At this time of year, we love playing Christmas games. What better way of spending time together and getting into the holiday spirit? You can see our big list of Christmas Games here but today we wanted to share with you our new Christmas Crazy 8s. It’s classic crazy 8s but with a holiday twist.
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What You Need For Christmas Crazy 8s
You will need a standard deck of playing cards with the jokers removed.
Playing Christmas Crazy 8s
To start, shuffle and then deal 7 cards to each player. Last, the dealer flips over the top card of the draw pile to start the discard pile. If it is a special card, the rule change is left undone. If it is an 8 then the suit of that card is the beginning suit.
Next, the first player choses a card from her hand that matches the top card of the discard pile either in suit or number. If she doesn’t have a card to play, she picks up the top card of the draw pile. If she can then play, she may. Otherwise play moves onto the next player.
Play continues like this until one player has shed all of his cards.
Christmas Crazy 8s Special Cards
Eights
As in regular Crazy 8s, the 8 can change the suit of play to any of the player’s choice. An 8 can be played at any time during a player’s turn. The 8 being played does not have to match the top card of the discard pile. The player then announces the new suit that players need to follow.
Twos
When a player puts down a 2, the next player has to draw two cards from the draw pile as his turn. In Christmas Crazy 8s, anytime a player puts down a 2, she must say “Merry Christmas.” When a 2 is played on top of another 2, then the next player picks up 4 cards and so on.
Queen of Spades
As in Crazy 8s, the queen of spades has the next player picking up 5 cards off the draw pile. The player who played the card needs to say “Merry Christmas” as well.
Jacks
When a Jack is played in Christmas Crazy 8s, the player putting it down says “Jack Frost.” The next player is now frozen for a turn and misses a turn.
Aces
When a player puts down an ace, she needs to make a “ding ding” sound like a bell. The ace also changes the direction of play from either clockwise to counter clock wise.
Nines
Santa has nine reindeer so when you play a nine you must “gallop” your fingers on the table until the next player plays.
Fives
When you play a 5 you need to sing out “Five golden rings.”
Kings
Santa is the king of Christmas so when you play a king, you need to call out “Ho Ho Ho.”
Present Stack
The last rule change in Christmas Crazy 8s is that a player can put down cards that add up to a third number. These cards must be in the same suit and match the suit of play. For example, if the suit is hearts and you have the 4 of hearts, the 6 of hearts and the 10 of hearts, you may play them all on one turn.
Penalties
When a player notices that a player has missed the special action of a card played, then she can call him out. He now needs to pick up 3 cards from the draw pile.
Winning Christmas Crazy 8s
To win, you need to be the first player to play all of your cards.
Crazy Fun Times
There you have it, Christmas Crazy 8s. These new rules changes make it extra special for the holidays. You can also play these rules changes with Crazy 8s Countdown too (you can get the Countdown rules here).
To find even more Christmas fun check out our big list of Christmas Games, our Holiday section in our shop and our Grinch Party games. Christmas Crazy 8s is a perfect game to play to put in your Christmas Eve box, you can see what else, and why you should start this tradition here. Have a great holiday!
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