A standard deck of cards contains approximately 52 cards. This means that, approximately, there are 52 ways to either win a game, lose a game, or start an argument over the rules.
Are you allowed to take from the discard pile? Is an ace lower or above a king? Does putting your finger on your nose count if no one else saw you? Are we really going to believe you just put down two queens?
For something made up of a little more than numbered pieces of cardstock, playing cards have a certain ability to entertain a room full of people. While the deck itself remains a constant, what can happen within its boundaries certainly does. From childhood memories of Go Fish to aggressively accusing your friends of lying in BS, every game requires a peculiar set of social skills.
Go Fish: The Art of Asking
For many of us, Go Fish was probably one of our earliest introductions to playing cards.Â
The premise is simple: you want a card, so you ask someone if they have it. If they do, congratulations. But if not, then you must go fish.
As children, not much strategy was involved beyond desperately hoping the person across from you had the card you needed. But Go Fish introduces one of the things that makes playing cards so fun: you have no choice but to interact with everyone else.
Even as the games we play become much more complicated, a deck of cards’ intent remains wholly the same. In a room full of people, whether close or acquaintances, a deck of cards gives everyone around the table something to talk about, complain about, and, more often than not, become far too competitive about.
Pigs: The Art of Paying Attention
Pigs require a different set of skills: figuring out what everyone else is doing before it’s far too late.
Players pass cards around the table in an attempt to collect a four of a kind. Once someone succeeds, they quietly place a finger on their nose. Everyone else follows suit as they notice. The last person to catch on receives a letter, slowly spelling out P-I-G
Similar to a game of musical chairs, the game sounds simple until you become so focused on collecting four queens that you fail to notice everyone around you sitting suspiciously with their fingers pressed against their noses.
Unlike Go Fish, where you directly ask for what you need, Pigs rewards you for watching them. While your cards do matter, so do the cards of the person sitting across from you. Every movement and every nose scratch becomes a victim to noticing if it was intentional or not.
BS: The Art of Lying
BS, then, is a game that tells you which of your friends to never trust again.
The main objective is to get rid of all your cards by placing them face down and announcing what you “played.” Supposedly, you could’ve put those exact cards down. Or maybe your main intent was to win the game.
Maybe you really did put down two jacks. Maybe you put down a three and a seven and called it “two jacks” with enough confidence that everyone believed you. Unless someone calls BS, nobody knows.
After enough rounds, the game stops being about cards and starts becoming about how well you know the people around you. Some people smile when they live, or others become fascinated with the table. Then, there are others who look you straight in the eyes as they put down three cards and confidently announce them as “three queens” while you’re holding two of them.
The Art of Playing Cards
Pulling out a deck of cards remains a staple for every party or dinner or night out just because of how simple they are. There is no screen to stare at or no algorithm deciding what happens next. The entertainment relies on the people around you sitting at the table. While the same 52 cards can produce completely different nights depending on the game and the rules, what remains is knowing what to do with the people sitting around you.Â
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