British deck ordered in Felton, CA
5 out of 5 stars: “Great gag gift for a teammate moving to Australia”
Greek deck ordered in Buddina, QLD
5 out of 5 stars: “Great gift! Everyone laughed and enjoyed guessing the phrases on each card. Mahalo!”
Italian deck ordered in Fallbrook, CA
5 out of 5 stars: “Prompt delivery, good packaging, great item! Many thanks! 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟”
Greek deck ordered in Littleton, MA
5 out of 5 stars: “What a fun deck of cards! Great to learn phrases as you play!”
Italian deck ordered in Charlotte, NC
5 out of 5 stars: “Cute gift for loved ones!”

The house rules

How to play Lingo

If you know a card game, you already know how. Every card teaches a word or phrase while you play.

Start in 3 steps Pick a game

Italian Lingo deck with six cards fanned around the box, including Ciao, come va? (Hello, how are you?), Salute! (Cheers!) and Buona notte (Good night)

Three steps. Zero homework.

Shuffle and deal.
Play any card game you already know. A Lingo deck is a full standard deck, so the rules stay exactly the same.
Say it out loud.
Read the phrase on every card you play. Not sure how to say it? The pronunciation guide is printed on the jokers.
Flip to check.
The English is printed upside down under each phrase. Guess first, then turn the card around.

That's the whole trick. The more you shuffle, deal and play, the faster the phrases stick.

Ace of spades from the Spanish Lingo deck. The phrase Mucho gusto is printed across the middle, with Nice to meet you upside down beneath it. — From the Spanish deck: the Ace of Spades.

Meet your cards.

The phrase
Mucho gusto. A real word or phrase from the language, in big, easy-to-read letters.
The English
Nice to meet you. Printed upside down underneath, so you can guess first and check after.
The corners
Rank and suit sit in the corners like any playing card, so your game plays as normal.
The pronunciation guide
Printed on the jokers in every language deck, so you can say each phrase out loud. Slang decks give you the plain-English meaning instead.

Poker-sized cards. They shuffle and deal like the deck you grew up with.

Pick a game. Any game.

Use your Lingo deck in place of regular cards. Here are seven favorites to start with, each with an optional Lingo twist.

Go Fish

Great with grandkids

2 to 6 players
About 15 min
Easy

Collect sets of four. Ask nicely.

How to play Go Fish

Deal 7 cards each (5 each if there are four or more players). Spread the rest face down. That's the pond.
On your turn, ask one player for a rank you already hold: “Do you have any eights?”
If they do, they hand over every one and you go again. If not, they say “Go fish” and you draw from the pond.
When you collect all four of a rank (a book), lay it down.
When the pond and the hands run out, the most books wins.

Lingo twist: Lay down a book and read all four phrases out loud. Everyone else checks the English.

Crazy Eights

Easy to teach

2 to 7 players
About 15 min
Easy

Match the suit or the number. Eights are wild.

How to play Crazy Eights

Deal 5 cards each (7 each for two players). Put the rest face down and turn the top card face up to start the discard pile.
On your turn, play one card that matches the top card's suit or rank.
Eights are wild. Play one any time and name the next suit.
Can't play? Draw from the pile until you can.
First to empty their hand wins.

Lingo twist: Say the phrase on every card you play. Play an eight and you say its phrase before you call the suit.

Snap

Fast and noisy

2 to 4 players
About 10 min
Easy

Spot a pair. Be first to call it.

How to play Snap

Deal the whole deck face down, as evenly as you can. Nobody looks at their cards.
Take turns flipping your top card onto a shared pile in the middle.
When a card matches the rank of the one beneath it, the first player to call “Snap” wins the pile.
Run out of cards and you're out. Win every card and you win the game.

Lingo twist: Instead of “Snap”, call out the phrase on the matching card. Slow readers, you've been warned.

Rummy

A classic for two

2 to 6 players
About 30 min
Medium

Build sets and runs. Empty your hand first.

How to play Rummy

Deal 10 cards each for two players, 7 each for three or four, 6 each for five or six. Put the rest face down and turn one card up to start the discard pile.
On your turn, draw one card from the pile or the discard pile.
Lay down any melds you can: a set (three or four of the same rank) or a run (three or more in a row in one suit). You can also add cards to melds already on the table.
Finish your turn by discarding one card.
The first player to get rid of every card wins the hand.

