The "Eights Group" of
card games is a very
familiar one to many people. In this class of games, you must match the
rank or
suit of the previous card to play. There are special cards which are
exempt from this rule or have special effects. The most basic (and commonly known) of these games are:
It is also easy to
enhance the games of this group by varying the rules or adding extra rules without destroying the
balance of the game. Several games have arisen to take advantage of this
flexibility.
- Mao - added extra traditions and rules that are kept secret from the players
- Bartok - the rules may change after every hand
- Eleusis - Robert Abbott's game in which one player devises the secret rule by which the game is played and the others try to guess it