Now that you’ve received your exclusive deck of Maximum Fun-themed playing cards and 6-sided dice, you might be wondering what kind of games you can play with them. We’ve got a handy list of recommendations here, sourced from the staff at MaxFun!

Table of Contents

Card Games

Dice Games

Card Games

I Doubt It

(AKA “Cheat” and “Bullsh*t”)

Players: 2-10

Materials: 

  • One standard deck of cards (no Jokers)

Goal: Be the first person to discard all of your cards

Rules

  1. Shuffle the deck, then evenly divide the entire deck into as many piles as there are players (it’s okay if some piles have 1-2 cards more than others, but the piles should be as even as possible). Give one pile to each player. The pile forms their hand. You can look at your cards, but don’t let any of the other players see!
  2. The player who has the Ace of Spades goes first. They play the Ace of Spades face down on the center of the table. This is the first card in the discard pile.
  3. Proceeding clockwise from there, each player must play a card that is one rank above the card that the previous player put down. The second player puts down a 2, the third player puts down a 3, etc. You can put down 1-4 cards at a time as long as they’re all the same number (e.g. the 2 of Hearts, 2 of Spades, and 2 of Diamonds). All cards are played face down. When you play your cards, you must verbally call out what you’re playing, though you don’t need to name the specific suits (e.g. “Three Queens” or “One 2”).
  4. If you don’t have the rank that you’re supposed to play, this is where the game really gets fun: it’s time to lie. Put down any 1-4 cards while claiming that you’re putting down the correct rank of card (e.g. you can play a 3 while verbally claiming that you’re playing a 5).
  5. At any point immediately after a player puts down their cards, if another players suspects that they’re lying about the cards they played, they may call out the name of the game (“I doubt it”, “cheat”, or “bullsh*t”, depending on your preference). At that point, the accused player flips over their cards to reveal what they played. One of two things happens:
    • If the accused player did lie, they have to pick up the entire discard pile and add it to their hand.
    • If the accused player did not lie, the person who accused them has to pick up the entire discard pile and add it to their hand.
  6. Play continues in a clockwise circle. After a King is played, start the numbering over with a new Ace. 
  7. The game ends when one player is able to discard all of the cards in their hand. At that point, that player is declared the winner.

Spoons

Players: 3-13

Materials: 

  • One standard deck of cards (no Jokers)
  • A number of spoons totalling one less than the number of players (e.g. for a four-player game, you need three spoons)
  • Optional: Pen/pencil and paper

Goal: Collect four-of-a-kind cards and grab a spoon every time another player collects four-of-a-kind until you’re the last player standing

Rules

Maximum Fun playing cards and metal spoons arranged in the layout described in the rules for Spoons

  1. Arrange the spoons in the middle of the table. Select one player to be the dealer. The dealer deals out four cards to each player (including themself), then places the remaining deck next to the spoons. 
  2. At the beginning of each round, the dealer draws one card from the deck and adds it to their hand. They look over the five cards in their hand, then pick one card from their hand to pass (face-down) to the player on their left. They should end their turn with four cards in their hand.
  3. That player adds the new card to their hand, looks at the cards in their hand, picks one card, then passes it to the player on their left (again, ending their turn with four cards).
  4. Play continues in this order until the person to the right of the dealer. Instead of passing a card to the dealer, that player picks one card from their hand and places it in a discard pile on the center of the table.
  5. The dealer then starts a new round by drawing a new card and repeating steps 2-4.
  6. Through these rounds, each player’s goal is to collect four of one kind of card (e.g. four Kings or four 3s). When a player manages to collect four of a kind, they grab a spoon from the center of the table. All other players—regardless of if they have a four-of-a-kind or not—must immediately try to grab one of the remaining spoons.
  7. The player who doesn’t grab a spoon takes a letter in the word “SPOON” (which they can keep track of either mentally or by writing it down). Each time somebody gets four-of-a-kind and a player isn’t able to grab a spoon, they have to take one more letter (e.g. the first time they don’t grab a spoon, they take the letter S; the next time, they take the letter P; etc). 
  8. When a player has collected all five letters in the word “SPOON”, that player is out of the game. Remove one spoon from the pile in the center of the table.
  9. Play continues until only one player is remaining. That player is the winner.

