How to play Crazy Eights

Crazy Eights is the friendly ancestor of every "shedding" card game — the family that includes Uno and Mau Mau. The rules take ten seconds to learn, but deciding when to unleash a wild eight, and which suit to switch to, gives every hand a little spark of strategy. Here you play one-on-one against the computer, racing to be the first with an empty hand.

Goal

Be the first to play every card in your hand onto the discard pile.

Playing a card

• On your turn, play a card that matches the suit or the rank of the card on top of the discard pile. A red seven can go on any other seven, or on any other heart or diamond.
• Your playable cards are highlighted — click one to play it.
• If you have nothing to play, click the stock to draw. Keep drawing until you find a card you can use, or the pile runs out and your turn passes.

Wild eights

• An eight is wild: you can play it on anything, and when you do you choose the suit the next player must follow.
• Eights are powerful but precious — holding one can rescue you from a turn where nothing else matches, so don't always spend them early.

Strategy

Watch which suit you're short on and try to steer the game toward suits you hold plenty of. Save an eight for an emergency rather than burning it on the first awkward turn, and when you do play one, switch to whichever suit fills most of your hand. Keep an eye on how few cards the bot is holding: when it's down to one or two, it's worth playing an eight just to change the suit and break its run. Empty your hand before the computer does and the round is yours.