We’re always on the hunt for card games that are easy to learn and fun to play. The card game Switch fits both of those as it’s similar to Crazy 8s and UNO but it has its own rules that make it a great one to try when you want to mix it up.
Switch is an old game and seems to be popular in the UK so you would expect it to have many rules changes. It is always best to go over the rules before playing so that there is no confusion as you play. On the other hand, playing Switch with players who all have different rules for Crazy 8s might be just the thing to reset everyone and keep miscommunication to minimum.
Let’s get into what you need, the rules, the game play and the variations for the Switch card game.
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What You need for Switch
You will need a deck of cards with the jokers removed. If you are playing with more than 4 players, you might want to play with two decks. If you need some new cards, check out the selection here; Canadians here. We think the Crazy Chicken Lady ones are fun looking!
Playing the Switch Card Game
To start, shuffle the cards and pick a deal. The dealer will now deal out 7 cards to all players. She will then flip over the top card of the deck and place it beside the draw pile for the start of the discard pile. If the card she flipped over is a Power card (see below), she will flip over a new one until it is a “regular” card.
The goal of Switch is to be the first player to shed all of your cards.
The player to the left of the deal gets to go first. He can play a card that matches the top card on the discard pile in either suit or rank. The player to his left will then take a card matching the new top card in either suit or rank.
Power Cards
As in the other games, there are a handful of Power or Trick cards. These are as follows:
Twos – when a two is played the next player will draw two cards into her hand from the draw pile. She will not get to play a card on this turn. There is one except. If she has a 2 herself, she may play this instead of picking up cards. The player to her left now must either play a 2 or pick up two cards for each 2 on the top of the pile.
Eights – unlike in Crazy 8s, the 8 cards will have to next player skipping his turn. Similar to the 2s, he can play an 8 on the pile, passing the skip turn onto the next player. The player who is unable to play an 8 will skip the amount of turns as there are 8s.
Tens – when a ten is played, the direction of play is changes. Therefore, if the play was going clockwise and a ten and you play a ten the play changes to going counter-clockwise.
Black Jacks – when a black jack is played, the next player can play another black jack, passing the effect onto the next player, or he will have to pick up 7 cards. When a second black jack in played, the next plyer will have to pick up 14 cards.
Red Jack – the red jacks will cancel the effect of a black jack. So if you play a black jack and the next player plays a red jack then nothing happens.
Ace – an ace can be played at any time on your turn. You don’t need to match the suit on the discard pile. When you play an ace, you can change the suit of the draw pile to anything you’d like.
Game Play
If a player can’t play, she draws one card from the draw pile into her hand. After drawing, if she can play that card, she may. If you can’t play, her turn is over and the next player goes. A player may choose not to play a card is he wishes. In this case, he would draw a card and play would move to the next player. This could be beneficial if he had a red jack and wanted to keep it for later.
Play continues until one player has only one card left in their hand. This player must call out “last card” or she will have to pick up a card to add to her hand.
Winning Switch
The first player to shed all of their cards is the winner.
Switch Card Game Variations
Fours – In this game variation when a four is played, the next player has to either play a 4 or pick up four cards. As with the other cards, if a second 4 is played the effect is passed on and the next player would pick up 8 cards.
Sequences – In some games the rule is that you can play a sequence of cards as long as the top card matches the suit of your bottom card and all of the cards are in the same suit. For example, if there is a 3 of hearts on the discard pile and you have the 4, 5 and 6 of hearts, you may play all of those cards. Some rules have you needing to start the sequence with the top card of the discard pile while others have to only needing to match the suit.
Eight or Wait – in some games, when you play an 8 the next player, and all others, need to play an 8 or skip his turn. If the wait is passed until the start player, he gets to play a new card.
Power card finish – in some games you can’t play a power card as your last card.
Jacks – some rules have the jacks changing the direction of play and no cards being picked up.
Last one In – Most of the time the game is over when one played has shed all of her cards. In this variation, player keep playing until only one player has cards. This is the looser of the game.
Playing for Points
To make the game more interesting and last longer, you can play for points. When a player sheds her last card, she wins. She now collects points for the cards that are still left in the other player’s hands. The points are as follows: Aces = 20 points, Kings and Queens = 10 points, and 2s and Jacks = 15 points. If you’re playing with the 4s as power cards they would be worth 15 points each too. The first player to reach 100 or 500 points is the winner.
Fun For All
The Switch card game is a fast and easy game to play when you’re looking to mix game night up. It is a great alterative to play when there are too many arguments when playing Crazy 8s. Give it a try the next time you dig out the cards. We’d love to hear if you do and how you liked it compared to the other better-known games.
If you’re curious about the 14 different ways that we have to play Crazy’s 8s, visit the Big List here. Be sure to visit our Family Game Shelf shop to tons of funs with seasonal and original games like Whack Putt the mini golf dice game!
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