Play Crazy Eights
Crazy Eights is a card game enjoyed around the world. It is known by many other names including Crates, Switch, Swedish Rummy, Last One or Rockaway. Get in on the fun with these simple steps.
Contents
Steps
Setting up Crazy Eights
- Know the object of the game. To win the game, you must get rid of all of the cards in your hand by matching them with the suit or number of the top card in the discard pile.
- Shuffle the deck. Use a standard 52-card deck if there are five or less players. If you are playing with more than five players, combine two decks of cards.
- Pick a dealer. If there are three or more players, each player gets five cards. If there are only two players, each player gets seven cards.
- Place the remaining cards in the center of the playing area, face down. This pile is called the stock. Flip the top card over and place it to the side (face up) to start the discard pile. If the card is an 8, shuffle it back into the deck, and flip over another card.
Playing Crazy Eights
- Have the player to the left of the dealer go first. A player must either place a legal card onto the discard pile. If he/she cannot do that, he/she must draw cards from the stock until he/she picks up a card that can be played. If the stock runs out, shuffle the discard pile and continue drawing cards. Legal cards that can be played on the discard pile are:
- If the top card on the discard pile is not an 8, you can play any card that matches the number or suit of the card. For example if the top card in the discard pile is a 7 of hearts, a player could play another 7 or any card that has a suit of hearts, such as a King of hearts or a 2 of hearts.
- Know that if a player lays down an 8, this acts as a wild card. The player who put the 8 down must declare what suit he/she wants to change it to. The next player must either play a card of the declared suit or play another 8. If he/she cannot, he/she follows the usual rules and must draw cards.
- Strategy tip: If you have an 8 but can play all your cards without using it, hold on to it and play it as your last card, since you can play an 8 down on any other card.
- Continue playing in a circular pattern until one of the players runs out of cards. He or she is the winner!
Variations on Crazy Eights
- Know that there are many variations of Crazy Eights. Don’t be afraid to add on to the basic rules with your own rules.
- Switch up the way players are allowed to draw cards. In the basic way to play, a player can draw a card from the stock even if he/she has a card in his/her hand that he/she can play.
- Make a rule that says if you have a card you can play in your hand, you must play it.
- Make a rule that says if you draw a card from the stock that is a legal card, you can play it immediately instead of waiting for your next turn.
- Make a rule that says you can only draw a certain number of cards from the stock during each turn. If you still cannot (or will not) play a card that you have drawn, the turn passes to the next player.
- Make it harder for a player to put down his/her last card. Make a rule that says if a player has only one card left, he/she must alert the other players of that fact. If a player fails to do so, he/she must draw two cards.
- Make the game more difficult by designating rules for other cards. This makes the game more like UNO. Designate a number or face card to be a ‘skip next player’ card, a ‘reverse order’ card and a ‘draw two’ card.
- Example: Designate 4s to be a skip card. If you play any 2, the next player’s turn gets skipped. Designate all Queens to be reverse cards. If you play a queen, the order of play is reversed. Designate Kings to be draw-two cards. If you play a king, the next player must draw two cards.
Tips
- When you play an 8, choose the suit that matches the most number of cards in your hand.
Things You'll Need
- Standard deck(s) of playing cards
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