Target

If you know how to play rummy -any kind of rummy, actually - it'll take you maybe five minutes to learn how to play Target. And then you can spend the next hour or lifetime playing a unique and uniquely challenging card game.

The challenge comes from the special Target cards. These 28 cards each describe a different criterion for winning: three-in-sequence, three-in-sequence-and-of-the-same-suit, three-in-sequence-including-a-2, four-in-sequence-of-each-suit, two pair, four cards totaling 23... At the beginning of the game, five Target cards are drawn. Be the first to meld according to that particular criterion, take that Target card and earn those points. Add a new Target card. Remember that the old Target card no longer applies, so all those red 7s need to be seriously reconsidered. And don't forget the "combination meld" potential - you might have not only "three cards in sequence including a five" but also, a the very same time and with the very same meld, three red cards.

Since the Targets are continually changing during the game, the challenge of unlearning Targets is equal if not greater than the challenge of remembering the new ones. Consequently, you can take the game very seriously. It absorbs just about every part of your so-called rational mind. On the other hand, it's a card game, and there's a lot of luck, and really anyone can win, even the eight-year-old. Probably especially the eight-year-old.

It's rare to find a card game that is so much like other games, and yet so innovative. When it comes to family card games, Target is right on. For 2-4 people, 8 and older.