I Played Olivia Rodrigo’s Favorite Card Game, and I Can See Why She’s So Obsessed

My friends and I love any activity that gets us off our phones when we’re all together. Our instinct is usually to play some sort of game, and a deck of cards has proven to be one of the best screen-free activities. Whether you’re hanging out in the dorms, waiting for your food while eating out, or lounging in the sun at the beach, if you have a deck of cards, you always have something fun to do. 

As it turns out, one of my favorite singers, Olivia Rodrigo, agrees! The 23-year-old songwriter and musician has spoken about her love of card games on a few occasions, and recently brought it up again on the Popcast, The New York Times’ music podcast, where she said she travels with multiple decks and even has special names for some of the suits — she refers to diamonds as “sparkles”! There’s one game in particular she’s named her love for in multiple interviews: cambio. After hearing Olivia rave about it once again, I had to give it a try with my friends.

After texting my group chat and looking up the cambio card game rules, I was ready to try my hand at Olivia’s go-to game. (You only need a classic deck of cards, but if you want something a little more straightforward, you can also check out the Cambio: Into the Wild deck — there’s a great video tutorial on the site, too!) Here’s how to play: 

• A standard 52-card deck of playing cards
• A flat surface to play on
• Two or more players (although, it’s more fun with a bigger group!)

• Deal four cards to each player, face down in a 2×2 grid. (The cards in front of you remain face down on the table throughout the game. The only time you put a card face-up is when you discard it.)
• Place the rest of the deck in the center, face down.
• Before play begins, each player may secretly peek at the two cards closest to them. This is the only time you’re allowed to see what’s in your hand, unless you get a special card later.
• The game starts with the player to the dealer’s left, and they begin the game by picking up a face-down card from the center pile and follow the rules below. The game continues by passing the turn to the left.
• The goal is to finish with the lowest total point value in your hand.

• 2-10: face value
• Jack, queen, and black king: 10 points
• Red king: -1 point
• Ace: 1 point
• Joker: 0 points

As you’re playing, whenever a player discards — you discard with the number facing up — the following playing cards, that person can take the corresponding action.

• 7 or 8 (any suit): Secretly look at one of your cards.
• 9 or 10 (any suit): Secretly look at one of another player’s cards.
• Jack or queen (any suit): Switch one of your cards — with the card number still facing down — with one from another player’s hand. No peeking at either cards!
• Black king (clubs or spades): Look at one of your own cards and one card from another player, and then decide if you want to switch them.

• Players must play only using one hand! 
• On your turn, draw the top card from the deck.
• You can either discard it immediately (say, if it’s a high value card), or use the new card to replace one of the face-down cards in your hand.
• If you replace one of your cards, the card you were initially dealt and are now removing goes face-up in the discard pile.

• If the top card in the discard pile matches the value (the suit doesn’t matter) of one in your hand, you can “stick” it (aka place it on top of the discard pile) at any time — even during someone else’s turn.
• If you’re correct, you get to discard an additional card from your hand. If you’re wrong, you receive a penalty card.
• You can also stick another player’s card if you know its value from a previously played special card, and you’re quicker than them!
  • If you correctly stick another player’s card, you may give one of your cards to that player.
  • If you are wrong, you keep the card that you attempted to stick and receive a penalty card.
• Penalty cards are also given to players caught playing with two hands. You may never look at a penalty card!

• When you think you have the lowest-scoring hand, call “Cambio!” at the start of your turn.
• Whoever calls “Cambio!” does not play, but everyone else is given one final turn.
• Then, everyone flips over their cards and adds up their respective total points, following the value guide above.
• The player with the lowest score wins!

After looking into the rules, I gathered my friends to play Cambio. Five of us cozied up in my living room, and I have to admit, it was confusing at first. There are a lot of special cards and rules to remember, and we had to go over the concept of “sticking” a few times before it clicked. It definitely helped to keep the rules open on my laptop so we could reference them throughout the game. But, each round we played got easier, more fun, and much more competitive!

I also didn’t expect playing with one hand to be so difficult. It seems like such a small rule, but my friends and I caught each other using both hands at least once per round. Eventually we made up a house rule: instead of handing out penalty cards, anyone caught using two hands had to do five jumping jacks!

My biggest piece of advice is to grab low-value cards whenever you can. Hold on to aces, jokers, and red kings! Definitely call “Cambio!” whenever you think you have the lowest-value hand, but I have to warn you that anything can happen. In one round, my roommate confidently called “Cambio!” On my final turn, I swapped my queen with one of her cards. It turned out I took her two of hearts, and I ended up winning the round!

After playing, I can attest Olivia is onto something. Cambio is a fun game that gets the whole group involved. It’s a little tricky to pick up at first, but it gets easier the more you play. I’ll absolutely be playing again, especially with a big group of friends.