How to play Crazy Eights

Crazy Eights rules in short

• Each player gets 7 cards. The top card of the deck is turned face up to start the pile.
• On your turn, play one card that matches the top card of the pile by suit or by number.
• Eights are wild. You can play an 8 on any card, and then you choose the next suit.
• If none of your cards match, draw from the deck until you get one that does, then play it.
• If the deck runs out, shuffle the pile, all but its top card, to make a new deck.
• The first player to get rid of all their cards wins.

What you need

An ordinary pack of 52 cards, with no jokers. This guide describes the game for two players, as in our game. Three or more players can play by the same rules, with five cards each instead of seven.

Dealing the cards

Shuffle and deal 7 cards to each player, one at a time and face down. Put the rest of the pack face down in the middle as the deck, also called the stock, and turn its top card face up beside it to start the pile.

If that first card is an 8, put it back into the deck and turn up the next card instead, so the game starts on an ordinary card. The player who didn't deal goes first.

In our Crazy Eights game, the cards are dealt for you, and your hand is sorted by suit, with any 8s at the end. Orange goes first in the first game, and the first turn then switches every game.

How to play a turn

Players take turns. On your turn, put one card from your hand face up on the pile. It has to match the top card in one of these ways:

1. The same suit, such as any heart on the 9 of hearts.
2. The same number or picture, such as any 9 on the 9 of hearts, or any queen on a queen.
3. An 8, which goes on anything.

The card you play becomes the new top card, and your rival has to match that one. If you have a card you can play, you must play one: in these rules you can't draw instead.

Eights are wild

An 8 can be played on any card. When you play one, you name the next suit: spades, hearts, diamonds or clubs. You can choose any of the four, including the 8's own suit.

Your rival must then play a card of the suit you named, or another 8. Nothing else counts: not the 8's own suit, unless you named it, and not the card under the 8.

An 8 can go on another 8, and whoever plays it names a new suit. In our game, tap the 8, then pick the suit.

When you can't play: draw

If none of your cards match, draw one card from the deck. If you can play it, play it at once. If you can't, draw again, and keep drawing until you get a card you can play. Your turn ends when you play it.

• You never draw while you hold a card you could play.
• The card you finally play is always the one you've just drawn, because none of the others matched. If it's an 8, you name the suit as usual.
• A long draw is bad luck, but you'll have more cards to choose from on your next turn.

When the deck runs out

If you need to draw and the deck is empty, take all the cards in the pile except the top one, shuffle them and put them face down as a new deck. The top card stays where it is, and play goes on. Our game does this for you.

When nobody can play

Very rarely, nearly every card ends up in the two hands: the deck is empty, the pile is down to its top card, and neither of you can play. Then the game is blocked. You both pass, and the player whose cards are worth fewer points wins:

If both hands are worth the same, the game is a draw.

How to win

The first player to play their last card wins. Your last card can be any card you're allowed to play, an 8 included.

In our game, each game is a single deal, and the bar at the top counts the games each of you has won. Many families play several deals and keep a running score instead: see other ways to play.

Common mistakes

• Matching the colour instead of the suit. A diamond can't go on a heart just because both are red. Our cards give each suit its own colour, with diamonds in blue, so it's easy to see.
• Following the 8's suit instead of the named one. After an 8, only the named suit counts, or another 8.
• Matching the card under the 8. Once an 8 is on top, the card beneath it no longer counts.
• Forgetting to name a suit when you play an 8. Say it out loud as you put the card down.
• Drawing when you could play. If one of your cards matches, you have to play.
• Stopping after one draw. Keep drawing until you get a card you can play.
• Playing two cards at once. You play one card a turn, even when two of them match.

Tips for beginners

• Save your 8s. An 8 rescues you whenever you're stuck, so don't spend one while another card will do.
• Stick to your longest suit. If you hold four clubs, steer the game towards clubs, and name clubs when you play an 8.
• Change suit with a matching number. The 9 of spades on the 9 of hearts moves the game from hearts to spades without using an 8.
• Remember what your rival couldn't follow. If they draw on diamonds, they have no diamonds, so play diamonds, or name them with your next 8.
• Keep an eye on your rival's hand. When they're down to one or two cards, play the suit they're short of.
• Count the 8s. There are only four. Once you've seen them all played, nobody can change the suit with an 8 any more.

Other ways to play Crazy Eights

Crazy Eights is played all over the world, and many families have rules of their own. These are some of the most common changes:

• Drawing. Some players draw only one card a turn, and others draw up to a set number of cards and then pass. Some let you draw even when you could play.
• No new deck. When the deck runs out, some players don't shuffle the pile: if you can't play, you pass. Games get blocked more often that way.
• An 8 turned up first. Some players keep it as the first card, and the dealer names the suit.
• How many cards. Some rule books deal five cards each, even with two players.
• Special cards. Many families give other cards powers too: a 2 makes the next player draw two cards unless they play a 2 of their own, a queen makes the next player miss a turn, and an ace reverses the order of play when there are more than two players. In some versions, the card that changes the suit is an ace, a jack or a 7 instead of an 8.
• Calling "last card". When you're down to one card, you have to say so. If you haven't said it by the time the next player's turn begins, you draw two cards.
• Scoring over several deals. When someone goes out, the cards left in the other hands are counted: 50 for each 8, 10 for each 10 or picture card, 1 for each ace and the number for the rest. Either the winner scores all those points, or each player counts their own as penalty points, where a low total is good.
• Other names. The game is also known as Switch, Swedish Rummy or Rockaway, and similar games are played as Mau-Mau in Germany and Pesten in the Netherlands.

Questions

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Updated 8 November 2026