Coming soon · Step-by-step Guide
The step-by-step guide to playing 250 worlds best card games including bridge, poker, family games and solitaires
A comprehensive, illustrated guide teaching the rules, strategies, and history of over 250 of the world's best card games, from family favorites to advanced classics like Poker and Bridge, for players of all levels.
This is a step-by-step procedural book — we're building it into Stepcode, with a profile to follow.
What it’s about
This expertly presented book provides all the information needed to start playing and enjoying over 250 of the world's best card games. Divided into two sections, the first covers fun games for families and friends like Cribbage and Go Fish, as well as more advanced games such as Bridge and Solo Whist. The second section offers a special focus on Poker, guiding you through basic skills, rules, and popular variations with advice on game strategy and online play. For every game, you'll find a guide to the pack required, card ranking, age appropriateness, and scoring, all clearly explained with over 1200 easy-to-follow photographs and illustrations. Whether you're a beginner or an advanced player, this superb book will teach you how to play and win all kinds of fun and exciting games.
The through-line
- Who it’s for
- An individual who wants to learn new card games to entertain friends and family, improve their skills in popular games like Poker, or simply discover enjoyable new pastimes.
- The problem
- They don't know the rules or strategies for a wide variety of card games and feel intimidated or excluded from playing with more experienced people. They feel confused by complex rules, uncertain of how to play correctly, and embarrassed or inadequate when faced with a game they don't know.
- The plan
- Familiarize yourself with the history, terminology, and different categories of card games.
- Choose a game and learn it step-by-step using the clear instructions, card rankings, and visual aids provided.
- For Poker players, study the dedicated sections on basic skills, popular variations, and advanced strategies to improve your game.
- The payoff
- Becoming a confident and capable card player who can host game nights, teach new games to others, and join a Poker game with assurance. · Enjoying a lifetime of fun, social connection, and mental stimulation through a vast repertoire of card games. · Never feeling left out or intimidated when a deck of cards appears at a social gathering.
See our guide
Additional reading
- Start with Why · Simon Sinek
The book's core idea—'People don't buy what you do, they buy why you do it'—is central to crafting a compelling crowdfunding narrative that connects with backers on an emotional level.
- To Sell Is Human · Daniel Pink
Provides insights into the psychology of pitching and influence, such as the importance of making the audience (backers) feel like collaborators, which is a key strategy for engagement.
- Funding the Dream Podcast · Richard Bliss
A recommended resource for creators, offering interviews and specific insights into crowdfunding tactics and strategies.
- jamesmathe.com (blog) · James Mathe
A creator's blog recommended by the author for its detailed, list-based entries full of practical information for crowdfunders.
- Ready Player One · Ernest Cline
Recommended as an enjoyable alternative read for those who decide crowdfunding isn't for them, showing the author's engagement with geek culture.
- Homo Ludens · Johan Huizinga
Referenced for its foundational concept of the 'magic circle,' which defines play as a separate, protected space outside of ordinary life. This contextualizes the author's own theory.
- Man, Play and Games · Roger Caillois
Cited for its academic definition and categorization of games, providing a counterpoint to the more practical definitions offered by game designers.
- Rules of Play · Katie Salen and Eric Zimmerman
Mentioned as a key contemporary text offering a precise, systemic definition of a game, which the author uses as part of his survey of existing definitions.
- Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience · Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi
The concept of 'flow' is discussed as a state of deep immersion that is often associated with fun, but the author distinguishes his theory by focusing on learning rather than mastery.
- The Essential Difference · Simon Baron-Cohen
The theory of 'systematizing' versus 'empathizing' brains is used to explain why different types of games may appeal to different people, particularly along gender lines.