The Big Deal

Curiosity Cards rejuvenate community spirit in a fun and novel way.

You can play card games with the pack along with receiving great deals from local and national businesses and they can also raise money for local charities!

Enjoy playing cards with family & friends

Relax and have fun playing cards with your family and friends.

To get you started we've included the rules for a few of the most popular games below.

If you know a great game and would like to share it with others - please email the game details and we'll publish it on this site as soon as possible for others to enjoy.

 

 

Our favourite games...

Snap | Go BOOM! | Hearts | Slap Jack | - What's you favourite game? Tell us here

 

Snap

Snap is a matching game, often played with custom decks specifically designed for the game. These rules are for playing Snap with a standard deck of cards.

Players
2 to 12 players

Deck
A standard 52-card deck.

Goal
To win all of the cards.

Setup
Choose a dealer randomly. The dealer shuffles the cards and deals them as evenly as possible to all of the players. It's fine for some players to have one card more than other players.

Each player places his cards, face down, in a pile in front of him.

Game play
The player to the left of the dealer goes first. Play then moves clockwise.

On his turn, each player turns over the top card from his face-down pile. When someone turns over a card that matches a card already face up on another player's pile, players race to be the first to call "Snap!". The player who calls "Snap!" first wins both piles and adds them to the bottom of his face-down pile.

When moving a card from his face-down pile to his face-up pile, each player should do so by turning the card away from himself. This ensures that the player does not see the card before his opponents have a chance to do the same. (The player should also turn the card quickly, so that he's not giving himself a disadvantage.)

If two players call "Snap!" at the same time, the two piles are placed in the centre of the table and combined into a face-up Snap Pot with one of the two matching cards on top. Play then continues where it left off.

When someone turns over a card that matches the card on top of the Snap Pot, players race to be the first to call "Snap Pot!". The player who calls "Snap Pot!" first wins the Snap Pot and the matching pile. If there's another tie, the matching pile is added to the Snap Pot.

Eliminating Ties
If you find that your games of Snap tend to have a lot of ties, consider putting something in the middle of the table that players must put their hand on top of instead of calling "Snap!". (An index card with "Snap!" written on it would work just fine.) The first player to put their hand on top of the index card wins the cards.

Making a Mistake
When a player calls "Snap!" or "Snap Pot!" at the wrong time, or puts his hand on top of the index card at the wrong time, he must give his top card to the player who just played. If a player makes a mistake on his own turn, he must give his top card to the player on his right.

Winning
Play continues until one player wins all of the cards. That player wins the game.

NOTE: It's possible that some cards will remain in the Snap Pot when all the other cards have been claimed. (e.g., Two of the 10s are claimed by Alexandra and later in the game the other two 10s are involved in a tied call of "Snap!".) If this happens, the winner is the player who wins all the cards not stuck in the Snap Pot.

 

Snap | Go BOOM! | Hearts | Slap Jack | - What's you favourite game? Tell us here

 

Go BOOM!

Players
2 to 12 players

Deck
With 2 to 6 players, use one standard 52-card deck. With 7 players, the players decide whether to use one or two decks. (One deck is a shorter game; two decks is a longer game.) With 8 to 12 players, use two standard 52-card decks.

Goal
To be the first player who gets rid of all his cards.

Setup
Choose a dealer randomly. The dealer shuffles the cards and gives each player seven cards. The rest of the deck is placed face down in the middle of the table to form a draw pile.

Game play
The player to the left of the dealer goes first. He may play any card in his hand. Play proceeds clockwise.

Each subsequent player must play a card that follows suit or is of the same rank. EXAMPLE: Alexandra leads with the 7 of diamonds. Benjamin must play a diamond or a 7. If a player can't follow suit or rank, he must draw from the draw pile until he can. If the draw pile is empty and a player can't play a card, he skips the trick.

Once each player has played a card, the highest card of the suit led wins each trick.

When two decks are used, if cards of identical rank are played to the same trick (e.g. both 10s of clubs), the one played first outranks the other.

The winner of the trick leads the next trick.

Winning
The first player to get rid of all his cards wins the game.

For a multi-hand game, use the following scoring method. The winner of the hand score points equal to the total of the cards remaining in the other players' hands. Aces are worth 1, face cards are worth 10, and the other cards are worth face value. Play continues until one player scores 200 or more points. That player is the winner.

