing a card flat on top of them.)

Step 3: In the next round, each player passes one card to his or her right. If players already have a card in the suit that they were passed, they may add it to their house. If they don't have another suit card, they wait until the next round.

Step 4: The rounds continue until someone's house falls down. Then that player's cards are dealt out to the remaining players.

This is repeated until only one house is standing -- the house belonging to the winner of the game!

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