Rules · 1 player vs computer

How to play Crazy Eights

Be the first player with no cards left, by playing cards that match the suit or the number of the card on top of the pile — and by using your eights, which are wild, at the moment they are worth most.

The rules, step by step

1. 1

   Each player is dealt seven cards. The rest of the deck sits face down as the draw pile, with one card turned face up beside it to start.

2. 2

   On your turn, play a card that matches either the suit or the number of the card showing on the pile.

3. 3

   Any eight can be played on any card at all. When you play one, you name the suit that the next player has to follow.

4. 4

   If nothing in your hand matches, draw a card. Keep drawing until you have something you can play, then play it.

5. 5

   If the draw pile runs out, the played cards below the top one are shuffled and become the new draw pile.

6. 6

   If you cannot play and there is nothing left to draw, your turn passes. The first player to get rid of every card wins.

Three tips that change how you play

• Hold at least one eight for as long as you can. An eight is the only card that plays on anything, so it is your guaranteed escape from a suit you cannot follow — spending one early to save a single draw usually costs more than it saves.
• Play from your longest suit. Leading a suit you hold several of means you can probably follow it again next turn, and it makes life harder for an opponent who is short in it.
• Watch how often the opponent draws. Somebody who draws three times on hearts is telling you they have no hearts, and steering the game back to hearts is worth more than getting rid of your highest card.

When the eight is worth waiting for

Suppose the pile shows the seven of hearts and your hand is the five of hearts, the seven of spades, the eight of clubs and the two of diamonds. Three of those are legal right now: the five follows hearts, the seven matches the number, and the eight plays on anything. The tempting move is the eight, because it lets you name diamonds and set up the two. It is also the worst of the three. Play the five of hearts instead and you keep hearts running, which you can follow again, and you still hold the eight. Now suppose the opponent answers with an eight of their own and names spades. You play your seven of spades, they play a spade you cannot beat, and this is the turn the held eight earns its place: instead of drawing through the pile hunting for a spade, you play it, name diamonds, and shed the two next turn. Same four cards, one different order, and the difference is roughly three drawn cards.

Three mistakes that cost beginners the game

Playing an eight the moment it becomes legal.

An eight matches everything, so it is never stuck and never needs to be played in a hurry. Keep it for the turn when the suit changes to one you cannot follow, or for the endgame when naming a suit can strand an opponent who is down to their last card.

Shedding your matching cards in whatever order they come.

Which card you play decides the suit the opponent has to answer. Dumping your only spade turns the game to spades and hands them the initiative — play from the suit you are longest in, so the answer they need is the one you can beat again.

Naming your favourite suit after an eight instead of your longest one.

The suit you name is the suit you have to keep playing in. Count what is actually left in your hand and name that, even when a different suit feels luckier. If the opponent is down to one card, name the suit they have drawn most against instead.

Common questions about Crazy Eights