Old Maid is a simple and classic card game suitable for two or more players of all ages.
The card game Old Maid is a classic enjoyed in many countries all over the world. It is especially popular in English-speaking countries as well as Japan, France, and Germany.
The aim is to discard all your hand cards in pairs. The last player left with a card in hand is the Old Maid, and loses. Because of this simple objective, Old Maid is enjoyed by people of all ages and is often used as a children’s game to teach matching and counting skills.
Old Maid can be played with a standard deck of 32 or 52 French-suited playing cards without Jokers. Prepare the deck by removing one Queen from the deck and shuffling the remaining cards. Then deal all of the cards, making sure that each player has the same number of cards.
The player to the dealer’s left starts by drawing a card from the hand of the player to their right. If the drawn card forms a pair with any of the player’s cards, the player places the pair face-up on the table. A pair always consists of two cards of the same rank. It is a common rule that the suit colors must match in a pair: Spades match with Clubs, and Diamonds match with Hearts.
This drawing and discarding process continues clockwise around the table. The player inevitably holding the unmatched Queen at the end of the game is the Old Maid and loses the round.
Play as many rounds as you like since Old Maid is a fun and easy game suitable for players of all skill levels.