If someone says 'Kimps' and their partner has a four-of-a-kind (or they say 'Stop Kimps' and either of the opponents has four-of-a-kind), that team wins. If you believe someone on the other team has four-of-a-kind, you need to say 'Stop Kimps!' before that person's partner can say 'Kimps.' When someone finally gets four-of-a-kind, they have to get their partner to say 'Kimps!' (You are allowed to discuss signals ahead of time). When everyone is done with the cards on the table, they get discarded and four more are placed down. There are no turns - everyone just grabs whatever cards they want, as fast as they can. Then the dealer throws four cards on the table, and everyone trades cards from their hand for ones on the table, trying to make four-of-a-kind. The rules are simple: You play in pairs of two (usually for four people). My friends and I used to have a lot of fun playing Kimps on the bus - it is not a game of strategy, but of psychology. Pick a form and a strategy, reveal your choices, and figure out what happens.

Druid's Duel ( ): Bluffing / Strategy game for 2 to 4 players.

Uncontrolled Squid ( ): 2 to 8 (or more) players.Play cards on other players as monsters, or to cause cave-ins. Play cards in sequence to escape from a dungeon. Has more strategy than you'll initially think. Take turns playing to a stack in the center, trying to get the sum to 21 on your turn, or force the player to your left to go over 21. Of those games, there are a few that may fit your needs: Many of these games used simple, commonly found components – like a standard Poker deck. I spent 10 years posting one free print-and-play game each month. If you want to find card-based games that are interesting yet approachable, I recommend looking at a number of custom card games such as Fluxx, Bottle Imp, Citadel, or Innovation (a new game for 2010 that's garnering a lot of praise). Ultimately, you will not find games with traditional packs of cards to be as deeply strategic as a game like Dominion, simply because there is less variability in play, and early missteps are less likely to punish you in the end-game. Not a lot of strategy across hands, and a fair amount of luck, but quick to learn and has some interesting strategic choices as well.

Played with two decks of cards it has many strategic options around when to go out, what styles of melds to make, and taking the entire discard pile (risky, but potentially very lucrative!) On the other end of the spectrum is Cribbage, which is a fast-playing melding game which can be played either four- or (more commonly) two-handed. My personal favorite is Canasta, popular enough in the 50s to challenge Bridge for the most popular four-handed game. Melding games are equally varied in style, but in general tend 'feel' longer and more strategic. Spades is more approachable to the beginner, has a fair amount of team strategy, and as has been noted has the potentially thrilling and aggressive play. The king of trick-taking games is Bridge, and for the devoted student will be very rewarding, but learning the subtleties of bidding and play can be daunting, and expert play requires a partner that you have practiced with. In general, from my experience trick taking games are quicker to learn and play faster, and strategy is largely confined to individual hands (although your success in each hand will affect how you play the next). There are exceptions, but they are less well known and will likely not meet the accessibility criteria because of the learning curve. Card games with traditional decks of cards mostly fall into either trick-taking games (Whist-family games like Bridge, Pinochle, Euchre, Spades, or Hearts) and melding games (Rummy-family games like Gin, Go Fish, or Canasta).

Plastic pinochle deck