[7thaccount]

Interesting to see this here. I've commented a few times on HN about recently getting into card games (e.g. various solitaire games, gin rummy, presidents, spades, trash...etc) and domino games. It's a lot of fun, social (even solitaire as we teach each other new versions), and mentally engaging. There's no screen and it all just feels less wasteful in some weird way.

Board game night would do the same thing, but there's something beautiful about how much variety you can get out of a single deck of cards or some double-six dominos. There's no setup or 50 page rulebook required either. Most card games I just watch a YouTube video and then just remember how to play for years.

[bombcar]

What you're looking for is Bridge. THAT is a card game you can teach someone the basics of in an evening, and still be learning more 3 decades later.

[mexicocitinluez]

Seriously the Cadillac of card games. I love spades and euchre, finally got around to bridge and didn't want to go back.

My only complaint is the bidding systems and how difficult it is to learn even as a person who loves to play cards. Like, knowing how to play spades sorta gets you there. But the bidding system takes it a thousand steps further.

[bombcar]

The bidding is the complicated part, especially if you're solo trying to join existing players.

We always had fun because we learned together, got the basics down for normal hands, and anytime someone was in a slam situation, we'd basically "open bid" and ask for advice amongst everyone.

Sure, it's not tournament-style, but it's fun.

[7thaccount]

Lol. I tried. Went to several classes and somehow still never learned to play. I can't tell if all the structure and complexity is worth the extra headache compared to games like Spades or other bidding/trick games. I have heard that it's supposedly by far the best there is though, so perhaps I should try again. I do play Texas 42, which is kind of like bridge with dominos. It's wildly popular in Texas, but hasn't reached much further. There's a lot of strategy to the bidding, but I'm not sure how closely it ranks to Bridge.

[bombcar]

The best is often to have one player who knows some of the conventions, and the rest know nothing, and all learn to play together.

Whist is basically no-bid bridge, which can be fun, too.

[7thaccount]

Good recommendation thanks. With whist, I wonder if taking out the bidding takes away some of the fun. Spades still has the bidding, it just doesn't allow for the selection of the trump suit.

Some of the conventions in Bridge seem weird too. Why not just say 8 club instead of 2 club. I get that there is a 6 trick minimum, but the convention doesn't seem necessary. There might be a good reason though.