Ultimate Book of Card Games: The Comprehensive Guide to More Than 350 Games (84 page)

HOW TO PLAY
Pick a player to start (traditionally the youngest goes first, then the second youngest, etc.). He turns over two cards and keeps them if they match in rank—two 7s, for example, or two 10s. Otherwise, he turns both cards face down again and the turn rotates. The game ends when no cards are left on the table.

1. DIFFICULTY
   :
   low
   
2. TIME LENGTH
   :
   short
   
3. DECKS
   : 1
   

Kids love Crazy Eights, especially when you add in family “house rules”—for example, whoever plays the
10 of hearts
must jump up and down three times, or playing
A of spades
means the order of turns is reversed from clockwise to counterclockwise. The number of variations is infinite, and there’s really no such thing as a “bad” variation. To each his own variations, both in life and in Crazy Eights.

The traditional basic game is covered below, though few play it exactly as described. Like we said, Crazy Eights is all about homemade special rules and variations.

NUMBER OF PLAYERS
2 to 12

HOW TO DEAL
You need one fifty-two-card deck for up to six players; two decks for up to twelve players. Deal everybody five cards (seven cards if only two are playing) and place the remaining cards face down on the table (this is your stock pile). The top card of the stock is turned face up and placed beside the stock (this is your discard pile).

WINNING
The first player to run out of cards earns 50 points. All other players score penalty points according to the cards they are left holding: -50 points for each 8, -10 points for each face card or ace, -5 points for all other cards.

HOW TO PLAY
The game starts with the player to the left of the dealer. He may play a card that matches either the suit or rank of the top card in the discard pile (e.g., if 10 of clubs is the top discard, he may play another 10 or any club). If he cannot play, he must take a card from the stock.

Eights are wild. When you play an 8, give it a suit for the next player to match. For example, you play an 8 and declare it “hearts.” The next player must play a heart (or another 8), or else take a card from the stock. The game ends when one player runs out of cards.

1. DIFFICULTY
   :
   low
   
2. TIME LENGTH
   :
   medium
   
3. DECKS
   : 1
   

The name? Nobody really knows. The game has been around in some form or another since the 1890s. It borrows heavily from games such as Slapjack and Beggar Your Neighbor, but adds a few unique twists of its own. Kids love the game—or more accurately, kids love to slap the heck out of their friends and family. Try it at your next family reunion or teenager’s birthday party.

NUMBER OF PLAYERS
Best for 4 to 8

HOWTO DEAL
Start with a fifty-two-card deck. Deal the entire deck to all players, face down, and don’t worry if a few players have an extra card or two.

WINNING
The player who collects all fifty-two cards wins.

HOW TO PLAY
Players should organize their cards in a single face-down pile. The player to the left of the dealer starts by turning up the top card in his pile. In the interest of fairness (and self preservation), turn the card so that all players can see it at roughly the same moment, drop it on the table, and move your hand out of harm’s way as quickly as possible.

If the card is a numbered card, the next player turns up a card from her pile. This continues until a face card is turned up—now the fun begins!

If player two turns up, say, an ace, player three now has a fixed number of chances to turn up another face card. In the case of aces, you get four chances; for kings, three; for queens, two; and just one for jacks.

If player three fails to turn up another face card in the allotted time, player two takes the entire pile of cards from the table and places it at the bottom of his stack of cards. If player three succeeds, however, player four must now turn up another face card within the allotted number of turns.

In Egyptian Ratscrew, when we say “slap” we mean slap—be it a blow, smack, spank, strike, or whomp! It’s your call to set slap guidelines. We heartily recommend the Golden Rule: Slap Unto Others as You Would Have Others Slap Unto You.

During any point in the game, a player may slap—yes, slap!—the communal card pile if any of the following sequences are visible: pairs, triplets, or runs of three or more cards (
continuous ranking
is permitted, and aces play both high and low). The player who slaps the pile first takes all cards into her own pile and leads the next card.

Players are (temporarily) out of the game when they run out of cards. They may sit the game out, or they may remain as observers—and if they happen to properly slap a pile, they are allowed back in the game.

IRREGULARITIES & DISPUTES
In disputes over who slapped first, an impartial judge comes in handy. Failing that, if a dispute cannot be settled, then neither player wins the cards. The game continues as if no slapping had occurred. And whether intentionally or not, slapping a pile that does not contain a pair, triplet, or run has the following consequence: the pile is awarded to the player who led the card immediately prior to the erroneous slap. When players slap in error, penalties must be paid!