Crazy Eights — Rules, Scoring and When to Play Your Eights
Crazy Eights is one of the first real card games most people learn, and it has lasted because it is quick to pick up and still rewards thinking. Everyone gets seven cards. One card is turned face up to start the discard pile, and the aim is to be the first to get rid of every card in your hand.
On your turn you play one card that matches the top of the discard pile, either by suit or by rank. On a 7 of hearts you can play any heart or any 7. Eights are wild. You can play an eight on anything, and when you do you name the suit the next player has to follow. If you cannot play, or would rather not, you draw one card from the stock. If that card fits you may play it straight away; if not, your turn passes. When the stock runs out, the discard pile, apart from its top card, is shuffled to make a new one.
The first player to empty their hand wins the round and scores points for the cards left in everyone else's hands: 50 for each eight, 10 for each King, Queen, Jack or 10, and face value for the rest, with Aces worth one. Scores carry over from round to round, so you can play to 100, or to whatever target your table agrees.
Most of the strategy is about eights. Playing one early just to get rid of it wastes your only escape from a bad position. The stronger habit is to hold eights until you cannot follow suit any other way, and then name the suit you hold the most of. Watch what the other players draw for: a player who suddenly draws several cards after a suit change is short of that suit, and it is worth switching to it when you can. Getting rid of high cards early also limits the damage if someone else goes out first.
Here you play against one, two or three computer players. They follow the same rules you do and play sensibly. They match the suit they hold most of, keep their eights for when nothing else fits, and draw when they are stuck. Their turns run one at a time with a short pause, and the line under the table says what each one did. Cards you can legally play lift slightly and are outlined in green, which makes it a good way to teach the game to a child sitting next to you.
How to play Crazy Eights
- Choose how many computer players to play against.
- On your turn, tap a card that matches the top card by suit or rank. Playable cards are outlined in green.
- Play an eight on anything, then choose the suit the next player must follow.
- If nothing fits, tap the deck to draw one card. Play it if it fits, or press Pass.
- Be first to empty your hand to win the round and score the points left in the other hands.