Lingo twist: Read each phrase out loud as you lay down a meld.

Texas Hold'em Poker

Game night

2 to 10 players
30 min or more
Medium

Two cards each. Five to share. Best hand wins.

How to play Texas Hold'em Poker

Deal two cards face down to each player.
Deal five shared cards face up in the middle: three at once (the flop), then one (the turn), then one more (the river). There's a round of betting before the flop and after each new card.
Make the best five-card hand from your two cards and the five in the middle.
Whoever has the best hand at the showdown wins the pot. Chips, buttons or biscotti all work.

Lingo twist: At the showdown, read your hand out loud before you reveal it. Best accent wins bragging rights, not the pot.

Solitaire

Quiet time or travel

1 player
About 10 min
Easy

Just you, the deck and a few new words.

How to play Solitaire

Deal seven piles from left to right: one card in the first, two in the second, up to seven in the last. Turn the top card of each pile face up.
Build down the piles in alternating colors, like a red six on a black seven.
Move each Ace to its own pile above, then build up by suit from Ace to King.
Stuck? Turn cards from the leftover pile.
You win when every card reaches the four suit piles.

Lingo twist: Say each phrase as you turn it face up. Guess the English before you look.

Flashcards

Not a game. Still works.

1 or more
5 minutes
Easy

Practice one card at a time, anywhere.

How to play Flashcards

Shuffle and hold the deck phrase side up.
Read the phrase out loud and guess the English.
Turn the card to check.
Got it? It goes on one pile. Not yet? It goes on another.
Next time, start with the “not yet” pile.

Lingo twist: Turn it into a game: deal five cards to each person and take turns quizzing each other.

At the table. On the road.

Playing with family

Start with Go Fish or Snap. Nobody needs to know a word of the language.
Let the youngest be the reader. Kids love correcting the grown-ups.
Pick the family language. Nonna's Italian, Yiayia's Greek, Lola's Tagalog.
Posting a deck to grandkids far away? Send one, keep one, and play the same game on a video call.
Keep score in phrases, not points. Whoever says the most wins dessert.

Travel and dinner parties

Pack it before the trip. Flip through on the flight, the train or at a café.
Back home, deal the same deck again to keep the phrases fresh.
Hosting? Match the deck to the menu. Italian for pasta night, a Street Food deck for the foodies.
Learn the toast first. Salute (cheers) is right there in the Italian deck.
Leave a deck out with coffee. The conversation sorts itself out.

Good questions.

Do I need to learn a new game?

Not at all. Lingo decks are standard poker-sized playing cards, so you can play Poker, Rummy, Go Fish, Crazy Eights or any card game you already know. The twist is that every card also teaches a useful word or phrase.

Is there a pronunciation guide?

Yes. Every language deck has a pronunciation guide printed on the jokers, so you can say each phrase out loud, not just read it. Slang decks give you the plain-English meaning instead.

How big are the cards?

Lingo cards are poker-sized, the same size as a standard deck of playing cards.

What if nobody at the table speaks the language?

That's fine. The cards use everyday phrases with English translations and a pronunciation guide, and they play like any ordinary deck, so there's nothing new to learn before the first game.

Can grandparents and grandchildren play together?

Yes. Because Lingo works with the card games families already play, it's easy for different generations to share a game and practice the same phrases together.

Can I use them like flashcards too?

Absolutely. Many players flip through their decks for quick practice, whether on their own or with others.

Will I actually learn anything?

The secret is repetition through play. Every time you shuffle, deal and play, you see and say the phrases again, and without noticing they start to stick.

What's the difference between a deck and a Travel Tin?

It's the same deck. Standard decks come in a printed tuck box. Travel Tins come in a metal tin and are available for Aussie, Brazilian, British, French, German, Greek, Irish, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Spanish and Swedish.

Still stuck? Ask the Lingo Crew.

Deal yourself in.

Pick the language of your family, or of your next trip.

Buy 2, get 1 free: code TravelTrio is applied automatically in your cart. Free shipping on 5+ items. Buy 2, get 1 free excludes Met decks.

Translate the fun

How to play Lingo

Three steps. Zero homework.

Shuffle and deal.

Say it out loud.

Flip to check.

Meet your cards.

The phrase

The English

The corners

The pronunciation guide