How to Play the 7 Up Card Game

As you know we love a good card game around here and today we have the 7 Up card game for you. This game is great for younger kids who are learning numbers and order. It’s also great for older kids to play with friends or siblings. Even teens will get into it with the speed and points variations. It’s similar to the Garbage Card game and would pair nicely with the Flip Over card game and Giveaway.

You can play with 2 to 4 players.

Let’s get into how to play, the rules and the 7 Up variations.

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What You Need for the 7 Up Card Game

You will need a deck of cards with the jokers removed. For very young players you can also remove the jacks, queens and kings. If you need new cards, and who doesn’t?, you can shop check out the selection here; Canadians here. We think the Crazy Chicken Lady ones are fun looking!

Setting Up the 7 Up Card Game

To start, shuffle the cards well. Now deal 7 cards to each player. The players will then place their cards face down on the table in a single line. The rest of the deck goes in the middle as the draw pile.

Playing 7 Up Card Game

The goal of 7 Up is to get your cards in sequence from 1 to 7. To start, the first player will take the top card of the draw pile and turn it over. If it is a card from ace to 7 then, she will place it in its correct spot in the lineup. For example, if it is a 4 then she will count over 4 cards and place it there.

She will now flip over the card that was in that spot. If she needs that card in her line, she will place it in its spot and take that card and flip it over. She continues replacing cards until she hits a card that she either already has in her line up or a card that is over 7.

When you flip over a card that can’t be used, you place it beside the draw pile as the discard pile.

Now, the player to her left can either take the top card of the discard pile or the top card of the draw pile. He will then place it in his lineup if it fits or discard it.

Play continues in this fashion until someone gets all the cards in sequence from ace to 7. The other players then flip over their remaining cards.

Winning the 7 up Card Game

The first player to get a complete sequence is the winner. If more than one player ends up with a sequence (is the left over cards at the end are flipped over and happen to be the correct cards for the spots) both players win.

7 Up Card Game Variations

Tournament

To make the game last longer, you can play a tournament. A player earns 10 points for every win. The first player to reach 50 points wins the tournament.

7 Up Speed

The speed variation is for two players. You will deal 7 cards to each player as before. But you will then divide the draw pile into two separate piles. Each player will get their own draw pile and have separate discard piles. Both players play at the same time. To start, each player will flip over the first card of their draw pile. Now the race is on. As before, players are trying to get their card in sequence. However, both players can take the top card from each other’s discard piles. The first player to get their card in the sequence wins.

Speed To the End

This 7 Up variation is played the same as the Speed one with more rounds. Play is the same until one player gets all their cards in sequence. Now, each player will race to slap their hand on the discard pile that they think has the fewest cards.

Now, each player will collect the card in their draw pile, their 7 Up card and the cards in the discard pile that they slapped. They will now shuffle their cards together. For the second round, they will set up the 7 Up cards and place their draw piles on the table. As before, they play at the same time and race to be the player to slap the smallest discard pile when a player gets a sequence.

If a player ends up with less than 7 cards to start the round, they take card off their opponents draw pile to have 7 up cards. They will have to rely on the other players’ discard pile to make their sequence.

When one player has no discard pile, the end of the game is near. When one player gets the sequence, the first player to slap the empty spot is the winner.

7 Up Points

This 7 Up card game variation is our very own. It can be played either with the original game play or with the speed one. It is played the same until one player gets a sequence. At this time, players flip over the rest of their cards. If the cards happen to be in the correct place, they count as no points. On the other hand, if the cards are not in sequence, they are added together and that is your score for the round. The cards are worth their face values and face cards are worth 10 points each. At the end of each round, the cards are shuffled together and a new round starts. You play until one player reaches 50 points. The other player is then the winner.

Deal the Fun

The 7 Up card game starts as a beginner-friendly card game and can work its way up to being a teen favorite making this a versatile game that will be played for years. Get the printable rules here.

If you’re looking for more fun card games check out James Bond, Play or Pay and Slapjack. And for even more fun on game night, check out our Family Game Shelf shop where you’ll find tons of seasonal and original games like out Don’t Smack Santa card game and Whacky Putt mini golf dice game and so much more!