Just you and Otto
A two-player card game is a duel. There is no partner to lean on and nobody else at the table to blame: every card Otto plays is aimed at you, and every card you play tells him something. That makes these the games where watching the other player pays best.
Otto is the same computer player who sits across the table in Hearts, Spades, Euchre and Go Fish. He plays a steady, sensible game and he plays fair: he sees his own cards and what has been played, and never your hand.
The one where eights are wild
Crazy Eights is a race to empty your hand. Each card you play must match the one before it in suit or in rank, and when nothing fits you take a card from the stock. An eight goes on anything and lets you choose the suit that comes next. Whoever goes out first scores for the cards the other player is left holding, and the first to 100 points wins. There is a shorter game to 50 as well.
It takes a minute to learn, and it is a good first game for anyone who has not played cards against a computer before: the cards that do not fit are dimmed, and the Hint button will always suggest a play.
On the way
Two more games are being built for this page. Gin Rummy is the game of collecting runs and sets and knocking before the other player does. Cribbage is the one with the pegging board, played to 121. Their tiles above say “Coming soon” until they are ready.
At a glance
| Game | Cards each | The aim | A game is |
|---|---|---|---|
| Crazy Eights | 7 | Be the first to play your last card | First to 100 points, or to 50 |
| Gin Rummy (coming soon) | 10 | Make runs and sets, and knock first | First to 100 points |
| Cribbage (coming soon) | 6 | Score fifteens, pairs and runs | First to 121 points |
A hand of Crazy Eights is over in a couple of minutes. A game to 100 usually runs to eleven or twelve hands, and a game to 50 to about six, so there is time for the luck to even out.
How a two-player game is different
- Everything the other player does is a clue. In Crazy Eights, when Otto takes a card instead of playing, he had nothing that fitted. Remember the suit, and you know what to leave him with.
- There is nowhere to hide. With four at a table, a weak hand can keep quiet. With two, the points you are caught with go straight to the only other player.
- The lead changes hands quickly. Games are played over several short hands, so one bad hand is rarely the end of it.
More games for two
Some games elsewhere on the site are also played head to head. Go Fish can be played against Otto alone, and in Blackjack it is you against the dealer.
What every game here has
- Hint, which suggests a play when you are not sure and says why.
- Dimmed cards. When it is your turn, the cards the rules do not allow are greyed out.
- A slip-proof tap. On a phone the first tap lifts a card and the second plays it.
- Scores, hand by hand, behind the Scores button.
- Your game is kept. Close the page in the middle of a hand and it is still there when you come back, on the same device.