How to Play Crazy Eights and Similar Games: Rules by Country

2026-09-18

How to play Crazy Eights: play a card that matches the top discard by suit or rank, use an 8 to name the next suit, and be the first to empty your hand. The same game is played as Pis Yedili in Turkey, Ocho Loco in Spanish-speaking countries, 8 américain in France, 101 in Russia and One Card (원카드) in Korea, with special cards that vary by country and by table.

What every version shares

• The goal is to be the first to empty your hand.
• A card is playable if it matches the top discard by suit or rank.
• With no playable card, you draw from the stock; when it runs out, the discards except the top card are reshuffled.
• At least one card names the next suit.

Skips, reversals, draw penalties, the last-card call and scoring are set by the group. Special cards explained covers the common ones.

The rules country by country

Pis Yedili (Turkey)

Pis Yedili uses one or two 52-card decks, seven cards each, and the first card played must be a club. A 7 makes the next player draw 3, a 7 on a 7 makes it 6, and each extra 7 adds 3, which gives the game its name. An 8 skips, a 10 reverses, a jack names the suit, and each ace makes every other player draw a card. With no playable card, draw one (some tables allow more). The last-card call is "tek".

Crazy Eights (English-speaking world)

Crazy Eights uses a 52-card deck: deal five cards each, or seven when two play. An 8 goes on any card and its player names the suit. Common extras: a 2 makes the next player draw 2 or answer with another 2, a queen skips, an ace reverses. One rule set requires "last card" or you draw 2. The winner scores the points left in other hands (an 8 counts 50, court cards 10).

Ocho Loco (Spanish-speaking world)

Ocho Loco, also called ocho americano or makao, uses a 52-card deck and eight cards each. Match by suit or value; with no play, draw one card and pass. The 8 is wild and picks the suit. Beyond the 8, rule books disagree. One set: a 2 makes the next player draw 2, an ace draws 3 (answerable with another penalty card), a 3 skips, a 10 reverses. Another source lists different cards. Announce "última carta" at your last card; forgetting costs one card.

8 américain (France)

8 américain uses one or two decks. The deal is usually eight cards each, but one source deals seven and another scales it to the table (with one deck, 10 for two players, 8 for three, 6 for four or more). In the original version, an 8 changes the suit and cannot be your last card, an ace makes the next player draw 2, a joker 4, a jack (valet) reverses, a 10 gives another turn and a 7 skips; other sources differ. Say "Carte" at your last card, or draw 2 if caught.

101 (Russia)

101 is the Russian form of the German game Mau-Mau. It uses a 36-card deck, usually five cards each. Match suit or rank; with no play, draw until you can. Special cards vary; one set: an ace skips, a queen goes on anything and names the suit, an 8 makes the next player draw 1 and skip, a 7 draw 2 and skip, the king of spades draw 4 and skip. Leftover cards add up over several hands (jack 2, queen 3, king 4, ace 1, nine 0, others face value); at 101 you are out.

One Card (원카드, Korea)

One Card (원카드) uses a 54-card deck with jokers and usually deals five cards each (one source says 13). Match rank or suit, otherwise draw one card. Attack cards force a draw: a 2 makes the next player draw 2, an ace 3, the ace of spades 5 (3 in some regions), jokers 5 to 10 depending on the table. A queen reverses, a jack usually skips, a 7 changes the suit. The last-card call is "원카드"; if another player calls it before you, you draw 1.

All six side by side

"Varies": the sources disagree. A dash: not documented.

The rules people argue about

• Draw one or draw until you can play. Crazy Eights, Pis Yedili and 8 américain are all played both ways.
• Stacking penalty cards. 2s stack in Crazy Eights and 7s in Pis Yedili, and in One Card one rule set adds the damage together. See can you stack draw cards.
• The penalty for forgetting the last-card call. 1 card in Ocho Loco and One Card, 2 in Crazy Eights and 8 américain.
• Finishing on a special card. Crazy Eights ignores its effect and you win; 8 américain bans finishing on an 8, Pis Yedili on an ace, One Card on a joker; Ocho Loco charges a penalty card.

Agree on all four before you deal.

The same family online: Color Match

Color Match is an online game in this family, with its own deck of color and number cards and fixed rules the game enforces, so there is nothing to agree before the deal. Everyone gets seven cards. Play a card that matches the active color or the value of the top card. If you cannot play, you draw exactly one card, and if it fits you choose PLAY or KEEP.

On the Classic Table, a +2 can be answered only by another +2, and the pile grows. Nothing can answer a +4 Wild: the player it lands on draws the whole pile. The Bomb, unique to this table, is a fuse that goes off after three turn hand-offs and makes whoever has just been given the turn draw 4. No last-card call is needed; a ONE CARD! banner appears by itself. The first empty hand wins at once, and its last card has no effect.

Two other tables work like ready-made house rules (see what makes Color Match different). The Classic Table is free for everyone. Day & Night and Siege are premium tables: the host opens one for the room and everyone who joins plays it.

• Day & Night: every card has a day face and a night face, a Turnover card flips the whole table, and penalties are +1 and +5.
• Siege: a penalty of equal or higher rank answers a pending one (a +4 Wild on a +2, never the reverse), and the Shield cancels a pending penalty.

What to do with this

Before the first deal, settle five things: how many cards to draw, whether penalties stack, which cards are special, what a forgotten last-card call costs, and whether you can win on a special card. To skip the negotiation, play Color Match online or read How to Play Color Match.

Frequently Asked Questions