When I was in college a guy used to carry around a bunch of old decks of cards, he used to organize "Peanuts" games. Later I played a variation of the game called "Nertz". Then I played a game called "Dutch Blitz" with special cards.

This version allows for expansion and is presented well. I would watch the Youtube video of Dutch Blitz if I had any questions about how to play.

While in Switzerland, my friend and her roomate taught me how to play Ligretto, and we played until we couldn't stay awake any longer. I was so upset when I had to leave the next day, without a deck of my own! When I got home, and started my summer job, the kids I nanny for told me they had this really fun game to teach me, Dutch Blitz. It turns out it's the same thing as Ligretto, and is the one game we all love to play, and my being 10 years older doesn't make any difference!

Ligretto is a German game that is identical to the mennonite game of Dutch Blitz. The only difference is the pictures on the card. I have played with both types of cards, and find the numbers on the Ligretto cards to be MUCH easier to read. The game is simple and everyone plays at once. Card piles are placed in the middle of the table with players discarding from three possible sources. A card can be discarded onto a pile only if it is of the same color and the next number in the sequence. Part of the challenge is keeping your eyes on all the piles and your possible sources at the same time, while trying to beat the other players to put a card on an available pile. The game ends when a player completely runs out of a specific pile of cards. So part of the race is to use of those cards so that other players have to be penalized for the ones they have remaining. THE BOTTOM LINE IS THAT THE FIRST TIME I PLAYED THIS one night at some friends' house, we played from 7 p.m. til midnight (and I was skeptical at first). Not only did the time fly, but the next morning, I woke up with a craving to play more (except I didn't own a set of the cards, and I wasn't at my friends' house anymore!). So I had to go online and buy myself a set. Other friends of mine have become addicted to this game since then.