How to Play To Play Five Crowns
 

• Ages: 8 to adult
• Players: 2 to 7
• Object: To obtain the lowest number of points after playing all eleven hands
  of the game.

The Deck:
The game consists of two 58 card decks. Each deck contains five suites:
stars , hearts , clubs , spades , diamonds

Each suite has eleven cards: 3 through 10, a Jack, Queen and King. Six Jokers are in the game.

The Deal:
Before each hand is dealt all the cards (both decks) are shuffled together. In the first
hand of the game three cards are dealt, one at a time, to the players. In each following
hand, one additional card is dealt to each player; thus, the second hand has four cards,
the third hand 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 stockpile,
and the top card is turned over to start the discard pile.
 
Card Values:
Each card is worth face value, with the

and the current wild card equal to 20. The wild card changes from hand to hand, and
for each hand, is the card which is equal to the number of cards dealt in the hand.
Thus, when three cards are dealt, the 3's are wild, when four cards are dealt, the 4's
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 - i.e.

5 clubs, 6 clubs, 7 clubs,

or

9 stars, 10 stars, J stars, Q stars.

Any card in a run can be replaced by any wild card regardless of the suit of the
wild card. For example, in the fifth hand dealt, when 7's are wild, a run could be
made from

9 diamonds, 7 clubs, J diamonds

or

6 diamonds, 7 stars, 7 stars, 9 diamonds, etc.

You can have as many wild cards or Jokers in a run as possible (and they may
be adjacent to each other). Jokers can replace any card.
 
Books:
A book consists of three or more cards of the same kind regardless of suit - i.e.

8 clubs, 8 stars, 8 spades

or

K spades, K diamonds, K hearts, K stars

Any card in a book can be replaced by any wild card. For example, if 8's are wild
then a book could be

8 spades, Q spades, Q stars

You can have as many wild cards or Jokers in a book as you wish. Jokers can
replace any card.
 
Going Out:
After drawing from the deck or picking up the top discard, if a player is able to arrange
all the cards in his/her hand into books 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.
 
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 stockpile or picking the top discard. The turn is
completed by discarding one card. One can only lay cards on the table when going out
or , in turn, after a player has gone 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 their runs or books,
discard one card, and count the cards remaining in his/her hand as points against him/her.
One can not 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 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.
 
Notes:

1. Skill in seeing how to make books and runs from the cards in your hand can turn your
luck around. You can come from behind 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 in your
hand, the wild card for that hand is the card which has value equal to the number of
cards you have.
 
3. If a wild card is discarded only the next player can pick it up. If it is not your turn
keep quiet, it could be missed. As soon as the next player draws, that card is dead
and no one can use it. This is the same for all discarded cards.
 
4. Since players have one chance to lay all cards down after someone goes out,
keeping 3 kings, for example, is an advantage (since they constitute a book which
can be put down), but having only 2 kings and no wild card is a disadvantage.
 
5. If you have only one wild card or a Joker and can't play it (this can happen in the
beginning hands), you may wish to discard it. This will cut your losses (they are worth
lots of points), but unfortunately has a good chance of helping your opponent.
 
6. In the last hand of a seven player game, if by chance all 25 cards in the stack are
used, the discard pile should be reshuffled and used to replenish the stack. If you wish
to play with 8 people, you must reuse the discard pile during the last hand to replenish
the stack. To play with more people you will need another deck.