Did you know that you can play card games with tarot cardsby figuring out the suiting number? Tarot cards are used by some to gain insight into the past, present, or future.
From French Tarot to Baronetti, there are many card games that can be played with Tarot cards. Tarot cards are suitable to play games at all ages for for self-development, making choices, manifesting goals, and so on.
How do you play card games with Tarot cards? The 78-card deck is based on various themes such as nature, animals, fantasy, dragons, and more. The card games you can play with Tarot cards include solitaire, Tarok, Scarto, Grosstarock, Patita, Baronetti and French Tarot.
The key is to use these tarot cards like normal cards to play the game. All of these Tarot card based card games are point-trick in category, where points are scored for cards taken instead of representation of each cards.
To learn more about these individual card games, let’s first learn about Tarot cards so we can implement them into each games later on.
A tarot deck usually comprises of 78 cards:
- 22 trumps or Major Arcana from 0 to 21.
- 4 suits or 56 Minor Arcana from cups, wands, coins, cup. The 4 suits are 14 cards Page, Ace to Ten/Knight, King, and Queen.
The Major Arcana cards represent a major force and are the trumps which are unsuited. They also represent the life lessons and karmic influence that enlighten your soul.
There are 32 numbered cards and 1 unnumbered card that is called the Fool, which is the main character of the Major Arcana. The other cards include the Magician, High Priestess, Empress and Emperor.
On the other hand, the Minor Arcana are divided into four suits: Wands, Pentacles, Cups, and Swords. Each suit shows you what’s happening in your daily life and how it is affecting you:
- Lord represent air and has to do with intellect and decision making.
- Pentacles represent earth, money, and achievement.
- Wands represent fire and action.
- Cups represent water and emotions.
Now that you have a better understanding of the basic elements in a deck of Tarot cards, we are going to explore the different card games you can play. In this article, we are going to find out how to play solitaire with Tarot cards and what other card games can be played.
Let’s dive into the different games you can play with tarot cards.
Can you play solitaire with tarot cards?
Yes, it is possible to play solitaire with tarot cards.
To play solitaire, identify the tarot card chronology and use the suits. Follow the order and rules to play solitaire using these cards, however ascending the 4 stacks for every unit while lowering on the board.
Comparing solitaire gameplay with regular cards, you know the order and cards suit. Now, you have to mimic this play using tarot cards.
There are primary variations between regular playing cards and a tarot deck. The tarot deck has 78 cards while regular playing cards have only 52-cards.
There are 22 trump cards called Major Arcana that are not present in regular cards. An additional court card is present for each suit which implies 14 cards are present.
How to play solitaire with tarot cards:
- Remove all the Major Arcana cards from the tarot deck.
- Eliminate all 4 knights of your choice from the deck. Tarot has Page, Queen, King, and Knight while the standard deck has Jack, Queen, and King.
- Decide between Knight and Page as queen and king are the same in both the decks. Page is almost near to Jack though as compared to Knight.
- Shuffle all the 52 cards left in the tarot deck just like a regular deck.
- Now you are ready to play with the same rules as regular solitaire.
- Remember each of the suits in your tarot to play.
Tarot card suits for playing solitaire:
- Hearts as cups represent emotions and relationships.
- Diamonds as Pentacles as they appear like coins.
- Clubs as Wands both represent wooden objects.
- Spade as Swords are negative blends amongst the deck.
The Wands and Swords may look similar so it is easier to remember as the two black suits. Meanwhile, Cups and Pentacles are both shiny and gold to associate together as the red suits.
The goal of the game is to place each card from the deck in order from Ace to King or Magician to World in the case of the Trumps, into 5 piles from lowest to highest.
Tips to play solitaire with tarot card:
- Since tens can be played on them, 2s are important.
- Use trumps early to reveal more cards.
- Juggle the Fool card around to become a free 10th stack.
- Distribute the stacks more evenly to clear up the game area.
- If running out of moves, try drawing fewer cards at a time from stock.
