Setup
Number of Players
- 2-5
Supplies Needed
- Full deck of 52 standard playing cards (no jokers)
Card Rank / Scoring
There isn’t card rank in Crazy Eights, but you do earn points by getting rid of all your cards first and collecting the remaining cards from your opponents. Here is the scoring system:
- 8s are 50 points each
- Cards 2 through 9 (except 8) are worth their face value
- 10-K cards are worth ten points
- Aces are worth one point
Deal
- Play high card for the first dealer. The deal rotates clockwise after each round. Start the game by shuffling, then passing out five cards to each player face down and one at a time. The remaining cards go to the middle as a community pile known as the “stock”
Objective
The objective of Crazy Eights is to be the first player to get rid of all your cards. If you aren’t, try to keep low cards in your hand since the winner get to collect the remaining unplayed cards for points. The first player to a predetermined amount of points wins! Here is a typical scoring structure:
- Two Players – 100 points
- Three Players -150 points
- Four Players – 200 points
- Five Players – 250 points
Gameplay
After the dealer passes out the cards to each player, they flip the top card from the stock face up next to the pile. If it’s an 8, it goes back into the middle of the deck and another card is drawn.
The player to the dealer’s left goes first. They need to play a card from their hand on top of the flipped card in the middle. They can do this by either matching the card’s suit or card rank. For instance, a heart could go on top of a heart or a six can go on top of another six. The exception to this rule would be if you have an eight. An eight is “wild” and can be placed on top of any card. Once an 8 is played, the player declares a suit. The next player must play a card of that suit.
If you are unable to follow suit or card rank, you must draw from the top of the stock until you are able to play or the stock is exhausted. Once exhausted, the player can pass if they are still unable to make a move.
The round is over once a player is able to get rid of all of their cards.
Endgame
Once play stops, the winning player gets to collect all of the cards from their opponents hands and add up their score using the card scoring system above in the Setup section. Once a player reaches the predetermined target point total, they win!
Crazy Eight Variation
Hollywood Eights
8s are 20 points, Face cards are 10, numbers are their face value, and Aces are 15 points. A fun variation if you’re into higher scoring!
