Also while out, I was looking for materials to build my own Election card game on paper before computerizing it even more.  I ended up hitting a teacher's supply store and I bought a package of blank dice and a 1,000 pack of 2 x 4 index cards.  

In the meantime, I ran across the web page for Decktet from http://felbrigg.blogspot.com/2008/10/holiday-games.html in part of my travels.  I was delighted at the artwork and the idea of a smaller deck with double trump on most of the cards intrigued me.  

Again, my first-grader and I put together the cards on the 2 x 4 index cards by printing out the PDF of cards at 75%.  After cutting and pasting, we made a deck.  It seemed a little flimsy and didn't look like it was going to hold up well.  

So, to the store again, this time to K-Mart to get some top-loading card protectors.  Last night, kid and I cut out more cards, this time at 100%.  We put them in the tuck cases and created the deck.  The good news is, they are more durable.  Bad news is, they are thick and the corners still aren't round.  Translation:  Ain't the easiest thing to shuffle.  Even at a meager 30-36 cards, it feels like you're trying to mix up a deck of glued together Uno cards.

Undeterred, I went about going through some of the rules made for the Decktet games.  I gravitated toward Quincunx, but found that there was no solitaire variant.  

The solitaire player version I whipped up is:
- No extra cards.
- A 4 x 4 grid, initial placement of cards at the corners.
- 10 cards dealt.
- No scoring diagonally for anything.
- If you run out of the cards and there are open spaces in the grid, you automatically lose.

All the other rules apply.  With this variant, you are forced at some point to pull some 11's and 21's to fill in the grid.  You have a fair amount of control over how you want to stack your cards, but you are more at the whim of what's in the deck versus what an opponent could do to make your life hell.

I had a blast with it and the plastic cards were bigger, substantial and gave it a more polished feel.  The art, again, was great to look at.  The game itself is a brain-burner in terms of all the different ways you can play a card and do the scoring.  I'm sure some strategies will develop, but it is a very engaging solitaire game.

I would like to try Jacynth tonight (SimCity CCG without all the counting - yay!), but I think Turtle Butt is in order with the kids just on name alone, but it looks like it would be a lot of fun.  The rules are simple enough, and if they can handle Yahtzee with straights, pairs and combinations, they can handle Turtle Butt.  :-)