German Games to Play for Fun

Card Games

• Skat is a popular German card game. It is played by three players in three different hands. It is like an auction card game in which players try to trump one another's scores with certain cards.

  Doppelkopf uses two packs of cards and is played with four people. The idea of the game is to use tricks to gain high point cards.

  Schnapsen is a popular, intense card game for two players. Concentration is key.

Board Games

• Mensch, Ärgere Dich is a board game that is played like the American game Sorry! Each player is given four "men." You roll the dice to try to get your men to their home row. However, someone else can end up on your spot and send your man back to the beginning.

  Acquire is a game similar to Monopoly in which players buy and acquire hotel chains. You win the game by earning the most money from stock gained by developing and merging hotel chains.

Children's Games

• Topfschlagen, or Hit the Pot, is a game for small children. Several children can play this game. One child is given a pot and becomes "it." As he closes his eyes, someone else takes the pot, hides it somewhere else in the room and then places a present underneath it. The "it" person begins looking for the pot by crawling along the floor and banging a cooking spoon. If he finds the pot, he can take the present and choose someone else to become "it."

  Sardines is a variation on Hide and Seek. Someone goes to hide and others try to find him. When a seeker finds the hider, the seeker hides as well. The game continues until the last seeker finds the hiders. That person becomes the next person to hide.