The card game Creights seems to be a mix of Crazy Eights and UNO but is it’s own unique game with some crazy twists. There is a story that when it was first created, players would only be told the name of the game but not the rules or how to play. They would have to learn by playing. Although, that is an interesting idea, it doesn’t sound like something I want to take party in.
We have covered Crazy Eights and all the ways to play and UNO and we’ve covered another crazy game called Canadian Salad that has a similar feel to it as the each round has new rules. Creights is a fun new addition to this list.
Creights also goes by the names Craits and Crates, all being from a mash of Crazy Eights. In this post we’ll cover what you need, how to play, the rules, scoring and the different variations that I found. Let’s get into it.
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What You Need for the Card Game Creights
You will need one deck of cards, with the jokers removed, for 2 to 5 players. If you are playing with more than 5 players, you will need to add a second deck of cards. If you need some new cards, shop here; Canadians here. (The crazy Chicken Lady set, the sloth set and the Peanuts set all look really fun.)
You will also need something to score with. To get a copy of our Creights score sheet visit our free Fun Library. You can get your password in the black box below.
How to Set Up Creights
First, you need to know that each hand has a different number of cards dealt. The first hand has 8 cards dealt to each player. The second round has 7 cards dealt to each player. The third has 6 cards. This continues, decreasing the number of cards each round until the 8th round where just one card is deal to each player. Then the number of cards increases by one for each round until there are 8 cards dealt out in the 15th round. See the chart below.
Hand Number of Cards
- 8
- 7
- 6
- 5
- 4
- 3
- 2
- 1
- 2
- 3
- 4
- 5
- 6
- 7
- 8
The spot of dealer should be shifted to the left for each round. The rest of the cards are placed in the middle of the playing area as the draw pile.
Playing Creights Card Game
Before starting, you need to know that there is a special function to just about every card in the deck.
First, we’ve cover the “count” cards. As in Crazy Eights, when a 2 is played, the next player needs to pick up 2 cards and add them to her hand. That is, unless she has an ace or a 2. If she has either one of these cards, she can place it on the pile and the count moves on to the next player who either needs to pick up or add an ace or two. The count starts with 2 cards to be picked up and then one card for each ace and 2 cards for each 2 until someone can’t add to the pile. That player needs to pick up the amount of cards that is equal to the count. For example, if there is a 2, and ace, and another two the next player would have to pick up 5 cards and add them to his hand.
Next, are the 3s. These have no special power when playing. However, they become important in scoring. We’ll cover that later.
Now for the rest of the cards:
4 – is skip the next player
5 – all other players pick up a card
6 – the player who played the 6 must play another card that matches either the suit or number of the first card. If she can’t, she needs to pick up a card
7 – the player who is second on the left of the player who played the card needs to pick a card, the player in the middle gets a normal turn
8 – is wild with the power to change the suit
9 – is also wild with the power to change the suit to one of the opposite color
10 – changes the direction of play
Jack – none
Queen – none
King – none
On your turn, you need to follow the rule of the card played first. Then you must match the top card of the discard pile in either suit or number. If you have an 8 or 9, you can play these at any time, regardless of what is on the top of the pile.
Last Card
Like in Uno, when a player has only one card left, he must say “last card” or “one card”. If he doesn’t do this, the other players will call him out and he needs to pick up two cards are add them to his hand.
Shuffling Penalty
When there are no cards left in the draw pile and a player needs to draw a card, he takes all cards from the discard pile except the top one. The top one stays as the discard pile. Next, he shuffles the cards and places them as the draw pile. The first time the cards are shuffled, the play gets 5 points added to his score. The next time the cards need to be shuffled, the penalty is doubled for a score of 10. For the third shuffle the penalty is doubled again. This continues throughout the game, even in new hands. See the rule changes below for an alternative penalty system.
Going Out
When one player plays his last card, the round isn’t over. Instead, everyone reacts to the last card played. For example, if the last card played was a 5, then everyone except the player who put it down, needs to draw a card into their hands.
If the last card was a 2, then all players continue until someone has to pick up. If the play comes back around to the player who placed the 2, then he can’t play and needs to pick up the amount of cards that the count is at, and therefore, doesn’t go out.
