Crazy Eights Rules and Strategy

The rules

1. Deal: seven cards each with two players, five each with three or four. The next card from the stock starts the discard pile.
2. Turn: play one card that matches the top card of the pile by suit or by rank. An eight may be played on anything; the player then names the suit the next player must follow.
3. Cannot play? Draw from the stock until you can (or, with the draw-one option, draw one card and pass if it does not fit). If the stock is empty, pass.
4. Going out: the first player to play their last card wins the hand.
5. Scoring: the winner scores the cards left in the other hands: 50 for each eight, 10 for each king, queen and jack, 1 for each ace, and the number for the rest.
6. Blocked hand: if the stock is empty and every player has passed in turn, the hand ends and the player with the lowest count scores the difference between their hand and each other hand.
7. Game: the first to 100 points wins (or play a single hand).

Why eights are precious

An eight can be played at any time and lets you name the suit. That makes it the card that rescues you from a long draw and the card that traps an opponent down to one card. It is also 50 points against you if someone else goes out first. So:

• Keep an eight as long as you can safely do so, as insurance.
• Play it when you would otherwise draw, or when an opponent is about to go out and you can name a suit they just failed to follow.
• If you hold two eights, play one freely; the second is your insurance.
• When another player is down to one or two cards, consider playing your eight early rather than being caught with 50 points.

Choosing which card to play

When several cards match, play from your longest suit. Keeping cards of one suit together means you can keep matching after the suit changes back to it. Among matching cards, get rid of high cards (kings, queens, jacks) early, since they cost 10 each at the end, and keep low cards and aces for the finish.

A rank match (a seven on a seven) changes the suit to the suit of your card, which is a free suit change without an eight. Use rank matches to steer the pile toward your long suit.

Watching the other players

A player who draws several cards when the suit is spades has few or no spades; keep the suit in spades while they are drawing and switch away from it when they finally play. A player who changes suit with an eight is usually heading for their long suit; note it and avoid feeding them that suit again. When a robot is down to one card, every play you make should either change the suit (with a rank match or an eight) or be a card you know they cannot follow.

The draw rule and the blocked hand

By default you draw until you can play, which can mean picking up six or seven cards. With the draw-one option switched on you draw one and pass if it does not fit, which makes hands shorter and more forgiving. Either way, a hand where everyone is stuck ends when the stock is empty and all players pass: count your hand carefully, since the lowest count then scores the differences.

Common mistakes

1. Playing an eight when a normal card would do. It wastes insurance worth 50 points.
2. Keeping high cards for the end. Shed kings, queens and jacks early.
3. Scattering your plays across suits. Concentrate on one long suit so you can keep matching.
4. Ignoring an opponent on one card. Change the suit, every turn, until they draw.
5. Forgetting the rank match. It is a suit change without spending an eight.

Glossary

• Wild card: the eight, playable on anything, naming the next suit.
• Shedding game: a game won by getting rid of all your cards.
• Rank match: playing a card of the same number as the top card, which changes the suit.
• Blocked hand: nobody can play and the stock is empty; the lowest hand scores.