Crazy Eights Rules: How to Play the Classic Card Game

Crazy eights rules are about as easy as card games get, which makes it a perfect first shedding game for kids and a quick filler for grown-ups. You match the top card of the discard pile by suit or by rank, and every eight is wild. The first player to empty their hand wins the round. If you know the popular colored-card shedding game sold in stores, you already know how crazy eights feels, because that game grew out of this one and you only need an ordinary deck.

Quick rules

• Deal 7 cards each for 2 players, 5 cards each for 3 or more.
• Turn one card up to start the discard pile.
• On your turn, play a card that matches the top discard's suit or rank.
• Eights are wild: play one any time and name the next suit.
• If you cannot play, draw from the stock until you can.
• First to get rid of all their cards wins the hand and scores points from the other hands.

What you need

• One standard 52-card deck for 2 to 5 players. Shuffle two decks together for 6 or 7 players.
• Paper and pencil, or our scoreboard, if you want to keep score across several hands.

Setup

1. Pick a dealer. The deal rotates to the left after each hand.
2. Shuffle and deal one card at a time, face down. Two players get 7 cards each. Three or more players get 5 cards each.
3. Put the rest of the deck face down in the middle as the stock.
4. Turn over the top card of the stock and place it beside the stock to start the discard pile. If it is an eight, bury it back in the stock and turn over a new card.

How to play

Taking a turn

1. The player to the dealer's left goes first, and play moves clockwise.
2. Play one card face up on the discard pile that matches the top card by suit or by rank. On a 7 of hearts, you could play any heart or any 7.
3. You may play an eight on any card. When you do, name any suit you like. The next player must play that suit or another eight.
4. If you cannot or choose not to play, draw cards from the stock one at a time until you draw a card you can play, then play it.
5. If the stock runs out, you pass instead of drawing. Some players reshuffle the discard pile (keeping the top card) to make a new stock.

An example round

The top discard is the 9 of clubs. Maya plays the 9 of diamonds, matching rank, so the suit changes to diamonds. Leo has no diamonds and no 9, so he plays the 8 of spades and calls "hearts". Priya has no hearts, so she draws from the stock: a 4 of spades (no good), then a jack of hearts, which she plays. Back to Maya, who must now match a heart or a jack.

Ending the hand

1. The first player to play their last card wins the hand.
2. If the stock is empty and nobody can play, the hand is blocked. The player with the lowest point total in hand wins.
3. It is polite, and in many families required, to say "last card" when you are down to one.

Scoring

Many families simply count wins. For a longer game, the winner of each hand scores the value of every card left in the other players' hands.

How to win

In a two-player game, the first player to reach 100 points wins. With three or more, play to 200 points, or simply play a set number of hands and see who has the highest total. Some groups reverse it: each player scores the cards left in their own hand and the lowest total wins.

Variations

• Draw one: instead of drawing until you can play, draw just one card and pass if you still cannot play. This speeds up the game.
• Action cards: a 2 makes the next player draw two cards, a queen skips the next player, and an ace reverses direction. Agree on the actions before you start.
• Stacking twos: if a 2 is played on you, you can play your own 2 and pass a draw of four to the next player.
• Eights only on matching suit: a harder rule where an eight can only be played if it matches suit or rank like any other card.
• Partnerships: with four players, partners sit opposite and win together when either one goes out.

Tips and strategy

• Save your eights. Use one when you are stuck or to finish the game, not as an easy first play.
• When you name a suit, choose the one you hold most of, or one you think the next player lacks.
• Pay attention when an opponent draws. It tells you which suit they cannot play.
• Get rid of high cards early in a scored game so they cost less if someone else goes out.
• Change suits when you notice the player after you is running low on cards.

House rules to agree first

• Draw until you can play, or draw only one?
• Do any cards other than eights have special powers?
• What happens when the stock runs out: pass or reshuffle?
• Score points, or simply count hands won?

Looking for more easy shedding and matching games? Try Go Fish, Old Maid, Kings Corner, or see our full list of card games for kids.