Crazy Eights Card Game

Fast Paced Number Fun

My eight year old loves games. Any kind of game will do, so I shouldn’t have been surprised when he loved a deck of Crazy Eights by eeBoo our sweet neighbor gave him for the holidays.

In Crazy Eights, each player tries to empty their hand of cards first. You can lay down a card that matches either the suit or number, so it works similar to Uno. Eight cards function as wildcards to change the suit and can be played on top of any other card without matching. You can play by several rule variations, including drawing three cards when you can’t lay down a card, drawing until you get a card you can play (which makes the game last much longer but can also frustrate younger kids), or even playing in rounds with scoring at the end of each round. In that case, each card earns its numerical value in points, except eight cards, which count for twenty points. The player with the lowest number of points at the end of all rounds wins.

This game builds matching skills as well as practice taking turns, playing games, and strategy. It works for two players and up. Depending on the version, even younger kids can play as long as they have a firm grasp on numbers and shapes. Much like my daughter’s Fairy Queen card game, it comes with a sturdy box and pull out tray to keep cards safe between games.