In truth, it is a popular card game where players try to get rid of or discard all their cards in order to win a round. The ease of the game has spawned many variations with different names. In Germany, the game is called Mau-Mau. In the Netherlands, it is Pesten. In Switzerland, it is Tschausepp. Regardless of the name, the standard way to play Crazy Eights is to use a deck of 52 cards for a two to five player game. If there are more than five players, another deck of 52 cards is added. Eight cards are dealt to each player and some cards remain in a center pile, so make sure there are enough cards for the full complement of cards in an initial hand. As stated, a dealer deals cards to each player in a circle until each player has eight cards. The remaining cards are placed face down in the center. When the top card is turned face up to form a discard pile, that signals the start of the game. Starting with the player to the dealer’s left and continuing clockwise, players can discard by matching the rank (numbers) or suit to the top card in the center pile. If a Jack of Hearts is played, any Heart card or any Jack may be placed on top. The exception is eights which are “wild” and can be played at any time. When someone leads an eight, he or she gets to decide which suit is played next (regardless of which suit was the discarded eight).

If a player cannot discard a card, they must draw from the face-down center pile until a playable card appears. If the face-down pile of cards runs out, play continues and players simply pass if a card cannot be discarded. The game ends when one player has successfully gotten rid of all of his cards. The other time the game ends is when all players can’t discard and there are no more stacks to draw, thus locking the game. At that point, the penalty point scoring system comes into play. Traditionally, an eight in hand is worth 50 points, face cards are worth 10 points, and a spot card is worth face value (example: a five card is worth five points). Ironically, the ace card is treated as a one and is only worth one point.

Due to the simple rules, other variations have been formed and stipulations have been added to make things even more entertaining. A stipulation has a card, usually the ace, played to the discard pile, causing it to skip the next player’s turn in the rotation. Another stipulation is when a card, sometimes the queen, forces the rotation to suddenly go in reverse. The player who placed the flipped card plays again, and play continues on the opposite rotation.