How to play CrashThe 13-round rummy card game for 2 to 4 players

Requirements

• A standard deck of cards with four Jokers
• A pen and a score sheet
• 2 to 4 players

Dealing

Choose the first dealer using the first ace method: deal cards face up in a clockwise direction until someone receives an Ace. That player deals first.

Players take turns dealing each hand clockwise. The number of cards dealt depends on the number of players:

• 4 players: 7 cards each
• 3 players: 10 cards each
• 2 players: 13 cards each

Place the remaining cards face down on the table — this is the Stack. Turn the top card face up next to it to start the Trash pile.

Gameplay

The player clockwise to the dealer starts, and play continues clockwise until one player has no cards left. That ends the round and scores are calculated.

On each turn a player must first pick up a card, either from the Stack or the Trash pile:

• Only one card can be picked up from the Stack.
• If a player already has a hand on the table, they may pick up as many cards as they want from the Trash pile, but they must use the bottom-most card in a hand straight away.

Making a hand

A player can make a valid hand if they can lay down a group of three or more cards, either:

• A run of the same suit, or
• A group of the same value.

Set

Four Aces

Short Run

9, 10, Jack of Hearts

Long Run

6 through Queen of Spades

Set with a Floater

5, 5, 5 — the 6 of Clubs stands in for the missing 5

5♠

Short Run with a Joker

9, Joker as the 10, Jack of Hearts

10♥

Long Run with a Floater

6 through Queen of Spades — the 9 of Hearts stands in for the 9 of Spades

9♠

The hand must be placed on the table face up.

Building on other players' hands

Once a player has a hand on the table, they can build on other players' hands by laying their cards on their own side of the table and telling the other players what they are building on.

For example, if Player 1 has 2, 3 and 4 of Hearts on the table and Player 2 has the 4 and 5 of Hearts, Player 2 can add their cards as a continuation of Player 1's hand. The same applies if Player 1 has three Aces and Player 2 has the remaining Ace. Floaters or Jokers can also be used when building on another player's hand.

Discarding

When a player has finished laying down all possible cards, they must throw one card onto the Trash pile. A player cannot end their turn without discarding.

Aces are low

Aces are always low and cannot be placed after a King. Runs that would wrap around from King to Ace are not allowed.

Rounds and floaters

There are thirteen rounds in a game, each named after a card rank. The current round's card is the Floater. Rounds run in this order:

1. Kings
2. Queens
3. Jacks
4. 10s
5. 9s
6. 8s
7. 7s
8. 6s
9. 5s
10. 4s
11. 3s
12. 2s
13. Aces

For example, in the 6th round the Floater is the 8. Any 8 value card is the Floater for that round.

A Possible and a Crash!

If a player thinks they can go out on their very first turn, they should call a Possible. This must be done before any other player picks up their first card from the Stack or the Trash pile.

A player Crashes! when they use all their cards on their first hand and called a Possible before anyone else picked up a card. When a player Crashes, all card values are doubled for that round.

Jokers

A Joker can be used as any value card a player needs. The player must state what card it represents.

If the player later picks up the actual card the Joker is representing, they must replace the Joker with that card. The Joker can then be reused elsewhere on the table or kept in hand for later. Jokers cannot be taken by another player.

Floaters

The Floater card changes each round and is shown on the score sheet. Floaters can be used as any value card a player needs, but cannot be used if that value already has all four suits in play on the table. The player must state what card the Floater is being used for.

If a Floater is used as its actual value, it may not be taken by any player and must stay in use as that card. For example, if the Floater is the 10 of Hearts and it is used in a "9, 10, Jack" run of any suit, it cannot be swapped out.

If any player picks up the card a Floater is representing, the Floater must be swapped for that card. The Floater can then be used as another value or held for a later hand.

The Trash pile

At the end of each turn a player throws away one card face up onto the Trash pile. Cards are stacked in the order they were discarded, with the latest card on top. All cards must be visible to the players, and players may take from this pile as described above.

Scoring

Each player totals the value of the cards remaining in their hand and subtracts that from the value of the cards they have placed on the table. The remaining value is their score for that round.

Scores from each round are added up as the game proceeds. The player with the highest total at the end of the game wins.

It is customary for the loser of the game to make the next round of drinks!

Card values

Card values are doubled if a player has Crashed.