Gops is a bizarre
card game for two players. It is very similar to
War or
Crazy Eights, but there's much more room for
strategy. However, it does not compare to
Cribbage or
Écarté, so don't bother with this if you're looking for an engaging, skill-rewarding game.
Gops is worth trying on long
train rides, boring moments in
waiting rooms, and the like. It is good for playing with
strangers, because it is very easy to learn.
Setup
Take a 52-card deck and remove all the hearts. Remove the jokers as well, if there are any. The cards rank at their normal numeric values. This means the ace is worth 1. Jack, Queen, and King are worth 11, 12, and 13, respectively.
Deal
One player receives all the clubs, and the other player receives all the spades. Shuffle the diamonds and put them in a face-down stack in the center.
Play
The idea is to auction off the diamonds one-by-one to the person who puts down the highest card. Each turn, a diamond is turned up, and each player puts down one of their cards face-down. When both players have played a card, those cards are faced, and the player that put down the highest takes the diamond and puts it (face-down) in a pile. Repeat until all the diamonds are gone.
Scoring
The player with the largest sum total of diamonds wins the game. The game can be converted to hard score relatively easily, just agree on a card-point-to-currency ratio and make payouts.
Variations
This game can be made much more interesting if all the diamonds are laid out face-down side-by-side, and the players make all their bids at once, also face down. Once all the cards have been put down, they are all faced together and the diamonds claimed. Same scoring as above.