Crazy 8 Rules: How To Play, Variations, Winning

Crazy Eights Rules: Tired of playing the same old card games? Don’t worry! We have a new card game that will turn your lazy Sunday afternoon on its head! Have you heard of Crazy Eights card game? Do you know the Crazy 8 rules? If not, fasten your belts because we will learn one of the ‘craziest’ card games ever!

The game is quite popular among social card-playing circles. This is because Crazy 8 is a simple but fast-paced game that requires minimal effort in setting up, dealing, and playing. Ready to learn? Let’s dive in!

How To Play Crazy 8/ Crazy Eights Card Game?

Crazy Eights is a card game that belongs to the shedding family of card games. In this game, players try their luck at losing cards faster than the other to avoid accumulating points in each round. As per Crazy Eights rules, the player with the least points to their name wins at the end of the game. 

The game is played using a regular deck of 52 playing cards, and each player is given a certain number of cards at the beginning. Their objective is to match the suits or the number of the top card and shed one of their own on their turn. Sounds elementary, right? A few regulation subtleties must be addressed, so let’s discuss those.

Objective

The objective here for every player is to be the first player to shed all their cards during a round. By doing so, a player avoids accumulating points. In Crazy Eights Card Game, the player with the least points at the end of the predetermined number of rounds wins the game. Each card has a particular value associated with it, and these cards rack up points. The player with the least points wins, and the highest comes last. Time to learn the Crazy 8 rules!

Crazy 8 Rules

Now that you know the basics of Crazy 8, it is time to understand the game’s rules – what is allowed, what isn’t, how to play to win, what to avoid, etc. The Crazy 8 rules are as follows.

General Rules Of Crazy 8

It’s time to get into the thick of it – the Crazy 8 rules! They are as follows:

• Players can play one card per turn.
• Every player must discard one card during their turn. This card must match the top card of the discard pile in either rank (5, A, 7, 9, etc.) or the suit (spades, hearts, clubs, etc.)
• 8 numbered cards are considered wild cards in Crazy Eights Card Game (obviously). These 8 cards can be played on top of anything, irrespective of suit or rank. 
• Once a player plays an 8, they must pick a suit. The next player has to either match the suit or play another 8. Then, the second player gets to choose a suit that the following player has to play, and so on.
• If you do not have a single playable card you can play during your turn, you must either draw 5 cards from the drawing pile or keep drawing from the drawing pile until you have a card you can play – whichever is earlier. There is an alternate version of this game where players must pick up 3 cards if they need cards that they can play.
• If a player draws a viable/playable card from the discard pile, they are allowed to play it immediately.
• If a player draws three cards but is unable to play any of them, their turn is skipped, and the next player (clockwise) gets to play their turn.
• Once a player is able to get rid of all their cards, the turn is over. Points are then tallied to pick the winner for the round.
• The scores are determined by the cards each player is left with at the end of each round. 

Deal & Setup

• A dealer needs to be appointed, which can be done either by a simple coin toss or a card-picking method. In the card-picking method, the entire card deck is shuffled and spread out. All the players pick a card randomly (without seeing it), and the player whose card bears the lowest value becomes the dealer.
• Then, the dealer shuffles the entire deck once again (face-down cards) and distributes it. Each player is given 5 cards. 
• The dealer then keeps the rest of the stack at the center of the table. This becomes the drawing pile. The top card of the drawing pile is flipped over to start the discard pile.
• Players are allowed to look at their own cards (at their own hand) but aren’t allowed to show their cards or look at other players’ cards. 
• The player to the left of the dealer begins the game. However, every player gets to play one card per turn, and the play continues clockwise.

