How to Play Crazy EIghts with Three People

Crazy Eights is a simple card game that's great for long trips or for a game night at home or with friends. The object of the game is to play all of your cards before your opponents do using the cards' suits and wild cards, the four Eights. These let you change the suit if you wish. Although Crazy Eights is most commonly played by two people at a time, three is not a crowd in this game.

Difficulty: Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Deck of 52 playing cards
• Three people

1. Choose someone to be the dealer.

2. Shuffle the 52 playing cards well.

3. Deal five cards to each player, starting at the dealer's left (when playing with two people, seven cards are dealt).

4. Turn over the top card and place it in the middle of everyone. Place the rest of the cards in a pile next to it.

5. Play begins at the dealer's left. For a player to play a card, he or she must have a card in hand that matches either the top card's number of suit. For example, if the top card is an Ace of Hearts, the person must play either an Ace or another Heart or an Eight. If the player has none of these options, he or she draws one card. If the player can play that card, the player does so by placing the card over the top card.

6. Play continues until one player has played all cards in hand. At any time a player plays an Eight, that player announces what suit will next be played (the player must have at least one card of that suit in hand).

Tips & Warnings

• There are plenty of ways to alter or spice up play.
• Keep score. Points are accumulated for every card left in hand when a player wins. Face cards count 10, Aces count one, each number counts that many points, except for Eights, which count 50. Set a point amount, with the lowest scorer winning.
• Deal more than five cards to start the game.
• Instead of drawing one card, draw as many cards as necessary until a player can play a card.