5 Crowns Rules

AGES:

8 to adult

PLAYERS:

1 to 7

OBJECT:

To obtain the lowest number of points after playing all eleven hands of the game.

THE CARDS:

The game consists of two 58-card decks.

Each deck has three Jokers and five suits:

stars *, hearts ♥, clubs ♣, spades ♠, and diamonds ♦. Each suit has eleven cards: 3 through 10, Jack, Queen and King.

The braille has the numbers(dropped letters like Nemeth) followed by the first letter of the suit. The st sign is used for the star suit.

CARD VALUES:

Each number card is worth its face value, the Jacks are 11 points, Queens are 12, Kings are 13, Jokers are 50, and the current wild card is 20 points. The wild card changes from hand to hand. For each hand, the card that matches the number of cards dealt in the hand is wild. Thus, when three cards are dealt, the 3s are wild, when four cards are dealt, the 4s are wild, and so on until the last hand when the Kings are wild. Jokers are always wild.

RUNS:

A run consists of a sequence of three or more cards of the same suit, e.g., 5♣, 6♣, 7♣, or 9*, 10*, J*, Q*. Any card in a run can be replaced by any wild card or Joker.

For example, when 7s are wild, a run could be made from 9♦, 7♣, J♦, or 6♦, 7*, 7*, 9♦.

You can have as many wild cards or Jokers in a run as you wish (and they may be adjacent to each other).

BOOKS:

A book consists of three or more cards of the same value regardless of suit, e.g., 8♣, 8*, 8♠, or K♠, K♦, K♥, K♥.

Any card in a book can be replaced by any wild card or Joker.

For example, if 8s are wild, then a book could be 8♠, Q♠, Q*.

You can have as many wild cards or Jokers in a book as you wish (and they may be adjacent to each other).

THE DEAL:

Before each hand is dealt, all the cards (both decks) are shuffled together. In the first hand, three cards are dealt, one at a time in a clockwise direction starting with the person to the dealer’s left. In each following hand, the number of cards dealt increases by one; thus, the second hand has four cards, the third hand has five cards, etc. In the last hand of the game each player has thirteen cards. After each deal, the remaining cards are placed in the center as a draw pile, and the top card is turned over to start the discard pile.

THE PLAY:

The player to the dealer’s left goes first, and play continues clockwise. Each turn starts with either drawing a card from the deck or picking up the top card from the discard pile. The turn is completed by discarding one card. A player can only lay down his/her books and/or runs when going out or, in turn, after another player has gone out (see GOING OUT).

When a player is able to go out, the remaining players each have one last turn. Each remaining player, in turn, will either draw from the deck or pick up the top discard. The player will then lay down all his/her books and/or runs, discard one card, and count the cards remaining in his/her hand as points against him/her. One cannot play on another player’s books or runs. The value of the cards on the table does not matter, only cards remaining unused in the hand are counted. The scorekeeper records the points and keeps a running tally.

The deal passes to the player on the dealer’s left, all cards are shuffled and the next hand is dealt. The number of cards dealt increases by one card each deal, and the wild card changes as described above. Play continues until the eleventh hand when the Kings are wild. Low score wins.

GOING OUT:

After drawing from the deck or picking up the top card from the discard pile, if a player is able to arrange all the cards in his/her hand into books and/or runs with one card remaining, he/she lays the cards down and discards the one card to go out. The discard can be a card that could have been played on the cards laid down.

NOTES:

1. Keep your options open. You can come from behind even in the last hand...hence our slogan: The game isn’t over ‘til the Kings go wild!®

2. Whenever you are uncertain which card is wild, count the number of cards you were dealt.

3. If you have only one wild card or Joker in your hand after someone goes out and you can’t play it, you may wish to discard it. This will cut your losses (wild cards and Jokers are worth lots of points), but unfortunately it will probably help your opponents.

4. In the last hand of a seven player game, if all the remaining cards in the deck are used, the discard pile should be reshuffled and used to replenish the deck. Combine 2 games and play with up to 14 people.

Solitaire Instructions

THE OBJECT: To close out all 11 hands.

THE DEAL: Deal out 11 piles with 3 cards in the first pile, 4 in the second, 5 in the third, etc. with the eleventh pile having 13 cards. Each pile is equal to a hand. Lay out each of the 11 hands so you can view all cards. The first pile is the 3 card hand, in which 3s are wild; the second is the 4 card hand in which 4s are wild, etc. You may not move cards between hands.

THE PLAY: From the cards remaining in the deck, turn over the top card. Looking at all the hands, play the card in whichever hand you feel will benefit most, and discard one card from that hand. The discard can’t be used again. When a hand is able to go out, (according to the normal Five Crowns rules) turn it over. Continue to draw cards from the deck, one card at a time, until either all hands are turned over (you win), or the stack is depleted before you close all the hands (you lose).