Speed

Players: 2

Materials: 

  • One standard deck of cards (no Jokers)

Goal: Discard all of the cards in your hand

Rules

Setting Up the Cards

Maximum Fun playing cards arranged in the layout described in the rules for Speed

  • Shuffle the deck, then draw two cards. Place them face down next to each other on the table.
  • Draw five cards and set them face down in a pile to the left of the left-hand single card. Draw five more cards and put them face down in a pile to the right of the right-hand single card. 
  • You should now have one stack of five cards, then one single card, then one more single card, then another stack of five cards, all arranged in a line.
  • Deal out the remaining cards evenly to each player so that each player has their own personal deck of 20 cards.
  • Each player draws the top five cards from their personal deck. These five cards form their hand.
  • Flip the two center cards face up. These now form the center piles.

Playing the Game

  • Players can now begin placing cards from their hands one at a time onto either center pile. You can place a card on the pile if that card is one value higher or lower than the card currently at the top of the pile (e.g. if the top card on a center pile is a 2, you can play either an Ace or a 3 on top of that). When an Ace is at the top of the pile, you can play a King or a 2; when a King is at the top of the pile, you can play a Queen or an Ace. After a player has put a card down, they immediately draw a new card from their personal deck so that they always have five cards in their hand. Players do not take turns—you just place cards as quickly as you can!
  • If at any point neither player can place a card on either center pile, each player draws a card from one of the five-card stacks and places it face-up on the nearest center pile. If both players are still unable to move, draw one more card from each of the stacks. If all five cards are drawn and both players still can’t move, shuffle the center piles, set them to the side, and draw new cards from the top to form new center piles.
  • The game ends when one player has played all of the cards from their deck and their hand. That player is the winner.

Rule Variation

  • Joker Wildcards: Play with the two Jokers in play, with each Joker being a wildcard—it can be played on any card, and then any other card can be played on top of it. 

Pusoy Dos

(AKA “Filipino Poker”)

Players: 2-4

Materials: 

  • One standard deck of cards (no Jokers)

Goal: Be the first person to discard all of your cards

Rules

  1. The dealer shuffles the deck, then deals 13 cards to each player.
  2. The player holding the lowest-value card (3 of Clubs) begins by either playing that card as a High Card or playing a combination including that card (see “Card Ranking & Combinations” below for more information). They play the card/combination face-up on the center of the table.
  3. The player to their right must either play their own cards or pass their turn and play no cards. If they play, the cards they play must be of the same combination as the player before them, but with a higher ranking (e.g. if the first player played a pair of 3s, the next player can play a pair of 4s or higher).
  4. Play continues counterclockwise in that manner until a player decides to pass. After a player passes, the player who goes after them may play cards in any combination they want.
  5. After that player puts down cards in a new combination, all players after them must either play cards in that same combination (but of a higher value, as in Step 3) or pass their turn.
  6. Steps 3-5 repeat until one player has discarded all of their cards. That player is declared the winner.

Card Rankings & Combinations

Each card has a value in relation to all of the other cards. The highest-value suit is Diamonds, followed by Hearts, then Spades, then Clubs. Within the suits, the cards are ranked from highest to lowest as 2, Ace, King, Queen, Jack, 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, then 3.

Example: A 2 of Hearts is a higher-value card than an Ace of Hearts, because they’re both in the same suit and a 2 is a higher rank than an Ace. However, a 3 of Diamonds is a higher-value card than a 2 of Hearts—even though a 2 is a higher rank than a 3—because Diamonds are a higher-value suit than Hearts.

