How to Play Crazy Eights
Deal five cards each to three or four players from one 52-card deck and turn the next card up. On your turn play a card that matches the pile's suit or rank, or any eight, which is wild and lets you call the suit. If nothing fits, draw. The first player to empty their hand wins and scores every card the others still hold.
The rules, step by step
- 1Deal five cards to each playerThree or four hands from one 52-card deck. The rest becomes the stock — 36 cards with three players, 31 with four.
- 2Turn one card up to start the pileIf that card is an eight it cannot stand as a wild card nobody played, so it goes back under the stock and the next card is turned instead.
- 3Match the pile by suit or by rankYour card must match the suit currently in play or the rank of the card on top. That suit is whatever an eight last called, if one has been played.
- 4Eights are wild and call the suitAn eight can be played on anything. Whoever plays it names the suit that everyone must follow next, which may be the eight's own suit.
- 5Draw only when you cannot playWith nothing legal in hand, take from the stock — one card, or until something fits, depending on the rule in force. A hand that holds a legal card must play it.
- 6Pass when the stock is emptyThe stock is never reshuffled. With nothing to play and nothing to draw you pass, and if everyone passes in turn the round is blocked.
- 7First hand emptied wins the roundThe winner scores every card left in the other hands: eights 50, tens and court cards 10, aces 1, everything else face value.
Try it — the rules above, running
Your turn — play spades or fives, or any eight.
Tap a card that matches the pile by suit or by rank — only those are enabled. An eight is always legal and asks you which suit to call. With nothing to play, Draw takes from the stock; when the stock is gone it becomes Pass. The three-dot menu holds the table size, the draw rule and the optional twos-draw-two and queens-reverse cards.
Your statistics
- Played
- 0
- Won
- 0
- Win rate
- 0%
- Streak
- 0
- Best streak
- 0
- Best time
- —
A round counts as a win when you are the first to empty your hand, or when a blocked round leaves you holding the fewest points. Best score is your biggest single-round total. Kept per table size, in this browser only.
Keyboard
- Tab
- Move through your hand
- Enter
- Play the card you are on
- D
- Draw, or pass when the stock is gone
- H
- Hint — the card the opponents would play
- N
- New deal
- F
- Full screen
How do you set up a game of Crazy Eights?
- 1Shuffle one 52-card deckNo jokers. Crazy Eights uses a single standard deck whether there are three players or four.
- 2Deal five cards to each playerFive is the deal for three and four players. Two-handed Crazy Eights uses seven, but that is a separate game.
- 3Turn the next card face upThis starts the discard pile and sets the first suit. If it is an eight, bury it and turn another — an eight cannot start the pile, because nobody has called a suit for it.
- 4Leave the rest as the stockThirty-six cards with three players, thirty-one with four. Play then goes round to the left until somebody reverses it.
What counts as a legal play?
- A card of the suit currently in play — which is the top card's suit, unless an eight has called a different one.
- A card of the same rank as the card on top, whatever its suit. This is how you change suits without an eight.
- Any eight, on any card at all. You then name the suit that follows.
Nothing else is legal, and there is no way to pass while you hold a card that fits. If two of your cards are legal you choose between them; if none are, you go to the stock.
What happens when you cannot play?
| Rule | What you do | Effect |
|---|---|---|
| Draw until you can play | Keep taking cards until one fits, or until the stock is empty | The classic rule. Hands grow fast and the stock empties quickly |
| Draw one card | Take a single card; play it if it fits, otherwise your turn ends | Slower hands, a stock that lasts, and far fewer blocked rounds |
When the stock is gone, a player with nothing legal simply passes. If every player passes in succession the round is blocked: nobody went out, and the round goes to whoever is holding the fewest points.
How do you score a round of Crazy Eights?
Count what is left in everybody else's hands and give the total to the winner. Each eight is 50, each ten, jack, queen and king is 10, each ace is 1, and every other card is its face value. Nothing is deducted from the winner's own hand, because the winner has no hand left.
A blocked round is scored differently: the lowest hand value wins, and takes the difference between their own total and each other player's. Two players tied on the lowest value means no winner and no score. Many households play to 500 points over several rounds, which is why the four eights being worth 200 between them decides so many games.
How do you win more often?
- Never spend an eight to save one drawAn eight is the only card legal on every position, so it is your guaranteed answer to a suit you cannot follow — and 50 points against you if the round ends with it still in hand. Drawing one card costs you nothing like that much.
- Leave the pile on a suit you can follow againWhen two cards are both legal, the one that keeps a suit you hold three or four of in play is nearly always better, because your next turn is far more likely to be a play than a draw. This is the single biggest term in the opponents' own evaluation.
- Watch who draws, and on which suitA player who draws while hearts are in play has just told the table they hold no hearts. Steering back to that suit later is free pressure, and it is how you stop somebody with one card left from going out.
- Shed court cards before small ones when the choice is closeA king, queen, jack or ten costs 10 points if you are caught with it and a three costs three. Be caught holding a king, a queen and a three and you have handed the winner 23; get the two court cards down first and the identical hand costs you 3.
- Count the suit you are about to callBefore an eight names a suit, count how many of it are already on the pile and in your hand. Calling the suit you hold most of gives you a follow-up; calling one the table has barely seen gives everyone else an easy answer.
Common questions about crazy eights
- How many players do you need for Crazy Eights?
- Two or more. This board deals three- or four-handed games, which is where the five-card deal and the suit-calling really bite; with two players the game becomes a much more direct duel over one suit.
- Can you change the suit without playing an eight?
- Yes, by playing a card of the same rank as the top card but a different suit. A nine of clubs on a nine of hearts switches the game to clubs and costs you no wild card at all.
- Do you have to say anything when you have one card left?
- Not in the standard rules, and nothing is required here — the board simply shows every player's card count, so one card left is public. Some households add a call-out rule with a draw-two penalty for forgetting.
- Is Crazy Eights a game of luck or skill?
- Both, and the skill is measurable. Holding eights back, keeping a suit you can follow, and counting what has been discarded together lift a player well above the one-in-three a three-handed seat gets by chance.
Ready to stop reading? Play crazy eights on the full board, with controls and statistics tailored to that game.