Card Values

As mentioned earlier, every card in Crazy 8 has a particular value assigned to them. Let’s find out what the value of each card is:

• 8 numbered cards – 50 points (a 50-point penalty is levied on the player who has a wild card at the end of a round)
• Face Cards (J, K, Q) – 10 points each
• Numbered cards (1-10) – Points are the face value of the cards (8 is a wild card, so it is worth 50 points)
• Ace – 1 point each

ALSO READ HERE:- Kabaddi Rules: How To Play, Winning, Scoring, Techniques

Crazy 8 Variations

Want to make Crazy 8 even crazier? Try some of these variations/ Crazy 8 rules add-ons in your next game:

• Last Card Calling – By this rule, every player must call out that they are down to their ‘last card’ before putting down their second to last card. If a player fails/forgets to call out their previous card, opponents can call out the ‘last card.’ In such a case, the player is caught and must draw cards.
• Special Rules – This game’s variation of special rules for crazy eights card game is quite similar to UNO’s. Here are some fun variations you can try:

1. Skip Card – The Queen or the Jack can be played as a ‘Skip’ card. The next player’s turn is skipped if a skip card is played.
2. Reverse Card—Playing a reverse card reverses the flow of the game. If a game were being played clockwise, upon playing a reverse card, the game would proceed anti-clockwise. Ace cards are popularly used as Reverse cards.
3. Draw Cards – There are two types of draw cards – one that makes a player draw 2 cards from the drawing pile and one that makes them draw 4. Cards numbered 2s and 4s are the most commonly used drawing cards.

• Other Variations – There is another game variation where Jokers are also considered Draw Cards. In this case, the Joker’s action forces the opponent to draw 6 cards from the drawing pile. Another fun take on this is using the Queen card as a Draw 5.
• 7-card game—Usually, Crazy 8 starts with each player starting off with 5 cards in their hands. However, one particular house rule governs that players can start with 7 cards instead of 5. This generally lengthens the game. This house rule is implemented chiefly when there are fewer players.
• Stacking Discards – There is a variation to the regular Crazy 8 rules that dictates that if players have two or more cards of the same suit or number, they can discard all of them together. Whether this rule is allowed or not has to be decided by the players unanimously.

Tips & Tricks

Want a quick boost to get better at Crazy Eights Card Game? Don’t worry! We have listed down some really helpful tips and tricks that will allow you to improve your game faster. They are as follows:

• Playing the 8s – Knowing when to play the Wild Card is a trick you must master slowly. Sometimes, playing the Wild Card early on is beneficial to change the game’s trajectory in your favor. However, sometimes, it may benefit you to play it at the end when all or most of the Wild Cards have been played or your chances of winning are high. This is something that you can develop as you play more and more games.
• Play High-Value Cards First – Try to play all your high-value cards first to avoid getting caught with them at the end of the round. The objective is to win the game, and to do that, you need to have the lowest point in most games. Avoid being caught out with high-value cards because otherwise, their value will get added to your sheet.
• Switching Suits – It doesn’t matter if you have a wild card or not – your aim should be to try and switch to a suit that your opponents are struggling with. This will require them to draw more cards, and your chances of winning automatically increase.

Scoring & Winning

At the end of each round, scores are tallied to determine the winner. The player who has won the most rounds wins the game. Then, the cards’ respective scores are added to your sheet if you are left with one or more at the end of a round. According to the Crazy Eights rules, the player with the fewest points wins the round. That means the player with the lowest score wins at the end of all games.

Did You Know?

• The origin of Crazy Eights Card Game can be dated back to the 1930s. 
• While most people might be more familiar with UNO, Crazy Eights Card Game actually inspired its creation.
• There are numerous variations of this game worldwide, with each place having a different name for it. For example, in the UK, it is called ‘Switch,’ while in Spanish countries, it is called ‘Ocho Loco.’
• The game best plays between 2-5 players, but you can easily accommodate more players. You can also introduce a second deck of cards.

FAQs

Conclusion

There you go! You have learned another ‘Crazy’ card game, which you can introduce to your friends at game night! Make no mistake – the game might sound simple, but it can be highly competitive. So, stick to Crazy 8 rules. Keep it clean and simple, or add your own variations to make the game even more enjoyable! Want to keep learning such fun games? Follow ‘Play With Rules‘ and discover hundreds of games you can learn!

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