The following combinations are possible, listed in order from highest to lowest ranking:

  • Royal Flush: 10, Jack, Queen, King, and Ace, all of the same suit.
    • Between multiple royal flushes, the flush of the higher suit wins.
  • Straight Flush: Five cards that are of consecutive rank in the same suit (e.g. 5-9, all of Hearts).
    • Between multiple flushes, the flush with the highest-ranked single card wins (e.g. a flush where the highest-ranked card is a 10 of Diamonds wins over a flush where the highest-ranked card is a 10 of Clubs).
  • Four-of-a-Kind: Four cards of the same rank plus a single card (e.g. four Queens and one 5).
    • Between multiple four-of-a-kinds, the four matching cards of higher rank wins.
  • Full House: A three of a kind plus a pair (e.g. three Queens and two 5s). 
    • Between multiple full houses, the full house with a higher-ranked three-of-a-kind wins.
  • Flush: Five cards of any values that are all the same suit (e.g. a 3, 4, 6, 8, and 9, all of Hearts).
    • Between multiple flushes, the flush made of the highest-value suit wins.
  • Straight: Five cards that are of consecutive rank in different suits (e.g. 5-9, all in different suits). 
    • Between multiple straights, the straight containing the highest-value card wins.
  • Three-of-a-Kind: Three cards of the same rank (e.g. three Kings or three 5s)
    • Between multiple three-of-a-kind sets, the set of the higher rank wins.
  • Two-Pair: Two pairs of cards of the same rank (e.g. two 4s and two Jacks).
    • Between multiple two-pairs, the two-pair containing a higher number wins.
  • Pair: A pair of cards of the same rank (e.g. two Kings or two 5s).
    • Between multiple pairs, the pair of the higher rank wins (e.g. a pair of 2s beats a pair of Aces). If both cards are the same rank, the pair containing the highest-value suit wins.
  • High Card: Any single card.
    • Between multiple single cards, the highest-value card wins.

Dice Games

Farkle

(AKA “10,000”, “Zilch”, and “Six Dice”)

Players: 2-8 (at least 3 players recommended)

Materials:

  • Six 6-sided dice
  • A scoring sheet, either found online and printed up (like this one) or handwritten with a pen and paper
  • Optional: Dice cup

Goal: Be the first to score at least 10,000 points

Rules

  • The first player rolls all six dice and sees if they’ve made any scoring combinations (see “Scoring” below). If none of their dice score, their turn ends. If any of their dice score, they may choose to either end their turn there and collect the points from those dice, or set some or all of the scoring dice to the side and re-roll their remaining dice (they must set aside at least one scoring die to re-roll, but do not have to set aside all scoring dice).
  • Rolls made with remaining dice cannot form combinations with dice that have been set aside (e.g. if you get a 1, choose to set it aside, roll your remaining dice, and get two more 1’s, you only count those as three individual 1’s for 300 points, not a Triple 1 for 1,000 points). 
  • If all six dice have been set aside, the player may choose to either end their turn and note their score, or risk their points and re-roll all six dice  in hopes of adding more points to their score.
  • If a player rolls any number of dice and doesn’t generate any scoring combinations, they lose all points they’ve accumulated that turn and their turn ends (this is known as a Farkle). 
  • A player’s turn continues until they choose to stop and collect any points they’ve generated or until they Farkle. Once a player ends their turn, they pass the dice to the person at their left, who takes their turn.
  • Play continues until one player reaches 10,000 points.

Scoring

You gain points for rolling the following dice combinations:

  • 1: 100 points
  • 5: 50 points
  • Triple 1s: 1,000 points
  • Triple 2s: 200 points
  • Triple 3s: 300 points
  • Triple 4s: 400 points
  • Triple 5s: 500 points
  • Triple 6s: 600 points
  • Any Three Pairs: 1,500 points
  • 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6: 3,000 points

Ship, Captain, Crew

Players: 2+ (at least 4 players recommended)

Materials:

  • Five 6-sided dice
  • Optional: Pen/pencil and paper (for writing down your score)

