The best card games, according to hackers
15 card games were recommended on Hacker News between November 2025 and November 2026. We rank them by how many separate people recommend each one, and 2 earn the Hacker Approved badge.
Top picks
The two most recommended card games with the badge. Each figure is one person. RecommendsCriticizes One comment
Dominion by Donald X. Vaccarino
14 recommend, 4 criticize, 78% approval
Ranked 2 of 15 by recommenders
Simple rules with real depth
Simple deckbuilding card game with depth and many expansions, recommended for groups who like to optimize. Critics note little hidden information.
Beautiful aesthetic and atmosphere
People recommend it as a beautiful, experimental card game where the rules keep layering into new games, and it is often called one of their all-time favorites.
All 15 card games, ranked
Select a column heading to sort. Approval share is recommenders out of everyone who gave an opinion; the tick on each bar marks the 2 to 1 line the badge needs. Months counts the months, out of 13, in which someone recommended it.
| Rank | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Magic: The Gathering | 27 | 25 | 52% | 10 | 31 yrs7 owners | — |
| 2 | Dominion by Donald X. Vaccarino | 14 | 4 | 78% | 6 | — | Approved |
| Tied 3 | Inscryption | 11 | 0 | 100% | 7 | — | Approved |
| Tied 3 | Solitaire Alone Together | 11 | 1 | 92% | 1 | — | — |
| 5 | Everdeck | 9 | 6 | 60% | 1 | — | — |
| Tied 6 | Uno card game | 8 | 1 | 89% | 6 | — | — |
| Tied 6 | The Unix Pipe Card Game | 8 | 3 | 73% | 1 | — | — |
| Tied 8 | Flip 7 card game | 7 | 1 | 88% | 7 | — | — |
| Tied 8 | 1000 Blank White Cards | 7 | 1 | 88% | 1 | — | — |
| 10 | Pokémon Trading Card Game | 6 | 10 | 38% | 4 | — | — |
| Tied 11 | Android: Netrunner | 5 | 0 | 100% | 3 | — | — |
| Tied 11 | FreeCell | 5 | 3 | 63% | 2 | — | — |
| Tied 11 | Watch and Play Poker with LLMs | 5 | 1 | 83% | 1 | — | — |
| Tied 11 | cli.poker | 5 | 1 | 83% | 1 | — | — |
| Tied 11 | TinySol | 5 | 0 | 100% | 1 | — | — |
How we rank
Rank is the number of separate people who recommend a product in a Hacker News comment over the past year. Someone who praises the same card game in five threads counts once.
The badge goes to card games that at least 10 people recommend, with recommenders outnumbering critics at least 2 to 1, recommended in at least 4 of the 13 months.
Rankings are never for sale. We may earn a commission when you buy through our links. It never changes the order.