The tarot card is a game that probably originates from Italy and should not be confused with divinatory tarot. It is played with a set of 78 cards, which includes 56 suit cards (similar to the standard 52-card poker deck, with the addition of a Knight card found between the Jack and the Queen in each suit), as well as 21 trump cards in ascending order and one "Fool" card, similar to the Joker but with a different origin.

In the most popular tarot game, known as French Tarot in most English-speaking countries, one of the players will be the declarer, who plays against all the other players. The goal of the declarer is to collect a specific number of points to fulfill the contract on which they bet at the beginning of the game. The goal of the other players (called the defense) is to stop the declarer from achieving their score. The defense plays as a team against the declarer.

After receiving their cards, the players take turns bidding on a contract, depending on whether they believe they can achieve the required number of points. The last player to bid becomes the declarer.

Many European card games are played either with the full tarot deck or with a subset of it, often redesigned in German or other Eastern European themes.