CRAZY: the ultimate card game of craziness

This post may contain affiliate links, which means I’ll receive a commission if you purchase through my links, at no extra cost to you. Please read full disclosure for more information. Thank you for your support!

Crazy (Played with Rook/Face Cards)

“Crazy” is a twist on the card game of Hearts. But in my opinion way more fun! There’s 5 rounds of fun and craziness! Thus the reason for it’s name.

Objective of the game

Try to gain the least amount of points in the 5 rounds. (Like Golf)

How to deal

Take out the Rook card. Each player has to have the same amount of cards. A rook deck has 56 cards in a deck. Divide 56 by how many players are playing. For Example: If you have 6 players, divide 56÷6= 9.33. Then you know to take two of the 1’s out of the Rook deck (leave the red 1 in) now it’s 54÷6=9 which makes it even! (If needing to take out 6 cards for example, take out all four 1’s and two of 2’s, leaving in the red 2.) You get the idea, right? Choose one player to start being the dealer and they will deal the predetermined “even” number cards to each player.

  • 4 players: 14 cards each (don’t take any cards out)
  • 5 players: 11 cards each (take out 1 card)
  • 6 players: 9 cards each (take out 2 cards)
  • 7 players: 8 cards each (don’t take out any cards)
  • 8+ players: Use 2 Rook decks

Pro Tip: When playing with 4 players, 14 cards can be a lot to hold. So we will take out all the 1’s and 2’s. It makes for easier holding of cards and shorter rounds.

How to play

The player to the left of the dealer chooses one of the following rounds (before they look at their cards.)

  • Red Round: Every red card you win is worth 5 points in this round.
  • Black 13 Round: The black 13 is worth 100 points, so you really don’t want to win the hand that has the black 13. Once the black 13 has been played the round is over.
  • First & Last Round: First hand of the round won is worth 50 points and last hand of the round won is worth 50 points. For example: If you win the first AND the last hand you would have 100 points total for that round. (All middle hands have no points)
  • Every Hand Round: Every hand won (forced suit/color rule) in this round, is worth 10 points each hand.
  • Crazy Round: All the above rounds combined. For Example: if you win the First hand in the crazy round you would gain 50 points for the “First & Last Round”, you would get 10 points for the “Every Hand Round”, 5 points for every “Red” card in the hand that’s played and 100 points for the “Black 13” IF the black 13 is played. (the Crazy round is ALWAYS the last and final round aka the 5th round, so it can’t be chosen until last.) The Crazy round is the ONLY round you can shoot the moon in. *look at how to shoot the moon below for more details.

The player who choses the round goes first. This game is forced suit/color. Like in the game Crook.

  • Forced suit/color: For example: If I go first and play a green 7 everyone HAS to play a green card, IF they have one. If you don’t have a green card then you can play any color card in your hand. That’s how you can sluff the black 13, a red, or a high card and not win those points. After all the players have laid a card down in turn the person who laid the highest green card, gains the points if any, and then goes first. That player Lays down whatever card they want and so on until all the cards have been played and the round is over.
  • Next round: For the next round, the player who chose the last round and is to the left of the previous dealer is now the dealer. The player to the left of the currant dealer, chooses the next round. BUT they cannot chose the round that was already chosen or the Crazy round. Continue until all rounds are played.
  • Ultimate Crazy Round: Now for the mother of all the rounds! CRAZY!!! Fun and Challenging!
  • Tally up the points: See who has the least amount of points and wins!
How to calculate points for each round

Red Round= 5 points for each red card won

Black 13= 100 points

First & Last= First hand of the round won is worth 50 points and last hand of the round won is worth 50 points. For example: If you win the first AND the last hand you would have 100 points total for that round.

Every Hand= Every hand in this round that is won is worth 10 points each hand. For Example: if you won every hand and there are 8 hands. You would have 80 points total for that round.

Crazy Round= All of the rounds points combined. For Example: if you win the First hand in the crazy round you would gain 50 points “First & Last round”, 10 points “Every Hand”, 5 points for every “Red” card and 100 points for “Black 13” (IF the black 13 is played.) For a total of 160+ for that hand.

Pro Tip: Have the score keeper write down the points for EACH hand, as you play. It’s much easier to keep tract of the score that way!

How to shoot the moon

If on the 4th round the players that have gained lots of points and won’t likely win, might want to “shoot the moon” this may be their only chance of winning.

What is shooting the moon? Shooting the moon is when a player decides they don’t have a chance of winning and they want to try and win as many point as possible and hope they can win as least the “predetermined” amount of points. (for this example 275 points. *more details below ) If and ONLY if they win that 275 points exclusively in the Crazy round (EXCLUDING any previous points you gained in the 4 previous rounds.) Their score goes to zero and they WIN! YEAH!

To reiterate you can only ” Shoot The Moon” on the final Crazy round. For this example the “predetermined” (look below) points you need to gain in this Crazy round is 275 points.  

How to determine the point amount to shoot the moon

*Add up all the possible points for example if playing with 7 people:

  • All the red cards= 5 points each card. (if using 1-14 red cards=70 points)
  • Black 13= 100 points
  • Every Hand= 10 points each hand (if 7 people are playing you would have 8 cards each and therefor have 8 hands all together, which would equal 80 points)
  • First & Last= 50 points each, together equals 100 points. If you win the first AND the last hand you would have 100 points total for that round.

Total possible points: 350 start with, then subtracting 75 points and adjust from there, if needed. For this example to “Shoot The Moon” amount would be 275. Make sure it’s challenging to “Shoot the Moon”, BUT not impossible!


 “Playing games makes for more joyful journeys, this is just one Country Girls opinion! ENJOY!


  • Let us know how your craziness goes! Comment if you have any questions!

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Skip to content