The Best One Player Card Games

The Best One Player Card Games

Playing cards is more than a fun way to pass the time. Card games can help alleviate stress and keep your mind sharp. Card games for one are great when you have some alone time and don’t want to flip through the channels on TV or glare at your phone screen.

There are more single-player card games than traditional Solitaire. Did you know that there are over 150 Solitaire versions? Banish boredom with these solo card games. All you need is a 52-card standard deck.

Accordion

This brain-busting game will have you working your mind muscles! The goal of the game is to stack all the cards in one pile to look like an accordion. But, of course, that’s much easier said than done.

Accordion uses a single deck of playing cards.

Devil’s Grip

Lean into the Devil’s Grip. This 96-card solo grid game requires you to sequence your cards. During this game, the aces are removed, and the objective is to place the whole deck into piles on the grid. You want to end up with Jacks in the top row, Queens in the middle, and Kings on the bottom.

Pyramid

Try Pyramid if you want something a little different than standard Solitaire. The goal of Pyramid is to get rid of all 52 cards in the pyramid setup. You can eliminate cards by matching two cards whose ranks equal 13 together.

This game will put your (very) basic math skills to the test!

Napoleon at Saint Helena

You might know this game as Forty Thieves or Big Forty, but Napoleon at Saint Helena is a two-deck, challenging, and fun one-player card game. Two 52-card decks are shuffled as the player tries to get all eight foundations built up from Ace through King.

Fun Fact: This is probably the version of Solitaire that Napoleon played after his final exile to the island of St. Helena. He arrived in St. Helena on October 15, 1815.

Klondike

Of course, we had to include the most common type of Solitaire on our one-player card game list. Klondike is a simple, quick game to play if you don’t have much time. But if you’re looking for more of a challenge, try Spider Solitaire. This game uses 104 cards you need to sort into eight foundations. You win if all eight suits are played out.

Streets and Alleys

How much patience do you have? Streets and Alleys is a game for one player that gives you a little more info than traditional Solitaire. In this game, cards are laid out at the start with no hidden cards, mysteries, or surprises.

You have to get all the cards into the center foundation piles to win.

Start Playing

That rounds out our list of some of our favorite one-player card games. Solo card games can be a relaxing way to spend some much-needed quality time with yourself while keeping your brain strong and your mind engaged.