Goal: Have the highest score after a single round

Rules

  • Each player gets one turn in which they roll the dice three times. The first player rolls all five of their dice, aiming to roll a 6 (the ship), 5 (the captain), and 4 (the crew). When one of these results is rolled, that die is set aside and isn’t rolled again. However, the dice can only be set aside in order—to be able to set a 5 aside, you must have set a 6 aside; to be able to set a 4 aside, you must have set a 6 and a 5 aside. 
  • If a player does not manage to roll a 6, 5, and 4 over their three rolls, they score zero points. However, if they do manage to roll a 6, 5, and 4, the remaining two dice (the cargo) are added up to make their score.
    • Example: You rolled a 6 on your first roll and a 5 on your second. On your third roll, you roll a 4, 3, and 2. You set aside the 4 and add together the remaining dice (the cargo) to get your total score (5).
  • If you roll a 6, 5, and 4 in one or two rolls, you may choose to use your remaining rolls to re-roll the cargo dice and try to get a higher score. However, you must take whatever number you get as your final score—even if it’s lower than your original score. 
  • When a player’s turn is done, they pass their dice to the person to their left, who takes their own turn. Play continues until all players have taken their turn. At that point, the player with the highest points is declared the winner.

Beetle

Players: 2+

Materials:

  • One 6-sided die
  • Pen/pencil and paper for each player

Goal: Finish drawing your beetle first

Rules

  • The first player rolls their die to see which part of their beetle they’re allowed to draw. The body parts correspond to the numbers as follows:
    • 1: Body
    • 2: Head
    • 3: One leg
    • 4: One eye
    • 5: One antenna
    • 6: The tail
  • The body must be drawn first and the head must be drawn second. The legs, eyes, antennae, and tail cannot be drawn until both the body and head have been drawn. If a player rolls a body part that they are able to draw, they draw that on their paper.
  • However, if a player rolls a body part that they cannot draw (e.g. rolling a leg before they’ve drawn the body) or a part that they have already drawn, their turn ends without them drawing anything. 
  • Once a player has rolled their die and (if possible) drawn their beetle part, they pass the die to the player on their left.
  • Play continues until one player completes their beetle. A beetle is complete when it has one body, one head, two antennae, two eyes, six legs, and one tail. The first player to complete their beetle is declared the winner.

Poker Dice

Players: 2+

Materials:

  • Five 6-sided dice
  • Pen/pencil and paper

Goal: Roll the highest-scoring combination

Rules

  • Each player gets one turn in which they roll the dice up to three times to try to generate the best combination they can (see “Combinations” below for details). 
  • After each of the first two rolls, the player may decide to reroll all of their dice, set aside some of their dice and reroll the rest, or end their turn with their current combination. Once dice have been set aside, they cannot be rerolled.
  • Once a player is done with their turn, they write down their final combination, then pass the dice to the person on their left. The person on their left then takes their own turn, following the same rules as above. When all players have taken one turn, they compare their combinations. The player with the highest-scoring combination wins.

Combinations

The following combinations are possible, listed in order from highest-ranking to lowest-ranking:

  • Five-of-a-Kind: Five dice of the same number.
    • Between multiple five-of-a-kinds, the set of the higher number wins.
  • Four-of-a-Kind: Four dice of the same number.
    • Between multiple four-of-a-kinds, the set of the higher number wins.
  • Full House: A three of a kind plus a pair (e.g. three 1s and two 3s). 
    • Between multiple full houses, the full house with the highest-numbered three-of-a-kind wins.
  • Three-of-a-Kind: Three dice of the same number.
    • Between multiple three-of-a-kind sets, the set of the higher number wins.
  • Two-Pair: Two pairs of dice of the same number (e.g. two 1s and two 3s).
    • Between multiple two-pairs, the two-pair containing a higher number wins.
  • Pair: Two dice of the same number (e.g. two 1s).
    • Between multiple pairs, the pair of the higher number wins.
  • High Card: Any single die.
    • Between multiple high dice, the die of the higher number wins.