Scoring Creights Card Game
When the last card has been played and everyone has followed the rules, then everyone tallies up the cards that are left in their hands.
The threes have a special power when it comes to scoring. The 3s themselves count for three points, however, they also cross off any other card, except 8s.
All other cards have the following point values:
Ace = 1 point
2s = 20 points
4s = 15 points
5s = 30 points
6 = 30 points
7 = 25 points
8 = 50 points
9 = 50 points
10 = 25 points
Jack = 10 points
Queen = 10 points
King = 10 points
Example: Cards left in hand are a queen, an 8, 6, 3, 2. The 8 = 50, the 6 will be crossed off by the three and score 0, the queen is 10 points, the 3 three point and the 2 is 20 points for a score of 83.
Winning Creights Card Game
The winner is the player with the lowest score after the 15 rounds.
Creights Variations
The first variation is for a shorter game. The game is played the same but only the first 8 hands are played.
Scoring Variations
Next there are a few differeneces in scoreing. First, some games have the 7s scoring 20 points and the 9s 30 points. Second, some have the 3s score 0 points and still have them cross off another card. Also, when you only have 3s left in your hand they are worth -50 points. Last, some games have to scoring -10 points for going out.
Direction
Next, if the play has been switched to going counter-clockwise when the round ends, then the dealer job also passes to the right. This rule change could have only two or three people deal in a game.
Last Card
The next Creights rule change is that the last card rule applies to the round that only has one card dealt. Therefore, everyone needs to say “one card” or they have to pick up two cards.
Power Cards
The next rule changes are about the powers of certain cards. To start, the Jack can force the next player to pick up a card and end his turn. Next, the queen of spades can have you picking up 5 cards and end your turn. Last, the king lets that player play three more cards at that time. The first two extra cards are ignored as far as powers and the last card played is the one that takes effect.
Jokers
Jokers are the next rule change. In this variation, the jokers are shuffled in. When a joker I played, it rewinds the play. That is, when a player puts a joker on the pile, the player who went before her has to do the action but it does not change the direction of play. Joker’s can also stack. That is, if player C plays a Joker, then player B plays a joker on top of that, then player A has to do the action below the jokers. When a joker is left in your hand, then it scores 40 points.
Partners
The next game variation of Creights is to pay in partners. When you play this way, the 7 is a “card or my partner.”
Two Player
Next, when you’re playing a two-player game, you can remove the kings and queens to make it more likely to get a shuffling penalty.
Shuffle Penalty
Now we come to the rule variation about the shuffle penalty. In the original game, the penalty keeps doubling until the game is over. So it goes 5, 10, 20, 40, 80, 160. This can rack up the points very quickly. So there are two ways to combat this. First, the shuffle penalty resets with each new hand. So in each round, the first time you have to shuffle it’s worth 5 points.
Second, the doubling is capped at 20 points. So the new pattern would be 5, 10, 20, 40, 60, 80, 100. That is that once you reach 40 points, you only add 20 points for each new shuffle.
2 Player World Series Or Figgy’s Game
The last variation of Creights is for two payers. To start, three hands are dealt. The extra hand is placed face up on the table and is often referred to as “Figgy’s hand.” Figgy’s hand is played I turn by the player who just played. Because the play direction changes, this means that both players will play for Figgy at some point. Figgy never deals. If Figgy has to shuffle the deck, he does not get the penalty. Instead, the player who is next to play gets the penalty. The last rule change is that Figgy starts with a score of -50. So, yes, Figgy can win the game. The game play is the same as any set of rules you’d like to play with.
Fun All Around
The card game Creights is a step up from Crazy Eights with different twists and turns throughout the game. No matter which rules you choose to play with, players will want to play again and again, making a classic new again. Don’t forget to get the score sheet in the Fun Library!
For the Crazy Eight rules, click here. For Crazy Eight Countdown visit the post here and to see how many other ways there are of playing Crazy Eight see the Big List here.
Be sure to check out our Family Game Shelf shop for tons of fun with seasonal and original games like our Whacky Putt—a dice twist on another classic game: mini golf.
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