THIRTEEN THE CARD GAME · 2026
Deceptively simple. Delightfully cunning.
A bluffing card game for two to eight players. Every pair, you’re closer to winning - or pairing yourself out. Most pairs wins.
2–4 players (5-8 players use a second deck) · Ages 7+ · 10–20 min · 54 cards
QUICK START · 2–4 PLAYERS (5-8 Players use a second deck) · AGES 7+ · 10–20 MIN
How it plays
The aim: pair your cards to 13. Every pair is a point. Every miss could be a tell – and a Single can be stripped. Most pairs wins.
Deal 7 cards each. On your turn: lay pairs, ask another player for a card, and – once per turn – lie-ask for a card that doesn't pair to a Single in your hand. Miss an ask, turn ends - pick from the pile.
Pairs: 1&12 · 2&11 · 3&10 · 4&9 · 5&8 · 6&7 · The four 13s pair on their own and the two 6½ cards pair each other for 3 points.
One lie per turn · Swipe to explore →
Four ways to use your lie
A missed ask could be a tell – so choose your moment wisely.
01 Fish
No lead, no clue – cast a line and see what surfaces. If you hit, you get to truth-ask next.
02 Hide
Your hand is thin and everyone can see it. Lie-ask to hide what you’re holding to stop a single being stripped.
03 Strip
You’ve watched someone miss an ask. You think you know the Single they have. Take the chance to strip it before they can pair it.
04 Survive
Had your last card taken? Lie your way back in. Hit and you’re back in – must truth-ask its pair. Miss on purpose, draw from the pile, and survive with two cards. Pair your last two cards and you’re out.
be careful not to go out
Pairing off all your cards can happen before you know it.
So while you have the chance, use your lie-ask to avoid pairing down – staying in longer means you can keep collecting pairs.
AND
Two scoreboards that don’t always agree.
Most card games have one scoreboard. Thirteen has two – elimination order and pair count – and they don’t always agree.
You can be knocked out three-quarters of the way through and still win. You can put down the last pair and still finish second.
ENDGAME
It becomes a probability puzzle.
Every pair on the table narrows the field. By the endgame you’re counting pairs, tracking other players' missed asks, and hunting the last Single.
Thirteen The Card Game
THE ORIGIN · WELLINGTON, FOUR YEARS OF PLAY-TESTING
The games kept getting predictable. So we designed one that couldn’t be.
Thirteen started at our kitchen table. As a family, we kept finding the games we played too predictable – someone always learnt the strategy, and that strategy always won. So we built one where the strategy shifts under you: pair every card to thirteen, and once per turn you're allowed to lie.
Then we tested it. And tested it. Four years and more than a thousand rounds, refining the lie until it did the work of the whole game.
Eventually we decided it was too much fun to keep to ourselves.
RENNIE & RENNIE · MOTHER AND SON · CO DESIGNED & PRINTED IN NEW ZEALAND