How to Play Old Maid: Rules with Interactive Tutorial

Old Maid is a matching card game played by 2 to 6 players. The goal is to form pairs and avoid being left with the unmatchable "Old Maid" card at the end. The Old Maid is created by removing a single Queen from the deck before play begins.

On your turn, you draw a random card from another player's hand. If this gives you a pair, you lay it down face-up. The game continues until all possible pairs have been laid down, and the one player left holding the Old Maid loses.
Below you'll find a complete explanation of the rules, and above, you can play an interactive tutorial to help you learn how to play Old Maid. Whichever way you choose, you'll get acquainted with the rules in no time.
Once you're ready, you can play Old Maid Online for free at World of Card Games. You have the option to play against other people online or with friends. We recommend playing a couple of games against our bots before playing against other people, but that's up to you.
Don't be the Old Maid!

Objective

The objective is to form pairs of cards and not be the last player holding the Old Maid.

A "pair" is two cards of the same rank, such as two 7s or two Kings.

Deal

Use a standard 52-card deck, but remove one Queen. This leaves 51 cards, with one Queen unmatchable — the Old Maid.

Deal all the cards face down, one by one, to each player. Some players may have one card more than others, which is fine.

Each player removes and places face-up in front of them any pairs they have in their hand before play begins.

A random player is chosen to go first.

Play

On a player's turn, they offer their hand (spread face down) to the player on their left.

The left-hand player selects one card at random from the offering player's hand.

If this card makes a pair with one already in their hand, they lay that pair down face-up. Otherwise, they keep it.

Play continues clockwise.

This continues until all possible pairs are laid down.

Game End

The game ends when all pairs have been laid down. One card will remain unpaired — the Old Maid (the single Queen).

The player left holding the Old Maid loses.

All other players are considered winners.

History

Old Maid is believed to have originated in Victorian England as a children's game and quickly spread worldwide. It has many variations, but the essence — avoid being stuck with the odd card out — has stayed the same.