How to Play the Hockey Card Game

As a Canadian, Hockey is everywhere—on cereal boxes, welcome sings, crayons. You can find something hockey just about anywhere you look. We even have our very own hockey dice game that I made for a hockey-fanatic in my life. Now, I want to tell you about the Hockey Card Game.

This game is simple in the play and is based more on luck than skill. To start we’ll go over the two player game and then the four player one.

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What You Need for the Hockey Card Game

You will need one deck of cards with the jokers removed.

Playing The Hockey Card Game

To start, players need to pick a dealer. In some variations, the dealer gets to decide how many cards to deal to himself and his opponent. In others, the dealer will deal out 5 cards then when those five cards are played, he will deal another 5 cards and the last hand will have 6 cards.

Once the five cards are played, the rest of the deck is set aside. The non-dealer gets to go first.

She can play any card in her hand. Now the dealer gets to play a card. If he plays a card that matches the card in rank, it is a pass. In some variations of hockey card game, a player must play a matching card.

Now on player A’s turn, if she can play a card that matches the two cards in rank she scores a goal! Unless the dealer can play a fourth card of that some rank, then there is no goal.

Jacks are wild and count as an instant breakaway.

For example, if player A plays a 9, the dealer plays a 9 then paler A has another 9 or a Jack, she scores.

When the 5 cards are played, another 5 cards are dealt and play continues.

When all the cards have been played, it is the end of the period. The cards are all shuffled together and the non-dealer of the first round becomes the new dealer.

There are three periods to the game. If at the end of the third period, a fourth period is played. Some variations have a sudden death rule in the fourth period. That being that the first player to get a goal wins the game.

Winning Hokey

The player with the most goals after three periods wins the game.

Four Player Hockey Card Game To play the four player Hockey Card game, you will need a deck of cards with the jokers removed.

There are two teams that sit in alternating spots. The dealer passes out 13 cards to each player. As before, the aim is to match the cards played in rank. However, when a player matches the last card played, it is a goal. She would then pick up the pile and scores one point for her turn.

Jacks are now blockers, meaning that when a jack is played, the next player can’t pick up the pile or score a point.

As in the two player Hockey card game, there are three periods with the dealer role rotating through the players. The fourth period is only played in the case of a tie.

The team with the most goals at the end of the three periods is the winner.

Top Shelf Fun

Whether you’re a hockey fan or not you’re sure to have a good time with Hockey Card game. This is a fun, faced paced game that young kids will love. So strap on the skates a pass the puck around.

If you’re looking for a more lively off-ice hockey game, check out our Hockey dice game. And if sports game are what you’re looking for be sure to check out our winter carnival dice games, Golf card game, Tennis dice, Tug of war dice, and our favorite Whacky Putt the indoor dice mini golf game.

Be sure to check out our Family Game Shelf shop for more games to make it a great game night.