How to Play Authors

By Jaques of London · Est. 1795 · Updated 2026-08-17

Authors is a card-collecting game for 3 to 6 players in which the goal is to gather complete sets of four related cards. It plays quickly, demands attention and a decent memory, and suits a wide age range, making it a reliable choice for family game nights and rainy afternoons.

The game is most often played at kitchen tables and on holiday, needing nothing more than a dedicated deck and a small group. Its straightforward rules mean new players are ready to go within minutes, yet the memory and deduction elements give experienced players a genuine edge.

A little history

Authors has been played in North America and Britain since at least the mid-nineteenth century. The earliest commercially produced sets featured cards depicting prominent literary figures, which is where the game takes its name. Beyond that, its precise origins are unclear, and the game appears to have developed alongside similar quartet and happy-families card games that were popular in Victorian parlour culture. It remains widely played today in broadly the same form as those early editions.

Setting up

1. Seat all players around a table so everyone can see who holds cards.
2. Shuffle the deck thoroughly.
3. Deal all cards one at a time, face down, clockwise. With some player counts the hands will not be perfectly equal; this is normal.
4. Players pick up and sort their hands privately without showing cards to others.
5. Decide who goes first, traditionally the player to the dealer's left.

How to play

1. On your turn, choose any opponent and ask them by name for a specific card. You must name both the set (for example, a particular author or category) and the exact card within that set.
2. You may only ask for a card that belongs to a set of which you already hold at least one card in your hand.
3. If the opponent holds the card you named, they must hand it to you immediately. You then take another turn and may ask any opponent for any card, subject to the same rule.
4. If the opponent does not hold the named card, your turn ends and play passes clockwise to the next player.
5. Whenever you collect all four cards of a set, place the completed set face up in front of you immediately. This scores you one point.
6. Play continues until every card has been collected into a completed set. No cards remain in hand at the end of the game.
7. Count the completed sets in front of each player to determine the winner.

Winning and scoring

The player who has collected the most complete sets of four cards at the end of the game wins. Each complete set counts as one point. If two or more players are tied on sets, the tied players share the win; there is no standard tiebreaker, though house rules often use total number of successful requests made during the game as a secondary decider.

The fine points

The most common dispute concerns specificity of requests. A player must name the exact card, not just the set; saying 'give me any card from the Dickens set' is not a legal request. If a player asks illegally, the standard ruling is that the turn passes immediately to the next player with no transfer of cards. Similarly, if a player asks for a card from a set they do not currently hold any part of, the request is void and the turn passes.

A second frequent question is what happens when a player's hand is emptied before the game ends. The player simply sits out until the game concludes; they do not receive extra cards or rejoin play. Some groups allow an empty-handed player to re-enter if an opponent is forced to give their last card to someone else, leaving that opponent empty-handed, but this is a house rule rather than standard play.

How to win more often

• Track every request made at the table, not just your own. Each question reveals which set a player is working on and often which cards they lack.
• When you complete a set early, note which sets are still heavily split across multiple players. Target the opponent with the most cards from a set you need.
• Avoid broadcasting your priorities. Mix up your requests occasionally so opponents cannot reliably deduce which sets you are close to completing.
• Ask opponents with smaller hands first when you have a choice. A player with two or three cards is statistically more likely to hold a specific card you need than one sitting behind a full hand.
• Remember which cards have already been publicly moved. Once a card is handed over, you know exactly who holds it until either they pass it on or complete the set.

Variations

Happy Families format

Played with a Happy Families deck rather than an Authors deck, this version follows identical rules but uses illustrated family-member cards grouped by family name. The structure is the same but the theme appeals particularly to younger children, and the illustrated cards make it easier for pre-readers to participate.

Blind Authors

Players are not permitted to sort their hands; cards must be kept in the order dealt and held so the player themselves cannot easily review them. Before asking for a card, a player must state which card they want without looking through their hand first. This introduces a strong memory element and significantly increases difficulty.

Team Authors

With six players, the group splits into two teams of three. Teammates sit alternately around the table. A player may ask any opponent, including those from the opposing team, but completed sets score a point for the team rather than the individual. Teams are not allowed to communicate about their cards. The team with more completed sets wins.

Simultaneous Authors

All players may call out a request at any moment rather than waiting for a strict turn order. The first player to be heard by the target opponent gets the answer. If two requests are made at exactly the same moment, neither is honoured and both requesting players lose their next standard turn. This variant is louder and faster and works best with four or more engaged players.

Authors: frequently asked questions