Crazy Eights — Play Online Free

How to play Crazy Eights

Here's everything you need to start playing. For the full rules, with examples, scoring and the house rules families argue about, read our complete Crazy Eights rules guide.

Crazy Eights is a quick, cheerful shedding game for 2 to 4 players. Everyone plays onto one shared discard pile, and the goal of every round is the same: get rid of all your cards first. If you have ever played Uno, the idea will feel familiar — Crazy Eights is the older game that inspired it, played with an ordinary deck.

The deal

With two players, each player gets seven cards. With three or four players, each gets five. The rest of the deck is placed face down as the draw pile, and the top card is turned face up to start the discard pile. If that first card is an eight, it is tucked back into the deck and another card is turned.

Your turn

1. Match the top card. Play one card that has the same suit (hearts on hearts) or the same rank (a 9 on a 9) as the top of the discard pile.
2. Or play an eight. Eights are wild and can go on anything. When you play one, you name the suit the next player has to match.
3. Can't play? Draw. Take cards from the draw pile until you get one you can play, then play it. (You can switch to Draw one, then pass in Settings.)

Play moves around the table one player at a time. In BieGames you can tap a glowing card to play it, or drag it onto the discard pile. Tap the deck to draw.

When the deck runs out

If the draw pile is empty, the discard pile — all except its top card — is shuffled to make a new one. In the rare case that nobody can play and there is nothing left to draw, the round is blocked and ends there.

Winning a round

The first player to play their last card wins the round. Going out ends the round immediately — even if your last card is an eight, you don't need to name a suit.

How eights work

The eight is the heart of the game. You can play an eight at any time on your turn, no matter what is on the pile. Then you choose any of the four suits — you don't have to pick the eight's own suit. The next player must match the suit you named (or play an eight of their own).

In BieGames, four big suit buttons pop up as soon as you play an eight, and each one shows how many cards of that suit you hold. The suit in play is always shown in a small card-colored badge under the discard pile; it glows for a moment whenever an eight changes it, so the switch is hard to miss.

A few things to know:

• After an eight, only the named suit matches. Rank doesn't count, since the "rank" on top is just the wild eight.
• You can play an eight even when you hold other playable cards — but you usually shouldn't. More on that under strategy.
• An eight left in your hand at the end of a round is expensive: it is worth 50 points to whoever went out.

Crazy Eights scoring

When someone goes out, they collect points for every card still held by the other players:

If a round is blocked, the player with the lowest point total in hand wins it and collects the difference between each other hand and their own.

The game continues, round after round, until someone reaches the target — 100 points by default, or 200 for a longer game. Highest total wins. Prefer something quick? Choose One round in Settings and the first player out wins outright.

Crazy Eights strategy tips

1. Save your eights. An eight is the only card that is always playable, so it is your insurance against a long trip to the draw pile. Hold it until you have no other play — or until it wins you the round.
2. Steer toward your longest suit. When you can change suit by matching rank — say, a 7 of clubs on a 7 of hearts when you hold four clubs — do it. Name your longest suit when you play an eight, too.
3. Watch who draws. When a player draws on diamonds, they very likely have no diamonds left. Switching back to diamonds on them is the strongest move in the game, especially when they are low on cards.
4. Count the eights. Four eights in the deck. Once three have shown up, the last player holding the fourth has a big advantage — and a 50-point liability if they wait too long.
5. Dump high cards when someone is close. If an opponent is down to one or two cards, shed your face cards first; each one is 10 points you won't hand over.
6. Keep one eight as your last card. With an eight and one other card left, play the other card first. Next turn the eight goes out on anything.
7. Use the Hint button while you learn. It highlights the play the Hard computer would choose, using only what you can see.

Variations and action cards

Crazy Eights has been played at kitchen tables for generations, so house rules are everywhere. BieGames supports the most popular ones in Settings:

Draw rule

• Draw until you can play (default): keep drawing until a card fits, then play it. Getting stuck can cost you several cards, so blocking matters a lot.
• Draw one, then pass: draw a single card. If it fits you may play it; otherwise your turn ends. Rounds are gentler and last a little longer.

Action cards

Turn on Action cards for a livelier game that plays a lot like Uno:

Action cards still have to match the suit or rank like any other card, and the eight is still the only wild card.

Crazy Eights vs. Uno

Uno took the Crazy Eights idea and printed it on a custom deck: its Wild cards are the eights, and its Draw Two, Skip and Reverse cards are the action cards above. The big differences are that Crazy Eights uses a standard 52-card deck, you don't have to call out your last card, and scoring rewards the winner with the points left in everyone else's hand.

Other names

The same game is known as Eights, Crazy 8s, Swedish Rummy, Rockaway and, in parts of Europe, Mau-Mau (a close cousin with its own extra rules).

More quick games

If you enjoy Crazy Eights, try Kings Corner, another relaxed race to empty your hand. Our guide to easy card games for seniors has more friendly favorites for any age.