One of our new favorite games to play with friends is Five Crowns.
The wilds and changing rounds make the game a bit faster and more interesting to some people than the standard rummy game.
It’s not hard to learn, but you need to start somewhere.
We’re here to explain this fun game to you in our guide on how to play Five Crowns.
Let’s deal the cards!
Table of Contents
What You’ll Need To Play Five Crowns
To play Five Crowns, you’ll need a deck of cards that contains 116 cards.
The deck includes five suits with 11 cards in each suit (3 through King), as well as six wild cards.
The game is designed for 2-7 players, but can also be played with 8 players if a second deck of cards is added.
Each player will need space to arrange their cards in front of them and keep score, so a table or flat surface is recommended.
Additionally, a pencil and paper may be useful for keeping score.
We also have a downloadable Five Crown Score Card here at the link (for FREE!).
Once you have these materials, you’re ready to set up the game and start playing!
If you want to skip the trouble of finding these special cards on your own, just buy it from Amazon.
Check out the link here and get it sent to your house in days.
How To Win Five Crowns
The game for 11 rounds, each hand getting larger and larger.
It starts with 3 and ends with 13 cards.
After the final round, the player with the lowest score wins the game!
For a quick reference, the rounds and the number of cards they have go like this:
| Round Number | Number of Cards | Hand Wild |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | 3 | 3 |
| 2 | 4 | 4 |
| 3 | 5 | 5 |
| 4 | 6 | 6 |
| 5 | 7 | 7 |
| 6 | 8 | 8 |
| 7 | 9 | 9 |
| 8 | 10 | 10 |
| 9 | 11 | Jack |
| 10 | 12 | Queen |
| 11 | 13 | King |
How The Cards Work In Five Crowns
Each deck has cards from 3-King in five suits, spades, clubs, hearts, diamonds, and stars. There are also three Jokers per deck.
The Jokers are always wild and worth 50 points against if you if they are unmatched.
Each hand has a special wild that matches the round you’re on.
For example, if you have five cards in that round, the fives are wild that time.
These hand wilds are worth 20 points against you if they’re unmatched.
Wilds may be any suit and any rank or value.
You can also play wilds with any number and combination of regular cards.
The cards are all worth their pip value and as follows:
| Card Rank | Point Value |
|---|---|
| Three | 3 |
| Four | 4 |
| Five | 5 |
| Six | 6 |
| Seven | 7 |
| Eight | 8 |
| Nine | 9 |
| Ten | 10 |
| Jack | 11 |
| Queen | 12 |
| King | 13 |
| Jokers (Wild) | 50 |
| Hand Wild (rotates for each hand) | 20 |
Matched Cards Or Books In Five Crowns
Since Five Crowns is a rummy-based game, the goal is to make groups of matched cards.
In typical Rummy, these are called melds, but in Five Crowns we use the term books.
Books come in two main forms:
- Sets
- Runs
Sets are when you have groups of three or more cards of the same rank.
An example would be three or more Jacks.
Runs or straights are three or more cards in consecutive order and of the same suit.
An example would be the four, five, and six of spades.
Once cards are matched or booked, they don’t count against you.
You can’t lay them down until all the cards in your hand belong to matched books.
Once you make a book, you’re not locked in. Cards can be moved around to make different books that better suit you and lower your hand count.
A lot of good players will use the same cards to go for multiple books at a time and open up the odds of getting a card that works for them.
An example of this is if you have the six of spades, five of spades, and six of hearts.
By holding these, you are simultaneously going for a set of sixes AND a run of spades.
You can’t double-count cards for books at the end, but holding this at the beginning of a round is a smart idea to help you find matching cards.
Game Play Rules Of Five Crowns
Once the dealer passes out the correct number of cards for the round, they flip over the top card of the remaining cards (called the stock) and puts it into the discard pile.
The player to their left starts, and the play continues in a clockwise motion.
Each turn, a player can either draw one from the stockpile or the top card on the discard pile.
They then must discard one of their cards.
If they can “go down,” meaning all their cards belong to a book, then they lay down.
If not, the next player goes.
Once someone goes down, all other players get one more turn to lower their hand count and they lay down their cards.
Player count up their unmatched cards and their value.
So if they have a five, seven, and Jack that are unmatched, they have a hand score of 23.
The scorekeeper adds their hand score to their total.
The deal now passes, and the round moves on to the next one.
Game play continues until all 13 rounds are done (after the Kings are wild).
Once this round is over, the scores are counted, and the player with the lowest score wins!
Quick Tips To Win More Five Crowns Games
- Watch Those Wild Cards – They change every round. Don’t discard one on accident!
- Watch For Sets Over Runs For Faster Matches – There are 10 of each card, so your odds are pretty good of getting sets.
- Keep Nearby But Disconnected Run Cards – Don’t get rid of just-off run cards. A wild or good draw can connect them all!
- Replace Wilds When Possible – Wilds aren’t locked in until you go down. Replace the wilds with regular cards and use the wild elsewhere to go out faster.
For more tips and strategies, check out our winning Five Crowns strategy guide.
