Crazy Eights
Match the suit or the number, and the eights change everything.
The ancestor of Uno and the cousin of Macao and Mau-Mau. Two minutes to teach, and it works with a mixed-age table.
Goal
Be first to play all your cards.
Setup
Deal five cards each with three or more players, seven with two. Turn one card face up to start the discard pile and leave the rest as the stock.
Play
- Play a card matching the top card by suit or by rank.
- If you cannot, draw from the stock until you get a card you can play, or the stock runs out.
- If the stock is empty and you still cannot play, pass.
The eights
An eight is wild. Play one on any card, then name the suit that must follow. You can even name the suit it already was, which is a decent way to strand someone.
Scoring
The winner scores what everyone else is left holding: an eight is fifty, picture cards ten, aces one, everything else face value. Play until a player passes an agreed total, usually 100, and the lowest score wins.
Questions
Do you have to draw until you can play?
In the standard rules yes, which is why hands swell. A common house rule is to draw one card only and then pass, which keeps the game shorter.
Can an eight be played on an eight?
Yes, and the new player names a suit again.
What is the difference between Crazy Eights and Uno?
Uno is Crazy Eights sold with its own deck: the wild card replaces the eight, and the draw-two and skip cards are printed rather than agreed.