Crazy Eights

Full rules

1. Overview
2. Setup
3. Playing a turn
4. When the stock runs out
5. End of a hand
6. Scoring
7. Winning the game
8. Tips for beginners
9. Variants

Overview

Crazy Eights is the classic American shedding game: everyone tries to be the first to get rid of all their cards. You play one card at a time onto a shared pile, and it must match the card on top – either in suit (♠ spades, ♥ hearts, ♦ diamonds, ♣ clubs) or in rank (the value, such as 5, 10 or Queen). The eights are wild: you can play one at any time and choose the suit that must follow. Whoever goes out scores points for all the cards the others are still holding.

• Players: 2–7, each playing for themselves.
• You need: one standard 52-card deck without jokers (with 6 or more players, shuffle two decks together), and paper and pencil for the score.

Setup

1. Deal: pick a dealer. The dealer shuffles and deals the cards one at a time, face down, clockwise. Each player gets 5 cards – with only 2 players, 7 cards each. This is your hand; keep it hidden.
2. Stock: the rest of the cards go face down in the middle as the stock (draw pile).
3. Starter: the dealer turns the top card of the stock face up next to it. This starts the discard pile. If the starter is an 8, it is pushed into the middle of the stock and the next card is turned up instead.

The player to the dealer's left starts. Play then goes clockwise (to the left).

Playing a turn

On your turn, look at the top card of the discard pile and do one of the following:

• Play a card that matches it in suit or rank. On a 6♣ you may play any club (e.g. J♣) or any 6 (e.g. 6♥).
• Play an 8. An 8 can be played on anything. You then name a suit ("Hearts!") – you may choose any suit, including the 8's own. The next player must play a card of that suit or another 8.
• Draw. If you can't play (or don't want to), draw cards from the stock one at a time until you get a card you can play, then play it. You may draw even if you already hold a playable card.

You never play more than one card per turn.

Example: The top card is 9♦. Anna holds 4♠, 9♣, K♦ and 8♥. She may play 9♣ (same rank), K♦ (same suit) or the 8♥ (always allowed). She plays K♦. Ben has no diamond and no King, but he has 8♠. He plays it and says "Clubs!". Carla has no club and no 8, so she draws: 3♥, then 10♣ – that fits, so she plays the 10♣.

When the stock runs out

If the stock is empty and you need to draw, leave the top card of the discard pile where it is, shuffle the other discards and place them face down as the new stock. If there are no cards left to make a new stock and you can't play, you pass (skip your turn). If nobody can play, the hand is blocked and ends: the player with the fewest points left in hand wins it and scores the difference between their count and each other player's (if the two lowest counts are tied, nobody scores).

End of a hand

The hand ends as soon as a player plays their last card – that player goes out and wins the hand.

Scoring

The winner of the hand scores points for all the cards left in the other players' hands:

Example: Anna goes out. Ben still holds 8♣ and 3♥ = 50 + 3 = 53. Carla holds Q♦, A♠ and 7♣ = 10 + 1 + 7 = 18. Anna scores 71 points; Ben and Carla score nothing this hand.

The deal passes to the left for the next hand.

Winning the game

The first player to reach 50 points for every player in the game wins: 100 points with 2 players, 150 with 3, 200 with 4, and so on. For a quick game, simply play one hand – whoever goes out first wins.

Tips for beginners

• Save your 8s for when you are stuck – but don't hold them too long, they cost 50 points if someone else goes out.
• When you play an 8, name the suit you hold most of.
• Try to change the suit when the next player seems to be short of it (they just had to draw).
• Get rid of high cards (10s and face cards) early – they score 10 points each for the winner.

Variants

All of these are optional – agree on them before the game.

• Special cards: at many tables, a Queen makes the next player miss their turn, an Ace reverses the direction of play, and a 2 forces the next player to draw 2 cards – unless they play a 2 too, which passes on a penalty of 4, and so on. An 8 cannot be played to escape a 2.
• Draw only one: if you can't play, draw just one card; play it if it fits, otherwise your turn ends.
• No reshuffle: when the stock is empty, a player who cannot play simply passes.
• Last card: you must say "last card" when you have one card left; if another player notices that you forgot before the next turn, you draw 2 cards.
• Starter 8: if the starter is an 8, the dealer names the suit instead of burying it.
• Penalty scoring: instead of the winner scoring, every other player scores their own leftover cards as penalty points; when someone reaches an agreed limit, the lowest total wins.