A solitaire game with tarot card is adjustable when it comes to difficulty level.
For an easier game, avoid placing the first line of all face-down cards which increase the stock by 9. Also, pull 1 card at a time from the stock to make the game quicker and easier.
To make the game more challenging, pull 3 cards at a time from the stock. And instead of Wild, make the Fool card into an ace for the trumps.
How do you play card games with tarot?
Start with re-arrange and identifying the tarot cards that translate to regular cards. Tarot has 22 Major Arcana cards and 56 minor Arcana cards, which is total of 78 cards.
A regular playing card deck has 52 cards consisting of a queen, king, and jack with four different suits. Tarot cards can be used as regular cards by considering cups as hearts, diamonds as pentacles, clubs are wands and spades are swords.
In order to play games with tarot cards, prepare the deck the same as regular cards. First, remove all of the Major Arcana cards, 14 of them, and place them aside along with a knight or page.
Since the page is closest to Jack, keep the page as jack and king and queen remain the same.
Now with this concept, 52 cards in a deck are left, just like a regular deck of playing cards. Now you can play different card games like solitaire, bluff, rummy and so on just like as if they were regular cards.
What card games can you play with tarot cards?
Other than solitaire, tarot cards can be used to play different complex games using cards. Tarot cards were used for games initially and not for fortune-telling.
Later in history, people began to use it for future predictions.
Some specific games that you can play using tarot cards are:
- Tarok (Slovenian): A point trick game with bidding. Each card has value and players bid to decide who will be declarer. To win this game, a higher-ranked suit card beats a lower card of the same suit.
- Scarto: This is three player trick-taking tarot card game from Italy. Each cards has face value for later to score. The player who wont trick the Fool should have a batch of two, and the loser is the now with the lowest score who has to pay the winners with a drink.
- Grosstarock (Danish): Grosstarock is the most exciting and interesting three-handed tarot card game. The aim of Grosstarock is to achieve the highest score in card points through taking tricks.
- Tarok for two (Slovenian): This card game is essentially the same as the Tarock from Slovenia, and consists of bidding rounds followed by a round of announcements indicating bonuses to score. For two player game, each player’s hand is augmented by cards dealt out into pile from them at the beginning of the game.
- Partita (Italian): Partita is another simple game that originated from Italy. It can be made complex by adding in more signals. The game consists of 4 deals and is played in fixed teams for an entire game.
Tarot Card Games for Kids
- French Tarot: The goal of French Tarot is to be the player with the most points at the end of the game. To win the game, the player’s total score must always be 91 points.
- Baronetti: It is an excellent children’s game to familiarize them with the cards and basics of play.
There are various world wide card games to play with tarot cards in all ages including both children and adults. Playing card games with tarot cards can help improve strategic thinking, memory skills and math.
Also, card games strengthen your brain and make you smarter in early childhood development.
Games with Tarot Cards: Final Thoughts
If you ever wonder what to do with tarot cards, there are many ways to play card games with tarot cards such as solitaire, poker, rummy, sets and sequence, and many more just like with regular play cards.
The only difference with tarot cards is that the deck of tarot cards have Major Arcana cards, 4 suit cards like queen, king, page and knight on a regular cards, and the rest of deck of cards are cups, coins, swords and wands.
Mimic the playing cards with tarot cards like swapping hearts with cups, spades with swords, diamonds with coins and wands with clubs. Always eliminate all the Major Arcana cards and remove a page or knight so that you are left with 52 deck of cards, just like regular playing cards.
With these remaining cards, you can play Tarok, Scarto, Grosstarock, Tarok for two, and Partifa for adults. And children can play French Tarot and Baronetti card games which are recommended to learn basic counting and number reading to score later on.
Use these tips and techniques to enjoy playing card games using tarot cards as part of your next family game night. You will be surprised how many card games you can play with tarot cards other than forecasting past, present, and future.
Enjoy tarot cards gameplay now that you know a few games to play with the deck!