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Official Crazy Eights Rules
Crazy Eights is a popular and simple card game that can be enjoyed by players of all ages. Below are the rules and an overview of how to play:
Objective
The objective of Crazy Eights is to be the first player to get rid of all your cards.
Setup
1. Shuffle the deck and deal a set number of cards face down to each player (usually 5 or 7 cards per player depending on the number of players). These are your hands.
2. Place the remaining deck face down in the center of the table. This is the draw pile.
3. Flip the top card of the draw pile face up to start the discard pile. If the revealed card is an Eight, bury it face down in the draw pile and flip the next card to start the discard pile.
Gameplay
The game is played in turns, with each player trying to match the top card of the discard pile by either number or suit. Special cards, like eights, have unique effects.
Turns:
Play a Card:
On your turn, you can play one card from your hand that matches the top card of the discard pile either by suit or by rank.
If you cannot play a matching card, you must draw cards from the draw pile until you can play a card. If the draw pile is exhausted, you may pass your turn. Optional rule: A player may decide to draw from the stock pile even when holding one or more playable cards. e.g. a player strategically saves his/her eights for later in the round. If you decide to play with this rule, note that once a player starts to draw from the stock, they must play the first playable card they draw!
Eights are Wild:
Any eight can be played on any card, regardless of suit or rank.
When you play an eight, you must declare the suit that the next player must play (hearts, diamonds, clubs, or spades).
Special Cards:
Eights: As mentioned, eights are wild and can be played at any time. The player who plays an eight gets to choose the suit for the next card.
Twos (optional rule): When a two is played, the next player must draw two cards and forfeit their turn.
Queens (optional rule): When a queen is played, the direction of play reverses (clockwise to counterclockwise or vice versa).
Aces (optional rule): When an ace is played, the next player is skipped.
Winning the Game
The first player to get rid of all their cards wins the game.
The game can be played in multiple rounds, and players can keep track of points. The winner of each round scores points based on the cards remaining in other players' hands:
Eights: 50 points each
Face cards (Jacks, Queens, Kings): 10 points each
Number cards: Face value
The game continues until a player reaches a predetermined score (e.g., 100 points) to be declared the overall winner.
Notes/Variations
Additional Notes:
Some variations allow players to discard the top card of their draw pile if they cannot play a card from their hand. This can speed up the game.
You can play with multiple decks shuffled together if you have a larger group of players.
Crazy Eights is an enjoyable and easy-to-learn card game that encourages strategic thinking and can be played casually or competitively.
