Card Games to Play Online with Friends: A Game Night Guide

Start with the size of your group

Player count rules out more games than anything else, so check it first. These are the limits on our tables:

• Last Card: 2 to 10 players.
• Texas Hold'em: 2 to 10 players.
• Tarneeb: exactly 4, in two teams of two.
• Baloot: exactly 4, in two teams of two.
• Palace Intrigue: 2 to 8 players.
• Liar's Dice: 2 to 8 players.
• Spy Signals: 4 to 12 in two teams, or 2 to 3 in the cooperative mode.
• Grand Finale: 2 to 5 players, all on the same side.
• Werewolves: 5 to 15 players.

If you have exactly four people and they like cards, Tarneeb and Baloot are built for you. With nine or ten, Last Card, Texas Hold'em, Spy Signals and Werewolves can still seat everyone at one table.

How long each game takes

These are rough lengths for one game. House rules and chatty tables stretch them.

• Palace Intrigue: 10 to 25 minutes.
• Liar's Dice: 10 to 30 minutes.
• Spy Signals: 15 to 30 minutes.
• Last Card: 5 to 40 minutes. A single round is quick, and a points match to 200 or 500 runs longer.
• Grand Finale: 20 to 40 minutes.
• Werewolves: 20 to 45 minutes.
• Texas Hold'em: 20 to 60 minutes. The host can cap it at 10, 20 or 40 hands.
• Tarneeb: 25 to 50 minutes, depending on the target score.
• Baloot: 30 to 60 minutes to 152, or less if you play to 101.

Tip: If people join at different times, open with a short game such as Liar's Dice or Palace Intrigue. Latecomers only wait a few minutes for the next deal.

How hard each game is to learn

This is our own rough ranking, from easiest to pick up to the ones that take a few games to click.

• Easy: Last Card and Liar's Dice. Most people understand them after one round. Liar's Dice has an odds helper that shows how likely a bid is.
• Easy to learn, hard to play well: Spy Signals and Palace Intrigue. The rules fit on a card, and the skill is in the clues and the bluffing.
• Medium: Werewolves and Texas Hold'em. The app narrates Werewolves for you, and Hold'em has beginner hints that explain a sensible move on each turn.
• Takes a few hands: Tarneeb and Grand Finale. Tarneeb bidding and Grand Finale hints both reward practice.
• The most to learn: Baloot, with two ways to play each hand, projects and doubling. It is worth the effort if your group already knows the game.

Which game suits your group

• Last Card is the safe choice for mixed groups, including kids and people who say they do not play card games. The host picks house rules like stacking +2s.
• Texas Hold'em suits friends who already play poker or want to learn with play chips. The chips have no value, so nobody loses real money.
• Tarneeb suits Levantine and Gulf families and anyone who likes partnership games. It is the one to pick when four people want a proper card game.
• Baloot suits Gulf groups who grew up playing it, and anyone who enjoys a game with depth. The table shows the Arabic terms next to the English ones.
• Palace Intrigue suits people who like bluffing and reading faces. A game is short, so a knocked-out player is back in soon.
• Liar's Dice suits any group and any mood. Everyone understands a bid of four 5s, and the reveal after a Liar call gets the whole table talking.
• Spy Signals suits groups who like words and talking. Teams argue over every clue, which is half the point.
• Grand Finale suits friends who would rather win together than beat each other. You can see every hand except your own, and hints are limited.
• Werewolves suits big, loud groups. Nobody has to sit out as narrator, because the app wakes each role at night and counts the votes.

How to set up a table and invite friends

Nobody needs to download anything or create an account. It takes a minute or so:

1. Open the game on dealandroll.com and choose Play online with friends. You are now the host.
2. In the lobby, set the house rules for the game, such as the target score or which roles are in play.
3. Press Copy link or Share and send the invite link to your group chat. Friends can also type the table code on the home page.
4. Each friend opens the link, picks the name the table will see, and taps Join the table.
5. Press Add bot for any seat that is still empty.
6. When everyone is seated, press Start game.

Tables work in any modern browser on a phone, tablet or computer, so it does not matter who is on what device. The host's browser runs the table, so the host should be the person with the steadiest connection and should keep the tab open until the game ends.

Short on players? Let the bots sit in

Bots play by the same rules as everyone else, which opens up games you could not otherwise play.

• Two friends can play Tarneeb or Baloot as partners against two bots, or each take a bot as a partner.
• Three or four friends can play Werewolves, with bots making up the village to five or more. They accuse, vouch and claim roles like real players.
• In Spy Signals, bots can give clues, guess, or fill a whole team.
• If you are on your own, choose Practice against bots to learn a game before the others arrive.

Tips for a smooth game night

• Run a voice or video call alongside the game. Every table has a text chat, but bluffing games like Palace Intrigue and Werewolves are better when you can hear people.
• Agree on house rules before you start. Tarneeb and Baloot in particular vary from family to family, and the host can match your version in the lobby.
• Mix long and short games. A Tarneeb match followed by a quick round of Liar's Dice keeps the energy up.
• When a game ends, the host can press Rematch, or go back to the lobby and pick another game with Change game. Everyone stays at the same table, so nobody needs a new link.
• For newcomers, open the How to play sheet at the table. It stays one tap away during the game.

Questions people ask