The goal
In Crazy Eights you want to empty your hand before anyone else. Whoever is left holding cards pays for them, and the lowest score wins the game.
The deal
Five cards each with two or three players, seven with four or more. A host may deal five or seven at any table size. One card is turned up to start the pile, and the rest is the stock. The starting card never triggers anything.
The play
Play a card that matches the suit in force or the rank on top of the pile. If you have a legal play you must make it. Here the jack of hearts matches the suit.
On an ordinary turn with nothing legal you draw one card and your turn ends, whether that card was playable or not. A host may set Drawing to Until playable: you draw until a card fits, then you must play.
An eight is wild: play it on anything, even another eight, and name the suit that follows. The one exception is a draw penalty on you, below. After an eight only the named suit counts, not the eight's own suit.
A table you host, or a game against bots, starts with power cards on: a two makes the next player draw two, and the queen of spades draws four. Whoever draws also loses their turn. A jack skips the next player and an ace reverses the direction of play. With two players, either one gives you another turn. Ranked games switch all of those off, so only eights are special there.
Stacking is on with them. Facing a two, you answer with a two of your own if you hold one, and the growing total passes to the next player. Nothing else may be played on a penalty, not even an eight. Without an answer you draw the total and lose your turn. The queen of spades can never be answered, and a two never answers it. If the stock is short, you draw what is left and the rest is forgiven.
Scoring
The round ends the instant somebody empties their hand. Everyone else adds up what they still hold. An eight costs fifty, a king, queen, jack or ten costs ten, an ace costs one, and the rest their face value. Going out on a power card still ends the round at once, and any penalty it made is never paid. An eight left in your hand costs fifty, so spend eights before somebody can go out.
If the stock runs out and the player to move has nothing legal, the round ends and hands are counted as they stand. The pile is never shuffled back in.
Winning
Play continues until somebody reaches the target, one hundred unless the host picks 50 or 200 (ranked is always 100). Then the lowest score wins, and if the lowest is shared, another round is dealt. A player who leaves, or whose reconnect time runs out, ends the game for everyone.
