The 5 Alive card game may be your new favorite family game for game night. (For real.) It’s a quick game if you’re short on time, but is also strategic enough for game tournament play and interesting enough for hours of playing. It’s a fun game for kids and adults and easy card games for groups. (It’s even a great basic math game for practice, but don’t hold that against it.)
5 Alive Card Game Overview
The 5 Alive card game is a fast-paced, family-friendly card game where the objective is simple: keep the running total under 21 or lose one of your five lives.
It’s designed for 2-6 players, ages 8 and up, making it perfect for family game nights, parties, or just a quick game with kids after dinner.
The game is easy to learn and quick to play. We literally learned this game in less than 5 minutes.
Why is it so stressful to add in front of other people during games????
If you can do basic math and count to 21 (which, tbh, is questionable for me sometimes), you can play this game. There is some strategy that can be used with the Wild cards, so it makes it interesting enough for adults who are playing with kids.
Think: UNO, but better, more fun and more cutthroat, with less yelling about whether stacking +4 cards is allowed, but more yelling about dying.
GPG Game At A Glance for 5 Alive
LISTED GAME AGE: 8 and Up
LISTED TIME: 30 minutes* (see our house rules mods below)
PLAYERS: 2-8
WHAT WE LIKE ABOUT THIS GAME:
- Easy to learn (even as a card game for kids)
- Quick game play
- Easy enough for kids, but strategic enough for adults
- Comes with a handy “cheatsheet” card to remind you of Wild card meanings
- You don’t have to keep a separate score (like with paper and a pen, which I personally dislike and always push off on other players if we’re playing a game like that because, you know, math.)
- *You can yell at each other without it leading to family therapy. (But that may just be us.)
Scroll down to see our full Owen-rating scale at the bottom of the post.
YOU MIGHT LIKE THIS GAME IF YOU LIKE:
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How To Play 5 Alive Card Game
Game Objective
Stay alive by keeping the running total of card values below 21.
Be the one who busts 21 and you’re out.
Lose five lives and you’re all the way out and lose the game!
GAME NIGHT PARTY MENU
EAT & PLAY PAIRING FOR THIS GAME: EDIBLE 5 ALIVE SKULLS
Easy Game Setup
Each player starts with five “Alive” cards, representing (you guessed it) their lives. This is the side of the cards with hearts.
The other side is the side with the skull. If that side is flipped up in front of you, you’re screwed because that means you lost one life or “Died.”
The skulls are cute, but that doesn’t really matter because if they are showing that means you’re a loser. If they’re all showing, well, just cry in your drink.
Shuffle the deck of numbered and wild cards and deal 10 cards to each player.
GPG TIP: If you're playing with kids or people with tiny hands (no judgment), 10 cards is a lot to hold! This can help.
Game Rules & Playing Five Alive
Players take turns playing a numbered card (or Wild) to the discard pile in the middle.
Once you play a card you announce the running total.
GAME PLAY EXAMPLE: Player 1 plays a 1 card and announces "1." Player 2 plays a 5 card and announces "6." (Because 1+5= 6. You're welcome.)
The goal is to keep the running total of all played cards to 21.
Once you get to 21, you need to be creative with other cards in your hand (like Wild Cards or 0s) so you don’t go over and lose a life.
Wild cards can either reduce the total, force other players to play (or get skipped), allow the player to avoid a penalty when the total exceeds 21, and more.
If a player can only play a card that pushes the total over 21, they lose a life (i.e., they must flip one of their “Alive” heart cards over to the “Dead” side with the skull).
You only have 5 Lives before you’re out of the game.
GPG TIP: This is a fun 2 player card game! I've seen mention that this game isn't fun for two players, but I disagree. My daughter and I often play this game with just us and have a blast. It moves quick and keeps us interested. I think one thing that may be confusing with two players is that two of the Wild cards basically do the same thing (skip yourself) when you have only two people playing.
Winning the Game
The first player to turn over all 5 life cards to the skull side is the big ole loser.
Don’t be mistaken, going out first doesn’t necessarily mean you win (but it does mean that other players lose a life).
The last player remaining with the most lives (hearts) left is the winner.
Only one person can be in charge on game night and I think we can all agree that it’s me, right?!?
GPG House Rules & Gaming Mods
I think in the regular game rules it says that the first person to lose all their lives is out and the other players continue to play.
Well, how boring. Who wants to sit around watching everyone else have fun while you eat game snacks?!? (Ok, snacks, but still…)
In our family we get really grumpy when bored, so we do everything we can to avoid it.
For our 5 Alive, we play that the game immediately ends once one person turns over all lives (skull sides showing).
For our house rules, we play that the person with the most lives (heart cards showing) at that time automatically wins.
If there’s a tie with two people showing the same number of lives, then we do play that the remaining players continue playing out until the tie is broken.
Our Owen Game Rating: 5 Paws
This game gets a solid Owen 5 Rating (it’s like 5 stars, but better) from all of us.
We loved the ease of learning the game and the quick game play, and the fact that Wild Cards added strategy and unpredictability.
This is our new go-to game for family game time. (Sorry Skip-Bo. It was good for years while it lasted…)
GET THE 5 ALIVE CARD GAMELet me know what you think about the 5 Alive Card Game!
