America’s Finest Summer Camps are busy places, so it’s important that campers get a little bit of down time every day to relax with their group. Laidback card games keep everybody smiling even if they don’t necessarily feel like napping. But what can you do if everybody isn’t on board to play Uno for the millionth time?

Luckily, there are tons of fun games that can be enjoyed by any number of players using just an ordinary deck of cards. Here are a few of the best that keep up the pace without taking longer than your rest time!

Slapjack

Number of players: 2-5

Concept: A simple, high-energy game that keeps you on your toes!

Gameplay: Play rock-paper-scissors to pick a dealer. The dealer splits the deck between all players, facedown. Don’t look at your cards yet! (It’s okay if everyone doesn’t have the exact same number of cards, so long as it’s approximately even.)

Starting with the dealer, take turns flipping over the top card of your pile into a pile in the middle, going around the circle. When a jack appears, whoever is first to slap their hand on top of it gets to add all the cards in the middle to the bottom of their deck. (Some versions have a rule that you can’t slap a jack if it came from your deck.)

If anybody runs out of cards they can try to slap the next jack that turns up, but if they miss it, they’re out for good!

Whoever ends up with all the cards at the end is the winner. Let’s play again!

Crazy Eights

Number of players: 2-4

Concept: A fast, fun game for small groups. Similar to Uno, with a few twists…

Gameplay: To start, each player gets 7 cards (5 if only two players). Yes, you can look at them!

The deck goes face down in the middle. Turn over the top card faceup next to the deck. This will become the “discard” pile. The dealer can go first, and they try to match 1 or more cards in their hand to either the suit or number of the faceup card in the discard pile. (For example, if the card in the discard pile is a three of spades, you could lay down any card that is a spade on top of it, or any card that is a three.) If they can’t match the card, they have to keep drawing cards from the deck until they can. Once they’ve managed to match the card the next player’s turn starts.

Eights are wild (that’s why it’s called “Crazy Eights!”), so if you have an eight in your hand you can play it on any card. (Strategy tip: save it for an emergency!)

The first player to empty their hand wins.

I Doubt It!

Number of players: 4-5

Concept: A bluffing game that gives you a chance to practice your poker face

Gameplay: Deal out cards to each player one at a time until the deck is empty and everyone has a more or less equal number of cards. Yes, peeking allowed!

Before starting, each player should organize the cards in their hand from lowest number to highest. (Ace is 1, Jack 11, queen 12, king 13, as usual.)

The object of the game is to get rid of all your cards. The first player puts down an ace in the middle (facedown), and says “ace.” The second player puts down a two on top of it and says “two.” This continues around the circle, starting at ace again once king has been played.

The twist is that you have to put down a card, even if you don’t have the number your turn lands on. So you have to be sneaky, put on your poker face and bluff! For example, if it’s your turn and the last card played was seven, you have to put down some other card from you hand, while saying “eight.”

At any time the other players can yell “I doubt it!” if they think the player is lying. The player has to turn over their card, and if they were lying, they take all the cards in the middle into their hand. BUT if they were telling the truth, the person who yelled “I doubt it!” has to take them.

This game can get pretty heated, and keeping a straight face can be surprisingly hard once the giggles start going around!

Whoever runs out of cards in their hand first wins.

52 Pick-Up

Number of players: any

Concept: being a goofball

Gameplay: 52 pick-up may be the fastest game of all. Ask your friends if they want to play a round of 52 Pick-Up, and if they say yes, throw a deck of cards up into the air, making a huge mess! Then say, “okay, now we have to pick them up!” Just be sure not to play this game when your counselor is watching…

Memory

Number of players: 2-10

Concept: A quiet and challenging game that improves camper’s memories… or so we hope

Gameplay: Begin by laying all the cards in the deck face-down, either in a grid pattern or randomly. Draw lots to see who goes first.

The first player picks 2 cards at random and turns them over so everyone can see what they are. If the card numbers match (e.g. a pair of twos, a pair of queens, etc.), the player gets to keep them. If the don’t match, they turn them back over and everyone tries to remember what they were; because of course the longer the game is played, the more chance you have to figure out where the matching pairs are! If you have an excellent memory and killer concentration, that is…

Players take turns until all the cards have been matched up. Whoever has the highest number of cards at the end wins the round!

Rest hour is for recharging

Here’s hoping these card games help you use your rest time at camp constructively! Master these, and you’re well on your way to becoming a bona fide card shark.

…Just remember to pack them up when you’re done, or you’ll definitely lose cards in the cabin clutter. Also be sure to invite other campers to play; the more the merrier! Having a deck of cards on hand makes the time fly — and the activities will be starting again before you know it.