In Crazy Eights a lot depends on the luck of the deal. Anyone who plays dozens of games soon notices, though, that some players win more often. Not because they get better cards, but because they play them in a better order. Here are a few principles for Crazy Eights on HoyHop, against the computer or with friends. If you are not sure of the rules, start with Crazy Eights rules, the Central European way.
Remember what has been played
The pack has only 32 cards. There are four of each rank and eight of each suit. That is few enough to keep count without paper.
The three ranks most worth tracking are sevens, aces and Obers. If you know three sevens are already on the discard pile and you hold the fourth, no opponent can surprise you with a seven. Once all four Obers have gone, nobody can change the suit and you can plan more precisely.
For suits a rough estimate is enough. If you hold three Bells and can see three more on the discard pile, your opponents have at most two between them. Calling Bells after an Ober is then a good move: there is a good chance they will have nothing to play.
Save your Ober
The Ober is the strongest card in the game, because it can go on almost anything. Beginners play it as soon as they can. It is better to hold it until you have no other card to play. When you can choose between an ordinary card and an Ober, play the ordinary card.
The exception is the end of the game. With two cards left, one of them an Ober, play the other one first if you can. An Ober as your last card can always go on the pile, unless a seven or an ace is active.
Choosing a suit
After an Ober, call the suit you hold most of. If two suits are equally strong, let your opponents decide for you:
- If an opponent has just drawn on a Leaves card instead of playing, they probably have no Leaves. Leaves is a good suit for you.
- If an opponent has one card left, call the suit you know most cards of, because you hold them or they are on the discard pile. The more cards of a suit are out of play, the less likely it is that they have one.
- Do not call a suit you hold only one card of, unless it is your last card. Once it is played, you will have nothing left to follow with.
Sevens for defence and attack
A seven has two jobs. It can protect you when someone plays a seven on you, and it can punish an opponent. While everyone still has plenty of cards, two extra cards do not hurt much. A seven is therefore worth more in your hand as defence.
When the player after you has only one or two cards, it is time to use the seven. Two extra cards will spoil their ending. If they have a seven themselves, the penalty passes on, so keep track of how many sevens have gone.
With the variant where a seven means drawing three, this matters even more. A stacked seven means six cards, and after a hit like that a player rarely recovers before the end of the game.
Aces with two and with more players
In a two-player game, an ace means your opponent misses a turn and you play again. It is effectively an extra turn. If you hold an ace and another card of the same suit, you can play both in a row. If you hold two aces, keep them as long as possible, until the extra turns carry you to the win.
With three or four players, an ace only stops the player right after you. It is valuable when that player is the one close to running out of cards.
Change the suit or the rank
You often have a choice between playing a card of the same suit or of the same rank. The useful question is which suit you leave on top.
An example: the IX of Leaves is on top. You hold the X of Leaves, the IX of Bells and two more Bells. If you play the X of Leaves, Leaves stays on top and you have no Leaves left. If you play the IX of Bells, you switch the game to Bells, of which you still hold two. The second move is almost always better.
It also works the other way round. If you know an opponent is missing a suit, try to keep that suit on top for as long as possible.
When to draw instead
You may draw even when you could play. It rarely pays off, but there are situations. Say you hold only an Ober and a seven, the player after you has many cards and the suit on top is one you do not have. By drawing, you keep both strong cards for later and may pick up something useful.
Watch out for an empty stock. Once it runs out and the discard pile cannot be reshuffled, you cannot draw and must play. That is when it helps to hold as many different suits as possible.
Four cards or five
With four cards in hand, as is usual in Czechia, games are shorter and one unlucky seven matters more. Every ace and every seven weighs more, because by the time your opponents have picked up two cards you may be almost done. With five cards, as in Slovakia, there is more room for planning and remembering what has been played pays off more.
Playing the computer on HoyHop
The computer plays slowly so you can follow what it does. The line above your cards says what it played and whose turn it is. Keep an eye on it: when the computer draws, you learn which suit or rank it did not have.
Cards you can play are raised and the others are greyed out. One tap plays a card, so the game moves quickly. That is exactly why you should pause before every Ober and every seven to think about whether this is the right moment.
Playing with friends
The same principles apply with friends in a room, but people are less predictable than the computer. Many players like to save Obers and sevens for the end, so when someone is down to their last card, be prepared for it to be an Ober. How to play online with friends using a room code explains how to set up a room.