 

Snap | Go BOOM! | Hearts | Slap Jack | - What's you favourite game? Tell us here

 

Hearts

Players
3 to 7, best with 4.

Deck
Standard 52-card deck.

Rank
A (high) to 2 (low).

Goal
At the end of the game, the player with the lowest score wins.

Your goal in each hand is to:

Avoid winning any tricks including a heart or the queen of spades (aka the Black Maria), or Win all 13 hearts and the Black Maria.

Setup
In a 4-player game of Hearts, each player gets 13 cards.

In a 3-player game, the 2 of diamonds is removed and each player gets 17 cards. In a 5-player game, the two of diamonds and two of clubs are removed; each player gets 10 cards. In a 6-player game, the two and three of diamonds and the three and four of clubs are removed; each player gets 8 cards. In a 7-player game, the two and three of diamonds and the three of clubs are removed; each player gets 7 cards.

Passing Cards
After looking at his or her hand, each player chooses three cards and passes them face down to another player. All players must pass their own cards before looking at the cards received from an opponent.

The passing rotation in a 4-player game is: (1st hand) to the player on your left, (2nd hand) to the player on your right, (3rd hand) to the player across the table, (4th hand) no passing. The rotation then repeats until the game ends. When other than four players are involved, the passing rotation is: (1) to the player on your left, (2) to the player on your right, then repeat.

Tricks
The player holding the 2 of clubs after the pass plays that card to start the first trick. (If the 2 of clubs has been removed for the 3-player game, then the 3 of clubs is led.)

Each player must follow suit if possible. If a player has no cards in the suit led, a card of any other suit may be discarded. Exception: If a player has no clubs when the first trick is led, a heart or the Black Maria cannot be played.

The highest card of the suit led wins a trick. The winner of the trick keeps all cards won in a single stack in front of himself or herself, face down. The winner of a trick starts the next trick.

Hearts may not be led until a heart or the Black Maria has been played (this is called "breaking" hearts). The queen can be led at any time.

There is no trump suit in Hearts.

Scoring
Use a score sheet with a column for each player. At the end of each hand, count the number of hearts each player has taken, as well as the Black Maria. Hearts are 1 point each; the Black Maria is 13 points.

If one player has won all 13 hearts and the Black Maria, that player can choose to subtract 26 points from his or her score, or to add 26 points to every other player's score.

Hearts is generally played to 100 points (any score can be agreed on before the game begins, but 50 is a good minimum). When one player hits the agreed upon score or higher, the game ends. The player with the lowest score wins.

 

Snap | Go BOOM! | Hearts | Slap Jack | - What's you favourite game? Tell us here

 

Slap Jack

Players
2 to 8 players; best with 3 or 4

Deck
A standard 52-card deck.

Don't use your best deck -- Slapjack has been known to cause damage to the cards.

Goal
Win all of the cards in the deck.

Setup
Shuffle the deck. Deal the cards one at a time, face down, to each player as evenly as possible.

Each player now has a face-down pile of cards in front of him.

Game play
The player to the left of the dealer goes first and play continues clockwise from there. In turn, each player takes the top card on his pile and places it, face up, in the middle of the table.

When moving a card from his pile to the middle of the table, each player should do so by turning the card away from himself. This ensures that the player does not see the card before his opponents have a chance to do the same. (The player should also turn the card quickly, so that he’s not giving himself a disadvantage.)

When the card placed in the middle of the table is a Jack, players race to be the first to slap a hand on top of the Jack. The first player to do so wins the entire pile of cards. That player collects the cards and adds them to his pile. He then shuffles the entire pile and sets it down in front of him.

Multiple Players Slapping
When more than one player slaps at a Jack, the player whose hand is lowest on the pile wins.

Slapping the Wrong Card
When a player slaps any card other than a Jack, he gives one card from his own supply, face down, to the opponent who played the card that fooled him.

Running Out of Cards
When a player runs out of cards, he remains in the game until the next Jack is revealed. If the player with no cards is the first to slap the Jack, he wins the pile of cards and remains in the game. If he is not first, however, he is eliminated from the game.

Winning
When one player wins all of the cards, he wins the game.

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