This is an excellent game for virtually any number of players, and can be played competitively or just for fun.
7 and up.
Matching, pairing, and memorizing.
The standard 52-card pack is used.
Any player shuffles the pack and spreads all the cards out, face down all over the table, one at a time, so that no two cards touch or overlap at the corners. The entire surface of the table is usually needed to make room for all the cards.
The goal is to collect pairs of cards of the same rank, such as two sixes or two queens.
The first player may be decided in any way. He turns up any two cards on the table, leaving the first card face up until he has turned the second. If the two cards form a pair, the player takes them and puts them them face down in front of him in a pile, and then he turns up two more cards. Whenever the two cards turned up do not form a pair, the player, after a pause of at least five seconds, turns both cards face down again, leaving them in exactly the same position on the table. It is then the next player's turn (the player to the left). Play proceeds in the same manner. The player who takes in the greatest number of pairs is the winner.
