The player left of the dealer then blindly chooses one of the dealer's cards. When no one can make any more pairs, the dealer presents their hand, face down, to the player on their left. How to PlayĪfter all of the cards are passed out, players begin making as many pairs as they can with the cards in their hand.

Traditionally, Old Maid is played with a special deck where players match pictures instead of numbered cards. After doing so, the dealer passes out all of the cards, one by one, clockwise. The dealer begins by removing one of the queens from the deck.

Old Maid is played with a standard deck of 52 cards. Play Multiplayer Old Maid Online The Deck and the Deal Old Maid is very popular among kids and can be played with 2 to 12 players. Ten sets of four matching cards, plus three 'Old Maid' cards + rules card in cardboard box.Ĭompanion games of Woodland Happy Families and Woodland Snap were also published by Pepys Games with artwork by Racey Helps.Old Maid is a classic card game where players try to pair up all of their cards without possessing the unpairable queen. The three 'Old Maids' are: Winnie Woodowl Hetty Hoot and Olive Brown. The main focus of the game is towards the last card, which might be a black cat, an Old Maid, black-faced chimney sweep or black grotesque character.Ībove: Woodland Old Maid, a Pepys Card Game illustrated by Racey Helps, first published c.1957. Old Maid card games were also re-titled in other countries as Black Peter (Schwarzer Peter) in Germany, Zwarte Piet (Netherlands), Svarte Petter (Sweden) and Pekka-Peli (Finland). Woodland Old Maid is a game for two or more players in which the object is to discard matching pairs and not end up holding the single Old Maid card. In this classic children's game first published by Castell Brothers Ltd ( Pepys Games) in the late 1950s the Old Maids are depicted as gentle and loveable owls (maybe spinsters too!). Woodland Old Maid a Pepys Card Game pictured by Racey Helps, c.1957

Old maid card rules