Old Maid
Match every pair and don't get stuck holding the odd Queen.
How to play Old Maid
One Queen is removed from the deck before dealing, so a single Queen can never be paired: that card is the "Old Maid." The cards are dealt to you and two computer players, and everyone immediately puts down every matching pair in their hand. On your turn you draw one hidden card from the next player: if it matches a card you hold, you discard the pair straight away. Click a face-down card of the highlighted player to draw. Play continues until every card is paired except the odd Queen, and whoever is left holding it loses the round. Everyone else escapes.
One Queen too few
Old Maid starts with a small act of sabotage: one Queen is pulled from the deck before the deal. Three Queens can still pair off. The fourth never can. Whoever holds that last Queen when every other card is matched loses the round, and everyone else escapes. That's the whole game: 51 cards, and one of them is poisoned.
You play against two computer opponents, so the deal splits the deck into three hands of 17 cards. The first thing everyone does is lay down every pair already sitting in their hand, which usually dumps a good chunk of it on the spot. A lucky deal can gut your hand before you've made a single move, and an unlucky one leaves you holding a fistful of singles with a long round ahead.
How a round flows
Play moves around the table. On your turn, click a face-down card in the highlighted player's hand to draw it. If it matches something you hold, the pair goes straight to the discard pile. If not, it joins your hand, and the next player draws from you. Hands shrink, pairs pile up, and sooner or later a single Queen is wandering from hand to hand with nowhere to go. When your last card leaves, you're safe and out. The loser is simply whoever is left holding her at the end.
Notice that you never draw from a deck. Every card you gain comes from a neighbour, and every card you lose goes to one. The Old Maid herself can circle the table several times before the music stops, so holding her mid-round means nothing. Only the final card counts.
Is there anything to actually decide?
Honestly, not much, and that's fine. This is a game built for a giggle, not a grind. Around a real table the one lever is presentation: people hold the Old Maid a touch prouder in the fan, or tuck her suspiciously low, playing little mind games with whoever draws next. Against the computer the draws are blind and the cards fall as the shuffle says. You can't force a match and you can't dodge a bad pull. The tension lives entirely in the flip: is the card you just drew a pair, or is it her?
That randomness isn't a flaw. It's the design. Old Maid is one of the few card games where a five-year-old and a grandparent sit down dead even, and where losing is nearly as funny as winning.
The endgame is the good part
Rounds end the same way often enough to have a rhythm. Cards drain out of the game in pairs, players empty their hands and escape one by one, and finally two hands are left passing a tiny handful back and forth. This is the best moment in the game. If the player before you holds two cards, your draw is a coin flip with a face: one card frees them, the other is her. Kids discover the theatre of this instantly, hovering over one card, pulling back, choosing the other. The hovering is the game.
Hand sizes are the only real information on the table. A fat hand just had bad pairing luck. A player down to one card is either about to escape or sitting on the Old Maid herself, and you find out the hard way. None of it changes what you should do, because nothing changes what you should do. It only changes how loudly everyone groans at the reveal, and that groan is the actual score being kept.
Black Peter, Babanuki and the rest
The pass-the-bad-card idea is older and better travelled than the English name suggests. Germany plays Schwarzer Peter, or Black Peter, where the doomed card is often a chimney sweep. France has Vieux Garcon, the old boy. Japan plays Babanuki, which flips the trick: instead of removing a Queen, a Joker is added to the full deck as the unpairable card. Special illustrated Old Maid decks, with cartoon characters and one grim spinster card, were being printed in Britain and America by the late 1800s, and the game has been a nursery-table fixture ever since. No scores to track, no rules to memorise, just the shared dread of one particular card. This version keeps it quick: a round against the computer takes a couple of minutes, and there's always room for one more.
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Old Maid: frequently asked questions
How do you win at Old Maid?
There is no winner in the usual sense: there is one loser. You "win" simply by not being the player left holding the unpaired Queen at the end. Match and discard your pairs, and pass the odd Queen along when you can.
Why is one Queen impossible to pair?
Before the deal, one of the four Queens is taken out of the deck. That leaves three Queens, so one of them can never find a partner. Whoever is stuck with that lone Queen when all other cards are paired is the Old Maid.
How do I draw a card?
On your turn you take one card, face down, from the hand of the next player around the table. In this game the player you draw from is highlighted. Just click one of their face-down cards. If it pairs with a card in your hand, the pair is discarded automatically.
Is Old Maid free to play?
Yes. Old Maid runs free in your browser against two computer opponents, with no download and no sign-up, in a clean style.
Why is one Queen removed at the start?
Taking one Queen out leaves an odd number of that rank, so three Queens can pair up while one is left permanently single. That lone card is the Old Maid, and being stuck with it at the end is how you lose.
How do I take a card from another player?
On your turn you click a face-down card in the highlighted player's hand and draw it. If it matches a card you already hold, you discard the pair at once; if not, it joins your hand and play moves on to the next player.
Is Old Maid a game of skill?
Barely, it is mostly luck. The only sliver of control is how you present your hand when someone draws from you, since they choose blindly. Otherwise the matches simply fall as the shuffle dictates.
How many players is this version?
Three in total, you and two computer opponents. The 51 cards are dealt out as 17 each, and play passes around the table until only the unmatched Queen remains in someone's hand.
Can I lose even if I play well?
Yes. Because you cannot choose which card you draw, a run of bad luck can leave you holding the Old Maid no matter what you do. That randomness is the point of the game rather than a flaw in it.
Is Old Maid played in other countries?
Yes, under many names. Germany calls it Schwarzer Peter, or Black Peter. France has Vieux Garcon. In Japan it's Babanuki, played with a Joker added to the full deck instead of a Queen removed. The pass-the-bad-card idea is the same everywhere.
Is Old Maid free to play?
Yes. Old Maid is completely free on Inkplay, with no download, no sign-up, and no in-game purchases. Open the page and play instantly on desktop or mobile.
Can I play Old Maid unblocked?
Yes. Old Maid runs entirely in your browser with no download, install, or plugins, so it loads instantly and keeps working even on school or work networks where bigger game sites get blocked.
More games to play
In the mood for more? Try Chess, Tic Tac Toe, Connect Four, Reversi, or browse all board games and the full games list on Inkplay. Old Maid also appears in Card Games.